Braids, Bailey and the Breakout

There are so many advantages of raising boys, one of them was not having to worry about their hair. As long as it was cut, clean and tidy they were good to go. 

I had lots of practice in that department being that I was their barber. The boys always wore their hair cut, clean and tidy just the way I liked it. 

I told them if they ever came down with head lice I was shaving their head. Something you can get away with when your a boy.

Girls not so much.  

Speaking of girls and hair, I know some pretty crafty moms who can turn their daughters hair into a work of art. Not only am I impressed, I'm in awe.

I decided to give it a try with my new Dixie girl. At two years of age, she already has a great head of hair.....er mane

and I have come to realize it's a Friesian thing to have their mane braided.

 It sure makes them look fancy so I decided to give it a shot. 

Dixie was rather patient with me as I tried my best to make her look like a fancy girl.

But then she gave me the look. 

I assured her I'll get better, I just need lots of practice.

Later that night I decided to keep her separate from the other two horses.

They haven't been very welcoming and I've noticed she has nip marks on her body. I suppose it's part of the pecking order but lately our gelding Bailey has been trying to mount her.

I read horses can come into heat as young as one and Dixie is two so whatever signal or scent she's giving off, Bailey's picking it up.

I really don't want her getting hurt so we kept them separated last night. When the husband looked at the camera this morning he saw the gate open and the horses together.

Confused he backed up the video and watched Bailey fiddling with the latch. That crazy horse managed to open the gate and let Dixie out.

All our gates have a safety chain for that very reason. When Bailey was young he used to open the gates but with the safety chain securely latched he couldn't get out. 

We've made it a habit of always using the chain on the main gates, but the one that divides the two dry lots we have never worried about it.

If they get out they aren't really out so I guess we didn't even think about using the chain when we separated the horses.

Besides, Bailey hasn't shown any interest in opening the gates  for years so we kinda thought he outgrew it, until now.

 With a new girl on the block he is back to his old tricks

Meaning the husband and I need to have our game on if we're gonna to stay one step ahead of the ol' boy.