09/05/2023
In this picture I see three little stories. The setup is such that we have long pasture tracks to the back with a wide grazing area there and near the barn there’s another wider area that funnels to the narrow gate area where you see the three of them.
Skinny Finnie the Pooh on the right needs extra feed so he gets a lot of extra hay, among other things. Since he’s the boss of the herd, it works out well cause he can stand there and eat happily. Once the other two finish their flake of hay, Opie, the little tough one in the middle that you can barely even see, makes her way up to Finn and joins him. I’m good with that cause she’s growing and can use the extra for sure. Finn is good with it too once he’s had a good amount of hay.
Today we also have Howie there, he’s the gorgeous round copper bum on the left, strategically having Opie as a buffer and sneaking a few morsels of hay very quietly. He doesn’t need the extra, so less is better which again works out great.
Howie ended up with a bug on his side, but dared not swish his tail too hard or he would hit the electric fence. Same reason he didn’t swing his head around. He did that a while ago and learned not to do it again. Smart boy.
So he just stood, flicking his skin, waiting for the pest to leave, but staying put to grab a few more bites of hay. Again, smart boy.
While I’m typing this, Finn caught on to the sneaky hay thieves and decided three’s a crowd and with some hoof stomping and ear pinning he dispatched Opie and Howie in one teeth-bared charge. The hay is all his now, herd order is intact. He bares his teeth but tends to not actually bite, as long as the others heed his fair warning.
Herd dynamics are hard on the human heart, but they are necessary and they are good for our horses. The only time I interfere is if there is excessive chasing where a horse can’t get at the food or water resources. Otherwise I allow them to learn that there’s a leader who will hog things and you just have to be patient for your turn, and the lower horses learn to yield to pressure and exactly how big or small the lead horse’s bubble is. They learn to respect the warnings before they lead to a bite or kick, provided the leader is fair enough to give such warnings. Some give more, some give less, and it depends on their mood sometimes too.
I prefer to be the owner of the underling cause alpha horses tend to get dirty looks from humans, even though most horses are very happy to have a lead horse they can follow. Life is easier that way. The lead horse has an important job to look out for trouble and defend his herd, it’s a tiring responsibility. And I’ve found that when my horse was lower ranked she was easier to manage for me too, having learned to yield to pressure and what happens when you defy the pressure of a lead horse or human.
Large herds on large fields often build little friendship groups within the herd too. I love seeing larger herds, but we have too many specific feeding needs and medication needs here so we end up with herds of two or three per track.
It’s so much fun to watch them and learn from their interactions. Who is sassy, who is timid, who runs the show and how fair are they. Who’s a slow learner and gets bites cause they ignored the warnings and who dares to challenge the leader cause they can leap sideways with ease if the leader doles out a bite or kick.
My boy Atlas tends to be slow and dull to the warnings and has had some pretty serious bites cause he was in with a leader who goes from warning to delivering a bite very quickly. Not an ideal match, so we’re working on a new scenario. I’ll keep you posted on that.
But these three are good, the lead horse is fair and the two followers are respectful. Great lessons for the filly to learn as she grows.
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