Miles Meets Couscous the Goose

Miles the border collie, Nase the house dog, and I all headed in to town today to run errands.  We all needed to be out of the house and out of the way so that a realtor could show our place to potential buyers.  (8.5 acres, water rights, cute farmhouse, 3 stall barn, large loafing shed, arena, round pen, fenced pastures...  let me know if you're interested!)  So the dogs and I made a trip to the bank, stopped by the tack store to drop off a saddle to have billets replaced, quick stop at the mechanic's to check the seals and ball joints on the truck after they were replaced this month.

Our last stop was my friend's place to return a book I borrowed ages ago.  She wasn't home, but another friend of ours was there to work her horse who lives there as well.  Since I was already dressed to ride after working several horses in the morning at Bit of Honey, Miles and I joined her and I rode the cute chestnut mare.  We walked, trotted, cantered on both leads in the pasture, rode over the ground poles grid, and Miles of course assisted.  No matter where we are riding or teaching, Miles is always ready.  Nase waits in the truck.  He's a more timid soul and prefers to be safely tucked away under the bed, but if that's not an option the back seat of the cab of the truck will suffice. 

As we were tacking up the horses we were greeted by a friendly neighbor who generously offered to let us use her arena anytime.  While we were visiting we noticed a large white goose parading around her pasture with her two horses.  Apparently there were two geese to start with, one named Tofu and the other (who we met) named Couscous.  They were thusly named because her vegetarian husband had initially and jokingly declared them to be Christmas and Easter when they first arrived.  Tofu had been dispatched by coyotes, but Couscous is still around, and considers herself to be part equine.  She will sleep in the stalls with the horses, and she ran around honking at one of the horses when it rolled in the pasture.

Miles is accustomed to chasing the wild Canadian geese off our property at home, and assumed that he was to move Couscous the goose back to her own pasture.  He started to chase Couscous, who honked a bit and ran on the ground back to her horses.  Miles was quite puzzled, since Couscous didn't fly, and the flying is the best part about the wild geese for Miles.  While Miles did stick with us for our complete ride in the pasture at my friend's place, he did keep one eye on Couscous the Goose, just in case.  Miles will spend hours at home running the length of our pastures, barking at the sky as he attempts to herd the flocks of flying geese across the property.  He'll also try to herd the falcons, turkey vultures, and bald eagles.  He's done this since he was a puppy, barking and running as fast as his little legs would carry him.  When he was small I worried a bit about who was hunting whom!  He even loves the excitement of thunderstorms, since they roll in from the west off of the mountains, crossing our pastures and then disappear off to the east.  Miles, as an all powerful superhero border collie, will run the pasture, barking at the thunderclouds, herding the storm off of the property.  It's quite an accomplishment to control the weather, almost as curious a phenomenon as the grounded Couscous the Goose.