New Pasture Puffs

Calvin has two new roommates now! They are both palomino Quarter Horses, aren't they pretty? They belong to the barn manager, I guess they were therapeutic riding horses but eventually they weren't sound anymore, so now they're retired. I don't know their names yet, but the one in front is a gelding and the one behind is a mare.

Now we have 3 geldings and a mare, so much competition for the boys! I was curious to see how introducing new horses into the pasture would go. I heard that Calvin was pushing them around for a few days, but today when I finally was able to go out things seemed to be pretty calm! It was clear Calvin was in charge, he'd pin his ears and they'd hustle out of his way. I guess he's the big man in charge now, seems like just yesterday he was the one being pushed around!

It's hard to watch a herd establishing hierarchy because they don't do it nicely. It involves lots of teeth and hooves being thrown around. However, it typically takes around a week for herd order to be established and then things are back to normal. It was hard for me to watch at first when Calvin was the one being picked on, but now I realize that's just the way horses establish order. Obviously if the horses were in serious danger and didn't have access to food or water then we'd intervene, but they've adapted well. That's the good thing about him being a mustang, he's spent all 4 years of his life living with other horses learning social skills. So while he may look aggressive when trying to prove his status, I'm confident he won't continually bully like some anti-social horses tend to do. My suspicion was confirmed today when I saw them all sharing the same hay net.

I decided to give the pasture ponies a break and take Calvin out for a ride. We went on the trails today to change things up. He started by spooking at a mud puddle that we've walked through probably 10 times in the past, so I wasn't sure how the rest of the ride would go. However, Calvin was really well behaved, even staying calm despite distant gunshots and scary birds. A park ranger came up and asked me about whether gravel is bad for horses' feet. They are re-doing the equestrian trails in the park and there's gravel around from the construction. He probably asked the wrong person that question because I said,"oh I always try to find gravel to toughen his feet up!" But I did include "well, most people's horses have sensitive feet and they may try and avoid the gravel." He confirmed that some ladies complained about the gravel, pssh, that's what hoof boots are for! I guess I'm the only endurance rider around ;)

See that small dark spot on the concrete left of the dam? That's a heron and yes, it was terrifying to Calvers!