It turns out that this woman spotted him on the road but as she was afraid of horses she called some people to come and get him and put him in the paddock where I found him. She put him there knowing it was secure even though it not her property. She figured that it wouldn't matter as the people who own it are never there anyway. I thanked her then took Teddy back to his paddock.
When I got to his paddock, to my astonishment the gate is closed and latched! I don't remember doing this as I was in such a hurry to get to my house to get shoes so I could go looking for him that I didn't stop to close it. What was the point? He wasn't in there anyway! I ran to the house trying to balance on my heels while holding my pants up! I didn't stop to close the gate - it was open inwards as wide as can be so I think I would remember running to that side of the paddock grabbing the gate, closing it and latching it. Steve had already left for work and it's too far from the road for anyone driving past to see and think,' gee I better lock that gate for those strangers'. I must be losing my mind!
Anyway, I took Teddy to the crush paddock, rugged and gave him some chaff and water just to see if he would eat and he was fine, so I waited for the vet.
Heidi the vet did a thorough exam and said "Mr Adventure" was good, just some muscle strains like he had turned on his back leg too quickly and slipped. The stiffness in his stifle (horse's knee) was also due to a strain and she gave him some anti-inflammatories and told me not to ride him for a week. Through the whole exam Teddy was as relaxed as can be, nibbling on stuff and exploring with his lips, nudging, willy out, yawning etc. She was praising me on what a well behaved, gentle and co-operative horse I have. I didn't say anything but I was thinking, "He must be in a bad way cause that's not the description I usually get for Teddy!" Granted, he has improved heaps (if we don't count the rearing and flipping right over incident with the dentist the other week) so maybe I should take that as a compliment on the great work we have gone through together.
After all this I have a lot of questions in my head -
- I know for sure the farrier closed the gate as we stood there and had a specific conversation about the gate as he latched it - but maybe when I was getting the money to pay him he went back in to get something he'd forgotten and not closed it properly when coming out the second time?
- The gate was fully open inward and if the horse had leaned on it and moved it, opening it, you would think that it would have opened outwards - but maybe a gust of wind blew it back in?
- I have absolutely no recollection of closing and latching the gate when I realised Teddy was gone - but maybe I was so stressed out I forgot I did it?
- If someone had opened it you would think the dogs would have barked but they didn't.
I am going to assume that this was all the latter and learn from the experience. First thing to do is Steve is bringing home padlocks tonight. We have to remember that if Teddy gets out on the road and is hit by a car we are liable and I don't want to loss everything, so padlocks it is.
I will also take a thank you bottle of wine to the woman who put him in the paddock. This story could have been a lot sadder if it wasn't for her.
To top everything off, after the vet left I thought I better start tea in the slow cooker. I went to open a jar of tomato paste and it exploded all over me! Perfect!
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