AKA - Conan the Destroyer

First let me thank all of you who have expressed their condolences. It means more than you know. I have often told people that Princeton owned me, not I him. Now I know just how true that statement really is. I am truly lost, but for Remi's sake I have put that away til I can help him thru his loneliness. He spends a great deal of his days just standing in the middle of the common area that he and Prince shared nickering for his buddy.

Now before you get all weepy. Know that this weekend I will be picking up his new best friend, and I expect them to bond almost immediately. You see the horse we picked is the same breed as Princeton (English Shire) and in many ways is very similar; same color, markings, size, and if the breeding runs true a very similar temperament. Maybe a little less grumpy, as Princeton did get a little curmudgeonly at times. Here is a head shot of his new pal Woody.

As for the Conan reference... One learns quickly round here to identify sounds. I can tell the sound of the feed room being broken into blindfolded. Same goes for the never ending sounds of breaking wood as in fences etc. However the other day while cleaning the big lugs bedroom I heard sounds that not only could I not identify, but they are getting very loud and then I hear the sound of breaking wood and the pounding of big feet. As I rounded the back corner of the barn at a run I was almost run over by a big gray and white blur running in the opposite direction with something blue attached to its back feet.

I knew immediately what it was, but I couldn't believe it. You see, we built our own barn. Its not pretty, but we built it with the knowledge that it would house draft horses, so it is sturdy. However, before we built there, the previous owners had a large A frame swing in the back. We didn't have the equipment to unearth the posts so we converted it to a shavings bin by adding a roof and 4x8 plywood sides. To finish the job we took a commercial tarp, the kind used on semi trucks to cover their load, and put that over the entire shavings bin to further protect the shavings from rain. Now if you have never seen one of these close up let me tell you they weigh 200 lbs, maybe more. By the way, did I mention that we nailed it to the sides and the roof.

You guessed it now.... Remi has pulled the tarp off the structure. Along with the tarp came some of the plywood, and all this apparently got caught on him and the flatbed trailer that had been parked next to the bin. He heard me coming and decided to escape the scene of the crime, but the tarp had gotten caught on his back shoe and came with him like a huge blue and yellow cape. I swear we could have entered him in the Derby for as fast as he came around the barn, mud flying twenty feet in the air behind his huge feet, nostrils flaring and a look on his face that told you that he just knew that a flying saucer had just landed right on him... To the best of my knowledge he has not been around to the back of the barn since. I have, however, seen him looking around the corner at the big blue pile of debris that he left in his wake. Remi may be lonely, but some things will never change. If you can build it, he can break it!!

I just had to take pictures. Here is what is left of our shavings bin. Click on the photos to see them. Anybody needs to see me next week I will be sitting on top of the roof of a shaving bin recovering it. You can bring your own hammer or I will lend you one. LOL

Trainer Mom, Bunny