Rubicon

Meet Rubicon. He belongs to my good friend Sarah, and lives here on my farm along with his best friend Buttonwood, who is a retired racehorse.

Rubicon is a very big boy, standing just over 18 hands, and he is a force to be reckoned with. He is very spoiled and very willful. Whereas Buttonwood is a gentle soul who wouldn't hurt a fly (although she hates flies), Rubicon demands a certain degree of circumspection. I wouldn't want to stand too close to him, as he has been known to nip and be a bit of a bully. Nevertheless, I like to think he and I are friends. I often go down to the barn and have a chat with him over the stable door.

Two years ago, the man who mows our grass came running to the house to let me know that Rubicon had somehow managed to get out of his pasture, and was now in the road. I ran to the barn to find a halter, and to my enormous relief, the mowing man offered to go retrieve our errant steed.

Well, Rubicon was having none of that. He was having a high old time enjoying his new-found freedom! Rearing up, with his eyes rolling back in his head, he came charging at full speed down the driveway straight toward me, with the poor man chasing him. I thought my life was about to end, and just stood there, frozen in fear as this enormous animal galloped up to me. He skidded to a stop, snorting and bucking and tossing his head. I just stared at him, wondering how on earth I was going to get him safely back into his stall.

I fixed him in the eye with a stern gaze, and like a strict school teacher, declared in no uncertain terms, "Fun's over, Rubicon. Time to go back to your pasture." I then started off towards the barn, and to my amazement Rubicon meekly followed me. I managed to get him into his stall, and happily started to slide the door closed -- only to have it decide that was the perfect moment to slide off its tracks. I somehow maneuvered Rubicon out into the pasture and shut the outer stable door so he couldn't come back into the barn until the door could be fixed.

Then I went to investigate just how this naughty boy had managed to escape in the first place. Walking down the fence line, I saw that a gate had been left open. Rubicon and I arrived at the open gate at exactly the same moment, but I got it closed before he could repeat his shenanigans. It took me quite a while to stop shaking after that episode!