dancing horses

dancing horses

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

An Upset in the Status Quo

As you know from my last post you know that Irish is being a bit of a bully with Carmen. I think that there's a few reasons-

1. Herd dynamics: there is always a hierarchy with horses. It might be subtle but it's there.

2. Weather: It.Won't.Stop.Snowing. Which means that the turn out space is limited. The horses are
feeling a bit cooped up and I don't blame them. Winter is like a house guest that won't leave.

3. Irish is missing Lexie. I know I'm anthropomorphizing here but I truly believe that he misses her. He's looks in her stall every morning and just seems to be looking for her.

I've taken to putting out 3 piles of hay spaced far apart so that Carmen can have access to hay without being chased away.

Today I let them out late because it had been (surprise!) snowing. They pranced around a bit and Irish had a great time rolling. Before Carmen would watch him with a look of horror. Today she sniffed, pawed, sniffed, pawed and then rolled. She looked like she find it surprisingly refreshing.

Carmen went to pile of hay and Irish chased her off. She went to go around to the other one and he body blocked her.  She turned around and I said 'For heavens sake give him a kick'. At that point she let fly with both heels-missing him but definitely a warning shot across the bow.
'whoa'  Irish backed up like he was on fire.

I swear that I  saw a light bulb go off over Carmen's head. With a squeal and a leap she chased him down into the small paddock while I laughed. She looked at me  like a cat that ate the Canary.

Last time I looked out Carmen was eating at the hay pile of her choice while Irish is down by the barn with a bemused expression on his face.

I am enjoying this young mare. Whenever I'm outside her gaze is locked on me. If a approach the gate she comes right down. While this may change once the grass is in I'm loving her attention.

8 comments:

  1. I'm sure she and Irish will become buddies soon :) Glad to hear she's making you so happy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think it generally takes at least 4-5 weeks for new herd members to really settle in together. They both have certainly had a lot of changes to adapt to. Sounds like Carmen has it all figured out though. Smart girl:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to see your girl is figuring things out! The description of her rolling in the snow was hillarious. She'll be a true Canadian before long!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't think she is going to stop looking for you. Mares are awesome that way. This story cracked me up. Good girl, Carmen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. HA! Irish, that's what you get for being a poo brain pony.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hehehe take that Irish!!!! I'm glad she stood up for herself. I bet they will be best friends in no time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not at all surprised to see her begin to state her obvious (female) superiority over the Boy. ;-)
    Snowed again last night here (grrr) but nothing like you've got - I feel your pain.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love the feedback.