I had a wonderful day yesterday. It was my commune with the horses day at the barn and I worked my tail off. We were extremely low on help and for hours at a time I was the only one to do all the retrieving and grooming of the horses and cleaning up the barn chores. 7:45 AM to 4:00 ... and I loved it. My more experienced co-worker (who likes to micromanage me and everyone else) was there but she kept getting called away to assist with classes. These are the last days for the spring class session and we think people thought last week was the final week so they didn't show up. I wasn't stressed, just hustling. A lot.
While the 12:30 class was being conducted in the outdoor arena I was responsible for bringing in the afternoon horses. I had to walk by the arena and down the way which takes me passed all the individual paddocks (fenced pastures). One of the horses, Nifty, had been used in the 9:30 class but because he is kept with four other "boys" in the furthest paddock, it was decided he could hang out in the nearby grey paddock until his 3:30 class. That's done quite often so I didn't think anything of it.
Out to a paddock to retrieve a horse and back to the barn I would travel by the Nifty's paddock. After the first couple of times I realized he was waiting at the gate for me and then would walk the fence, keeping pace with me. Back and forth we went. Of course I started discussing this with him. And no, he didn't answer back but he was paying attention to me. After the third or forth trip I realized he wasn't waiting for me at the gate but was "trapped" behind some electric fencing that separates an extra dusty area from the grassy part. I walked into the paddock, around the fencing and through the open shed. I stood at the opening and called to him. He walked right to me, we turned the corner out of the shed and he walked me all the way to the gate. I continued on my way to get the afternoon horses into the barn. When I came back out to get another horse, sure enough Nifty was behind the fencing again. I walked in and we repeated the entire process except this time he was walking so close to me I ended up wrapping my right arm around the bottom of his neck and patting his far-side cheek as we walked and talked on our way to the gate.
Apparently his attentiveness had already attracted the attention (look at all those A's!) of the class's staff. I didn't notice because who cares about people when you've got animals? The third time Nifty had me "rescue" him he actually whinnied when I had to leave him by the gate. I told him he was a sweet, sweet boy and I'd groom him in just a little while. I continued with my chores - I had to get seven horses groomed before I left so I was quite focused on the tasks at hand.
As I was grooming my last horse the barn manager approached and told me she had heard about Nifty's actions and how comfortably I handled him. (I was thinking, what do you mean handled him? We were just walking and talking together.) A couple of the staff members and some parents who were observing the class had approached her to tell her about us. Even though they don't usually offer this opportunity until a volunteer has been there for at least a year, the staff suggested she ask me to become Nifty's Barn Buddy and she agreed we'd be a good match. She said, "He can be really full of himself and we can't keep any Barn Buddies with him because he's such a handful. We think you would be a great match for him because you wouldn't put up with his 'naughtiness' (my word, not hers!)." She told me to think about it to which I said, "No, I don't need to think about it. I'll do it. Besides he picked me, didn't he?" She laughed and said yes, I guess he did which surprised her because he usually doesn't want any people around him more than absolutely necessary.
So now, I am a horse's special somebody! Among other duties I am responsible for physical care of him, his stall (his buckets, salt block and holder, de-cobwebbing, and of course mucking), his equipment (bridle, halter, saddle). I get to have uninterrupted visits with him at least once a week. I also get to learn how to clip, mane pull and conduct in-hand training. I will get to bathe him and make him special special treats.
If they think he was full of himself before, just wait until I start my Best Horse-Mama in the World routine! And I wondered how I would cope when my kids got too old to need me, silly girl.