Rupert + Horses = Manure + Topsiders

I was walking around the front of the property where the sun sets when Rupert saw a deer. He froze and it froze. It watched him silently while he emitted a burbling growl. Then it took off through the tall grass and Rupert galloped after it. (A woman at Lake Albemarle said Rupert ran like an elkhound.)

The deer disappeared over the barbed wire. By the time Rupert found a way through he'd discovered the neighbor's horses. He's like a kid at a candy convention here. He ran up to the horses barking maniacally. They barely paid him any mind. I called him furiously but he just glanced at me and continued his harassment. Wading through the tick-infested grass I finally found a way in but Rupert pretended I didn't exist. I was screaming at him by this time and the horses perked up. They trotted nonchalantly towards me like inquisitive interns at an insane asylum. It looked like they didn't intend to stop so I climbed back over the fence to go get some hot dog pieces with which to lure Rupert.

Being a city boy, I'm not sure what the protocol is when horses seem to want to meet you. At first I had a mystical feeling that they were sensing some deep peace inside of me and wanted to commune with me as a fellow creature of the natural world. Then I remembered what one kick from their back legs could do and figured it was a better idea to keep the animal/human barrier in place.

I got back down the hill hot dog bits in pocket and lifted the barbed wire. Rupert finally came to me after I threw half of it at him from a safe distance. To my humiliation, I had to give him a piece before I could take him by the scruff and yell at him some more. By the time we got home the sun was setting. I clinched one tick off him and three off me. My topsiders were filled with manure. As usual Rupert had no concept of the torture he put me through. It's definitely better than chasing him through Brooklyn. Give me horses trying to kill me rather than New York drivers any day.