He's a Player

I showed up to the ranch the other day to find all of Izzy's toys flung over the fence again. It's a daily thing now. The barrel has been the one toy that he hasn't managed to fling at Speedy. That doesn't mean he hasn't tried.

It almost fit. And yes, that is his nose photo bombing the barrel shot.

I am not sure how calculated was the attempt, it no doubt began as an accident, but that barrel was very nearly on Speedy's side. This isn't a light weight plastic thing either. It's heavy. It's solid. And it is obviously the world's greatest toy.

Of course, Operation Blue Barrel wouldn't have been possible without a prior mission - the one where he dug a giant hole under the fence. That maneuver was probably done in an effort to actually get himself over to Speedy's side.

I mean when you think about it, it's quite extraordinary that he got the barrel to the hole. He had to have thought about that for quite a while. Did he look at the hole and then look at the barrel and calculate how much effort it would take to roll it across his field? And how did he keep his aim so true? Did it take him all night? Did he rest in between efforts? 

Once he finally got the barrel poised at the hole, did he have a plan in place for what to do with it once he got it there? Did he think Speedy was going to help him? That hole is pretty deep, but what made him think it was going to fit?

Is he wondering how it got there?

​I tried to pull it back out of the hole, but it was wedged in there so tightly that I had to go over to Speedy's side and finish pulling it through. Izzy of course just sat and watched me. Once it was free, I heaved it back over the fence and watched it bounce and roll until it gradually settled in a mound of sand. Speedy was out on the lawn. There is no way I could have done all that with him watching. It would have terrified him. The big brown horse? He just watched in absolute delight.

Everybody, everybody, let's get into it Get stupid Get it started, get it started, get it started Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.

And then because it was clearly game on, he sauntered up to the abandoned feed trough and climbed up. He stared right at me and began to pound out a rhythm ... bang, bang, bang. I was certain it was Morse Code for let's get it started in here.

He can drum left or right.

I finally joined him in a game of I am going to jump on you. While standing on the feed trough, I "tried" to jump up on his back, but every time I bent my knees to push up, he swung his head around and nibbled at my legs. I crouched, he nibbled, I burst out laughing. It's really hard to leap up on the back of a 16'3 hand horse from a 10 inch "stool." It's impossible when you have the giggles.

Who knows how long the game would have gone on? When I spotted the ranch owner walking our way, I quit that "foolishness." When she came over to check on the other holes that Izzy had dug, he found it totally awesome that we now had a three-player game. Instead, she and I retreated to a safe distance. He can be a bit of a pest. 

Izzy is a player for sure.