Tenor Receipt Day

Today, Tenor came from Florida and returned to me.

Long, long ago, I gave young Tenor to Kevin from Florida when his horse, Delta, became allergic to Florida. Tenor was old enough to “start.”

I bought Tenor as a weanling and took him to Jenny and Tony “Parelli” colt starts and young horse clinics as he developed. Tenor is a left-brain horse, exceedingly friendly, always begging for attention.

Kevin revisited Missouri with his horse trailer. He successfully rode Tenor and soon took him back to Florida. It was a happy day to unite with the Vaughts again when they moved to Florida.
Delta lived with Tony and Jenny in southern Missouri. When the Vaughts moved to Florida, Delta came to live with me. We lost Delta this year due to bone damage making her unable to get up when she lay down.

Many years before this, I had bought a weanling from Teresa Osborn. He was so excellent and so friendly. I knew Kevin and Ginny were in Missouri about Delta and were coming to visit me. I let Tenor loose in the yard so they could meet him immediately. They met. We all went into the barn and sat on some hay bales. Tenor came in with us and laid down at Kevin’s feet, remarkable in two ways: Tenor had no fear, and he had connected to Kevin. Why he chose Kevin and not me is remarkable. That is why I gave Tenor to Kevin when he lost his horse in Florida.

Amazingly, another horse from Kevin and Ginny, Sonny, became allergic to Florida and had recently come to live with me. Sonny and Tenor lived together in the same Florida herd for years. Kevin started spending more time traveling long distances and working for his job. He decided it was unfair to Tenor to decrease his time spent with him. He decided to give Tenor back to me! Kevin was trained by Tony and Jenny, as was I. We use the same methods and cues. Kevin and the Vaughts developed Tenor into an advanced horsemanship state using the Parelli methods. Thanks Kevin for training Tenor for ME!

Ginny, Kevin, and Tenor spent two days driving from Florida to Tenor’s former home. Fancy and Sonny could see a horse and were jammed together in #1stall. I had locked #2stall. I experienced drama trying to get Fancy out of #1stall with Sonny. Success happened, and Sonny was locked alone in #1stall. Fancy roamed free. The barn has three walls, open in the back.

Kevin got Tenor placed in #2stall and exited. The drama happened when Fancy stuck her nose into Tenor’s stall, touched his friendly head, and screamed. She also kicked his stall panels. (This can be how mares react.) Everyone appeared to calm down. Sonny and Tenor ignored each other. What happened to the best friend thing? Ha!

Humans took a long time to unhitch Kevin’s and Ginny’s trailer. That darn trailer has a secret unhitch safety feature. After ten to fifteen minutes of Kevin trying to lift the truck from the trailer ball, it gave up its secret and unhitched. Luckily it wasn’t a 100-degree high humidity day. I think we were enjoying an upper 70-degree day, and Kevin didn’t expire from fighting the trailer.

We went out to eat. The horses were left to get acquainted with each other and calm down. Ginny and Kevin left to get on with his job.

I returned to the barn. Sonny was relaxed, eating the good Florida hay. Tenor was pacing the stall watching Fancy eat grass. I put food in all stalls and tried to open Tenor’s stall door without dying, but with Fancy, there was drama. I managed to get Sonny’s stall open and managed to open Tenor’s stall door, all without being killed. Time to turn them loose together!

Having girlfriend Fancy is more important than having a best friend. Sonny and Tenor were best herd friends in Florida for years, but today Sonny became a charging bull to Tenor with teeth. Fancy screamed. We had brief quiet moments while Sonny and Fancy finished the stall grain. Tenor rolled. Awwww.

The drama started again, and all three horses went thru the gate to the lake side pasture. Sonny chased Tenor into the lake. What! This had never before happened in “first turnout time.” Sonny and Fancy took off. Tenor LAID DOWN in lake. Good Lord. He stood up and left the lake. On the other side of a small piece of land that juts into the lake, I heard him splash, getting into the lake again! What!. Trees kept me from seeing him. I almost went into the pasture to see if he was drowning because I didn’t hear a splash to get out. But before I could do that, I saw all of them running. They ran. Sonny and Fancy chased Tenor, ate grass time and repeat. They covered all areas of lake pasture and returned; this time Tenor was usually behind the two, but they stopped and chased him for a few seconds.

Currently, Fancy and Sonny are munching on their Florida hay while Tenor rests beside the round pen. All is well. Whew! It will take a few days before Tenor is welcomed into the herd. It is the way of the herd animal!

Tenor is slowly earning his way into the herd.  He is on his third day, enjoying unlimited grass and his very own lake!