It was bound to happen. Our laissez-faire farm dog got a little too close to the horses’ feet. We didn’t actually see it happen, but we know it scared the spots off him. We were all up at the barn, Bill and I were working inside and Jack was out in the pasture with the horses doing his usual thing: sticking as close to the source as possible for his favorite snack, horse poo. The three of them were around the corner when we heard a shrill canine yelp and Jack came streaking into the barn with a big ol’ smear of “mud” down his side. He was shaking like our other dog, Ranger, does when we have a thunderstorm. (That is to say, if you held him, he’d vibrate out of your arms.) He was scared to death, but apparently unhurt. We think he was kind of half-stepped on but slipped out of the way in time to avoid injury. Since he just wanders around their feet, nose to the ground, without paying them much attention, he’s lucky it hasn’t happened before now. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson!