Sitting Pretty
Equus|September 2017
Many barn cats enjoy hanging around with horses. Mittens took it one step further.
Pamela Nolf
Sitting Pretty

Mittens was a gray tiger striped cat with white paws. Like most barn cats, she spent her days hunting mice, rubbing against visitors and napping on hay bales. But she also harbored a secret ambition, one that became evident when I moved my Icelandic Horse, Blessi, to her boarding stable: She wanted to learn how to ride.

Blessi has a special affinity for cats. His first favorite was Sam, a large black cat whom I often found napping on his broad, furry back. Sometimes while out on the trails, Blessi and I would encounter Sam perched on a fence, surveying the fields. As soon as Blessi saw his special cat, he grabbed the bit in his teeth and marched us over to the fence. We proceeded to follow Sam as he tiptoed down the fence line, leaving me to ponder if a horse can be “cat bound.”

This story is from the September 2017 edition of Equus.

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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Equus.

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