She froze – ears at attention, tail on guard. I followed her gaze and understood immediately. She looked at me questioningly and then back across the road. The beasts on the other side were obviously alert to her presence. They stood placidly chewing yet somehow taut and ready to spring into action.
She shied away from their massive forms and began to whimper just slightly. Straining at her lead, she backed away while managing to advance down the trail. Her head pivoted as her eyes bounced from theirs to mine trying to assess the level of danger.
I named her fear and placed my hand reassuringly on her head and that’s when it happened. Seemingly without cause or warning one of them began to run. The others joined in, herding us along as they paralleled our path.
We made halting progress as she continued to keep one eye on the stampede and one eye on me, waiting for permission to bolt for home.
Just then each creature came up against the barbed wire at the edge of the pasture, her adrenaline slowed to a trickle and she returned to her easy gait: eyes on the path ahead, nose in the air ready for the next great adventure.