Last night, we get a call around 8:15pm that 2 horses had been spotted at the end of the road where Priscilla and I keep Belle & Noodle. She goes to investigate while I put Elayna down to bed. Fifteen minutes later, Priscilla calls to let me know that they were our horses that had gotten out and she, David, Jerry, and Josh were looking for them. I couldn't just sit at home waiting for updates! So like a great mother, I wake my sleeping toddler, bundle her up, strap her in the car seat and set out to look for my horse.
But here's the thing. Both horses are mostly brown/black. Noodle has a few white spots on her. Belle's like 99% dark. She has one white sock. The only hope we had to find them was if they were looking directly at our headlights as we passed by or we caught sight of any of the white on Noodle. I'm pulling into every field entrance I see, scanning the horizon with my headlights. Nothing. I'm looking in every yard full of grass I see. Nothing.
We looked for our aborigines for nearly two hours before calling it a night and committing to another search tomorrow. Driving down the road on the way home, David's flashlight caught sight of some white. As we got closer the horses were heading straight towards us (and possible traffic). So I turned onto their gravel road and call after them. Both Belle & Noodle started following the jeep like puppies. Now I'm thinking they were right in front of us the whole time. They stood no more than 20 feet away from the jeep and I couldn't see Belle at all (well barely, I could make out a silhouette if I tried really hard). I could only see Noodle's white spots. Priscilla was there in no time and we put halters on the horses and walked them .75 miles back to the barn. Stupid horses. Er, I guess I should say they're crafty to find a way out.
Here's a picture of the beasts. Excuse the messy shot. I was trying to drive, entertain a fussy baby, keep an eye on them and take the picture all at the same time. This was my one shot before Noodle decided to take a walk through the field. That's Priscilla leading Belle, the good, faithful follower horse.
This is my beautiful horse in the daylight. Isn't she gorgeous, Ryan?! This was taken in October in Jerry's indoor arena. The Russell girls rode Belle & Noodle. Elayna too! (Can you see why her name is "Noodle?")
