Thursday, December 5, 2013

Abandoned Horse Toys

October Not So Long Ago
Mangled Made Up Toy
The Ho-Hum Ball
It is that nebulous time of year when I'm not certain of the season. My calender tells me it is fall; the snow shouts winter. It was only a month or so ago that the horses were roaming the pond pastures in tall, browning grass. They are gone to winter shelter, the horses of Elmira. And they have left behind their toys.

Like kids, horses have a playful nature. In the spring, the brown gelding made sport of a discarded plastic bin. He must have found it in the barn. He smashed it up enough to ruin whatever it once was. It's now bent black plastic. Once destroyed, he would pack it around the pastures. I found it abandoned along the pond.

Thinking the horses would appreciate a store-bought toy, I purchased a horse ball pretty as a pink rose. But often as is the case with children, the made-up toys seem to be the favorites. The ball was greeted with ho-hum-ness by all three horses. The sorrel mare played with it once out of curiosity, and after she abandoned it, the ball has never moved.

Whether it is still fall or just winter, I  know that it is no longer summer! Thus the days continue to shorten and the horse toys cast shadows in empty fields.


10 comments:

  1. I've never thought of horses having toys before. I know what you mean about fall and winter. The calender says it's not winter until the 21st but I think it has arrived sooner than that. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Arctic front trumps date on a calendar! It's winter. Yes, horses are actually playful creatures and like toys. You, too!

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  2. Heck, now you have me missing your horses too! I had no ideas horses played with toys, go figure! And doesn't it figure they like the "box" better than the toy.

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    1. They supply me with endless entertainment. And they always look my way when I step outside. Yeah, I miss them.

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  3. Horse Toys. Who would have thought? Well, why not! :)

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  4. Horses are such wonders. I didn't know about their propensity for playing with toys. It's a joyful discovery. Love your writing voice and topics. I've been calling it winter just because it seems like a lie to use the word fall at this point. I let my cold feet tell me the truth about the turning seasons. Calendars are fallible. My feet are not.

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    1. I trust your feet not to lie! Yes, horses are playful. Very social animals. Thanks for mentioning voice; that is actually what I'm exercising with this blog. A revival of my voice after years of writing articles and marketing copy. It needed resuscitation! :-)

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  5. That is so funny! We all have our favorite toys and they don't always "fit" what our loved ones would think we would like. For instance, none of my family would have ever thought I would embrace a laptop or kindle :)

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    1. Somehow we are better at picking out our own toys!

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