When I first began this blog it was my intention to bring you more stories about the inhabitants of Almosta Ranch and less stories about me. Somehow I got sidetracked.

For those of you new to this blog, Almosta Ranch is the place I call home. Ten acres of tranquility nestled in the foothills of the Ozark mountains near the boot heel of Missouri, Almosta Ranch is the realization of a dream my wife and I have shared for years.

Located far from my Texas roots and from my wife's Michigan roots and just close enough to Arkansas to be scary, Almosta Ranch boasts a wide and varied population of animal life along with the two humans that serve as their feeders and providers.

To date we have two humans, three Cockatiels, three cats, three goats, four horses, and seven dogs.

Today's story deals with two of our horses; Lucy who is a beautiful, full blood, Quarter-Horse mare and Billy, our Dunnalino Quarter-Horse stallion.

I refer to Lucy as my Red-Head. She has a gorgeous red coat and mane. Lucy is a big girl, standing 16 hands high and she is the Alpha Female of the horse herd.

Billy is our prize stallion. He is, like many of the old line Quarter-horse breed, short and stocky with powerful muscles that can propel him at great speeds over all sorts of terrain. He is what horse breeders refer to as a "Dunnalino" which means he has the beautiful coloring of a palomino but with a dark strip running the length of his back.

Unfortunately, like males of all species, Billy is prone to getting himself in trouble, which brings us to today's story.

A few days ago I stepped out onto our front porch around noon and I saw something completely out of character....Lucy was standing at the fence, looking toward the house as if waiting for one of us to come outside.

Now this is out of character because the horses never come to the fence by the house unless it is feeding time. Twice a day they stand there, looking toward the house, silently urging us to bring them grain. Once in the morning early and again in the evening just before dark. Once they eat, then they scamper off to the back pasture and spend the day grazing and playing.

So I was a bit uneasy when I walked out and saw Lucy standing there watching the house. As soon as she saw me, she wheeled and trotted off toward the woods at the back of the ranch. As I watched her, she stopped, and looked back at me and whinnied softly, she then turned and ran full speed toward the woods.

I knew then that something was wrong. I took off after her receding figure as quickly as I could. When I finally arrived at our back fence, deep in the woods, there stood Lucy next to Billy. She was softly nuzzling the stallion and licking him as if to reassure him. I saw why instantly.

Billy's right hind leg was hopelessly tangled in wire! He could not move and had I not arrived he  would have hurt himself trying to get free or would have remained there trapped and starved.

I marveled at Lucy's actions while I slowly and carefully extracted Billy's leg from the tangle of slick-wire.  I thought it was really neat the way Lucy had acted just like all those horses we use to see on movies and television. You remember those shows don't you....the hero horse would go summon help for its human rider who had gotten in some sort of trouble.

Well it really happens!

After I got him loose from the wire, Billy and Lucy scampered off, just as happy as they could be. Mel and I talked about it that evening and she reminded me that Lucy was just doing what all Alpha Females in the horse world does...take care of her herd.

You see, even though in all the movies and TV shows it is the fiery stallion that is always shown leading the herd, in real life it is the female that fills that role, both in wild horse herds and in any group of domesticated horses. The males are only tolerated for breeding purposes. Pretty much the way it is with humans isn't it.

Here is a picture of Billy and Lucy on their way to the back pasture...

You see who's leading the way.

So there you have it, the story of how Lucy, the Alpha Female, takes care of her "man" who is constantly getting into trouble. I guess that as long as Billy has Lucy and I have Mel, he and I will stay reasonably safe and happy here on Almosta Ranch.