Lessons on Becoming a Horse

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I am sitting at my dining room table overlooking our little pasture. What has transpired in the past hour is worthy of a post all its own, and while not originally intended to happen today or quite this way, I am amazed at the animals' ability to let their instincts govern their behavior.

Earlier today I had turned Takoda out with Laramie as we have been doing. Laramie may not want Takoda in her space, but he respects her, and she cares about him as evidenced by her behavior (standing watchfully nearby) when he was laid out on the ground in pain from colic. Thus far I have kept Beauty (14 year old OTTB grey mare) and Tonka (13 year old quarter horse [QH] gelding) in the barn during Takoda's turnouts, simply because Tonka is VERY dominant and Beauty clings to him seemingly for her very survival. Today was no different except that either Beauty or Takoda managed to knock down the rails at one end of the barn, and I came out to find Beauty and Takoda in a far corner grooming each other affectionately! Poor Tonka was whinnying pitifully in the barn all alone, so I decided it was time to introduce him to the pack as well.

I expected fireworks, but what I did not expect was for Beauty to prance around like a diva with her tail in the air, trying to rile up the two boys! Well, rile she did! Tonka, who had "owned" Beauty since her arrival, was not keen on the fact that she seemed smitten with the new boy! He immediately went for Takoda, bucking and kicking, and it was then that I realized Takoda still does not know how to behave like a horse. He is still quite clueless as to the "Ask, Tell, Demand" order in which horses warn other horses to move. He stood there, ears pricked forward, curious, expectant, wanting to meet this new friend face to face, when he was suddenly slammed in the chest with Tonka's hoof! Takoda took off around the barn and slid (and I mean wiped out!) in the mud, but was quick to get up before Tonka had a chance to pummel him again. Takoda ran to Laramie for help, but she moved him off just wanting to be left alone. In fact, poor Laramie came to us at the fence as if to say, "Do I really HAVE to babysit these idiots?"

When Tonka realized he was not about to get Beauty back, he turned to harassing Laramie, which was sad to watch. He kept moving her from one hay pile to the next until he had satisfactorily shown all of them that he was still boss of her. Whether or not he really is remains to be seen, but to pacify him, Laramie obediently moved when he asked.

As I sit here watching the two grey mares and the bay and chestnut geldings, less than an hour after the excitement began, they are all grazing on hay peacefully within a horse length or so away from each other. No one is excluded; no one is fighting. It appears they all have worked out their differences and each knows where he or she stands in the herd.

Instincts are amazing mechanisms for survival!