This is Huckleberry.
This is Maggie.
This is the fence between us and our neighbor.
The Shetlands are cute and friendly, but not too bright. In fact, they might be more aptly named Dumb and Dumber. Proof lies in looking carefully at the area on either side of the fence. The ponies belong to our neighbor, but they have found a way through the fence and are as likely to be on our side of the fence as on theirs. No matter how closely you look, you can see no difference in the grass on their side and the grass on our side. There seems to be no possible advantage to working one’s way through the fence to graze on the other side. Still, I seldom get up in the morning that one or both of the ponies has not come over to munch what seems to be greener grass in our yard.
You may wonder which one could be named Dumber. Maggie likes to nibble at her favorite grass along the one-lane gravel road down to our house. As I drove in one morning, she heard the car turn in and just as I came alongside her, she ambled out right into the middle of the road. My daughter-in-law said Maggie had done the same with her. I’m thinking it does not indicate brilliance if the sound of a car coming makes you think, “Now let me get right in front of this.”
We can spare the grass, and I didn’t have to wait long for Maggie to finish ambling across the road. Like I said, they are cute and friendly, and I can live with this. I’ve even thought of a possible contribution they may make to our new digs. If they are really hungry when the grass begins to grow in warmer weather, maybe we won’t have to mow the yard so often.