In some alternate universe, alternate Star enjoys flights that are always on time and never turbulent. I'm really happy for her.
I left town for 5 days to be with my family on the west coast. It's very difficult to leave home these days. Best Husband Ever is confident that I will return and Moose has learned that I eventually come back from wherever I've been. Nox, however, is a different story. The last time I left him for a few days, I came back to an angry, obstinate horse. It took a week for us to get back to our previous routine and I made the mistake of being too lenient, forgiving his bad behavior too long - see the post on "tough lessons".
I finally arrived home this evening (a day late, thank you Chicago) and after kissing Moose and feeding him dinner - Best Husband Ever is working, otherwise he'd get kiss and food as well - I drove to the barn. I whistled for Nox as I walked into the barn. Most of the time, he nickers excitedly back, but tonight I only heard the stomps and snorts of the other horses. When I turned the corner, Nox was looking at me through the stall door, but it wasn't his normal look. He looked at me like I was a stranger, and my heart sank a little.
I went through our normal routine - carrot in his bucket, halter on, turn him out in the ring, and clean his stall. Nox went through the motions like I was a new groom in the barn. After I cleaned the stall, I joined Nox in the ring and hooked the lead rope to his halter to walk him around. He immediately dropped his head to bite the lead rope - an old bad habit. I smacked him on the chest with the lead rope and the expression on his face was priceless. It said, "Oh! Ha Ha! Silly me, of course I remember you!" He snapped back to his old, sweet, respectful self and stuck his tongue out for me to rub.
It's good to be home!
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