07/13/2025
Loraine, Amelia and Ferin have settled in to Elsewhere enough to go out for re-release 🥰
Loraine has been with us for two years now. She was gathered pre-construction. She had a weeks old foal on her side and was already rebred. She has spent her time on Middle Ground raising her last foal and is finally ready to go be a herd leader.
Amelia has a few original herd mates who were healthy enough upon gather to go right to Elsewhere. Amelia was in pretty rough shape and living full time in active solar construction. She had a very difficult pregnancy and being an aged mare, she came to Middle Ground to heal and rehab.
Ferin is the new kid and a bit of an experiment. She, unlike all the Elsewhere herds, came from a former domestic situation and could not thrive in a rescue setting. There are hundreds of horses just like her sitting in rescues everywhere. They are HUGE drains on most rescues as the level of professional handling and time it would take in a program to get her even remotely safe for the general public to adopt is nearly impossible. These types horses have very few options, most are humanely euthanized for behavior. While this is an extremely responsible option and one we greatly rescues when that decision is made, what if Elsewhere could be a place for them too?
Each free roaming herd has been carefully put together, with different horses from different original herds. All different aspects went into forming these new family groups. Everything from individual personalities and dispositions, to introducing horses from other original herds so they can be safety blankets to other mares who would be added later. Most importantly each herd has atleast one mare that I can train to a whistle cue and get a tracker on.
Since there are no stallions, all herds are fully matriarchal which has been remarkable to observe and fascinating to learn how to adjust my own thinking and herd planning.
Presently we have three core herds:
"The Big Mares" which is the largest herd, led by lead mare Autumn. This herd consists of the older, more dominant mares and their coming yearlings. They are by far the boldest herd and have a wide range and for the most part, rule all of Elsewhere.
Amelia has several original herd members in the group and Loraine was born into Amelia and Autumns herd before branching off when she was a yearling.
"Junie's Crew" is led by an aged, take no sass type short tailed paint mare, Junie, senior mare CJ, a few young mares and their foals from this year. This group all came from the same herd, though they were gathered at various times. They travel the wooded contours and washed valleys.
Though they likely knew each other in passing, Amelia has no direct connection to anyone in the herd. However, the young mares are Loraines former herd mates and after leaving her birth herd, grew up with them until she was gathered. The three were extremely close, Loraine always the center of things.
"The shy ladies" is a small herd of "floaters". They mostly stay to themselves hidden in ridge country, but occasionally one will branch off and tag along with one of the larger herds before going back.
They have no relationship with the new releases.
I'm extremely curious to see which herd the new ladies decide to go with, or will they form the 4th Elsewhere herd and remain separate?
There is also a possibility of members from the two larger herds who are firmilar will fracture off to join Amelia and Loraine.
Typically, a newly released herd will stay in the area they are placed for a few days or a week before beginning to branch out and explore new range. Unless they are picked up by the established herds, these gals will likely do the same. They are right in the center of the two larger herds range to give them a chance to recognize both.
Ferin also adds an interesting piece to the puzzle. While she is friends with Loraine and Amelia, she doesn't know any of the Elsewhere mares. She can be a bit of a jerk in at times and can start unnecessary squabbles because she doesn't quite speak "wildling". She would fit well with the Big Mares, though they would put her in her place quickly. Junie would likely not tolerate her very well unless Loraine advocated for her.
Time will tell.
For me, this is the most exciting part of ALIs work as a whole. The behavior, herd dynamics and strategy of it all is beyond words to experience first hand. The perfect balance of letting horses be horses and a little helping hand from humans to allow it to happen harmoniously.
I'll try and get an update when they have picked a herd or if they form there own. It has been pretty hectic getting things ready to move, getting the Middle Ground crew settled and working out the kinks of the new setup.
Thank you to each and every donor, supporter or follower who makes this work possible and for your continued patience while we continue to navigate through this transition.
There is still so much to do and it's still pretty overwhelming to be truthful. But little moments like this remind me that moving up feels an awful lot like starting over in the beginning 🩷
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