This evening I discovered something new about Fox that I was not expecting at all. Last Sunday Cowboy got a nasty gash on his head.
In the interest in making Cowboy as comfortable, and stress free as possible I moved Fox in to Seneca's pasture. I really did not want to do that. Even living in adjacent pastures those two are far too attached to one another and I do not want to add fuel to a herd binding fire. And I was also afraid Seneca would pick on Fox and bully him as she does Cowboy.
Yet that is sooo not what happened. I fed Cowboy first, then grabbed Fox's feed pan from the field, both his and Seneca's grain buckets, and a lunge whip. I was not taking any chances that Seneca might snap at Fox and he or she might run me over. I swished the whip around as I entered to get both of them away from me and the tempting grain then walked out to Seneca's dish and filled it first.
I expected her to squeal, flick her feet at Fox and send him off. Nope. Fox dug in to the first pan of food while Seneca stood there confused and disgruntled. I went and filled the second pan while Seneca and Fox had their stand off. In the end Fox won and Seneca slunk towards me where she proceeded to eat her loser's meal. Interesting.
I then proceeded to get everyone's hay from the hay shed. Cowboy's hay went in to the run-in shed, where he quite happily chowed down in his newly established bachelor's pad. After I divided Seneca and Fox's hay I treked through their pasture towards the house. When I looked back at the two OTTB's, Fox was leaving off hoovering up Seneca's dropped grain and was telling her to get away from his hay pile, which she did and went to the other pile as meekly as a toddler being put in time out.
Where did the High Queen go? Where is my mare beast who is the most dominant horse in the pasture? How is Fox suddenly the King of all? I didn't see it coming, but Fox is the most dominant horse in my herd.
In the interest in making Cowboy as comfortable, and stress free as possible I moved Fox in to Seneca's pasture. I really did not want to do that. Even living in adjacent pastures those two are far too attached to one another and I do not want to add fuel to a herd binding fire. And I was also afraid Seneca would pick on Fox and bully him as she does Cowboy.
Yet that is sooo not what happened. I fed Cowboy first, then grabbed Fox's feed pan from the field, both his and Seneca's grain buckets, and a lunge whip. I was not taking any chances that Seneca might snap at Fox and he or she might run me over. I swished the whip around as I entered to get both of them away from me and the tempting grain then walked out to Seneca's dish and filled it first.
I expected her to squeal, flick her feet at Fox and send him off. Nope. Fox dug in to the first pan of food while Seneca stood there confused and disgruntled. I went and filled the second pan while Seneca and Fox had their stand off. In the end Fox won and Seneca slunk towards me where she proceeded to eat her loser's meal. Interesting.
I then proceeded to get everyone's hay from the hay shed. Cowboy's hay went in to the run-in shed, where he quite happily chowed down in his newly established bachelor's pad. After I divided Seneca and Fox's hay I treked through their pasture towards the house. When I looked back at the two OTTB's, Fox was leaving off hoovering up Seneca's dropped grain and was telling her to get away from his hay pile, which she did and went to the other pile as meekly as a toddler being put in time out.
Where did the High Queen go? Where is my mare beast who is the most dominant horse in the pasture? How is Fox suddenly the King of all? I didn't see it coming, but Fox is the most dominant horse in my herd.
No comments:
Post a Comment