"Do you think you might be able to put a head-collar on her?", said her owner when she arrived. "I can try," I said tentatively since I hadn't tried or been ask to try while she was with me. Indeed I had tried to keep my hands off her on the basis that she wasn't mine to play with! Luckily Hattie is a lot less kicky than Henrietta and less frightened, more humanised, and just quieter. In fact I wondered whether Helen might notice if she arrived home with a small gingery pink mule rather than the one that she had ordered.
In the event it was relatively easy to get the head-collar on using a feather duster for initial touch and then putting a lead rein over her neck using the other end of it. Once I had both ends of the rope in my hand I could gently hold her while I put the head-collar on over her neck and then up her nose.
The head-collar was a bit big so I did a bit of a wrap-around to make it fit better but at least it is leather so would break if she got caught up.
With panels set up all over the place it was easy to load her onto my trailer and then take her out into the inclosure to decant her into the hired 3.5 tonne horsebox that she would be travelling home in. Although it came with a full bulkhead at the back, to prevent any prospect of her jumping out, it had no inner gates next to the ramp so leaving her loose and getting out that way was not an option. Instead I had to scale the inner wall and get out through the tiny door at the top. Luckily I didn't get stuck like Winnie the Pooh in the rabbit hole and have to starve until I was thin enough to get through.
Jack and Henrietta were a bit bemused when she had apparently disappeared. They are beginning to think that the middle door in the barn is the door to Narnia.
Ps. I am pleased to be able to report that Hattie has arrived safely in her new home. She did apparently make quite a fuss in the horsebox and I am so glad that the owners and I insisted on an enclosed box and that they didn't travel her in a normal horse trailer - mules can and will jump!
"Thank you so much for stepping up, collecting Hattie and caring for her." HT
