Keiki and the plastic bucket.

Most of the time I write about Moon in this blog, but for those of you who don't know, we also have the "ranch horses."

One of the cutest is Keiki. Keiki is a paint, and this summer she started doing dressage and a little jumping. She was amazing. She really seems to like it all, and tries so hard.

Keiki, like the rest of the ranch horses, usually eats her grain from a plastic bucket. Sometimes, when it gets really cold, a crack will appear in the bottom of the bucket. Usually, when a bucket starts to crack we replace it as soon as we can, but sometimes it takes a few days to find time to get another bucket.

So, Keiki evidently pulled the short straw, or the long straw, or whichever straw made her be the horse who got the bucket with the crack in it. She didn't mind, because the crack was covered with yummy grain. She and the rest of the horses started eating their grain, some of them faster than others, when we noticed something not right.

Keiki was standing very still, with her foot through the bottom of the plastic bucket. We realized that not only had she put her foot through the bottom of the bucket, but that it ws wedged in pretty tight. Keiki remained calm the entire time, as we took turns trying to gently remove the bucket from her foot. The plastic bucket suddenly felt like it was made from steel, and her foot suddenly seemed like it was much larger than we remembered.

Finally, with a little bending, the plastic loosened and her foot came out. She stood still, completely unfazed, looking for what little grain she might have missed.

So now, we buy really thick, but soft buckets, that have never cracked, and they're worth every penny. And Keiki? Well, she's priceless.

Comments

[ELL]

I remember Keiki. How is she doing with learning dresage? Does she work on the ranch? Glad she was so calm about the bucket--could have been a nasty gash made if she wasn't!

[Maddy]

Thanks for asking! Keiki is doing great! She doesn't really work on the ranch, but we use her for trail riding. She is the sweetest horse. She has also started jumping. She is trying so hard and really seems to like both dressage and jumping.