Pasture, Take 3!

The new stable is working out really well for Calvin. Today we transitioned him out of the stall and into the pasture. We first introduced Calvin to one of the current pasture horses (there are two of them) in the large arena. Calvin ran and ran, but the other horse, "Dude," just wouldn't run with him! Dude is 19, so perhaps he didn't see any reason to run with such a youngster. That didn't slow Calvin down though, he ran until he was tired.

"This fence is in the way of food"

I then walked him around, rinsed him off, then stuck him in the pasture. He gets along really well with "Quest" the other horse in the pasture, a mellow Thoroughbred, and they were eating together. The other horse, "Dude," is a National Show Horse which means he's 3/4 Arabian and 1/4 Saddlebred. He was making sure Calvin knew that his place was on the bottom of the pack, so he chased Calvin around a little bit, but not near as much as Graf chased him. Still it was painful to watch as Dude would bite Calvin on the butt hard, but Calvin would barely move away, almost as if someone just tapped his shoulder. We were like "Calvin run away stupid horse!" but apparently he is thick skinned.

They aren't best friends yet, that usually takes a few weeks. In the meantime, Calvin is enjoying the space and ability to run around. He also is adjacent to a larger pasture with more horses that he can socialize with on the other side of the fence as well. I think he's happy to live the more natural lifestyle. 

When I went to leave, he cantered up to me in the corner here. Is he not the most precious thing?

On the far left you can see Quest.