New Herd Dynamics

Still not a lot of energy for some reason so I didn’t really mess with the horses too much. I should have gone for a ride on Chaos or Rain but didn’t. Instead I decided to pull Brego out and mess with him. When we got Brego I was told you couldn’t put a halter on him and that he was hard to catch. I walked out with the halter and leadrope in plain view and he let me put the halter on. It was a bit hard to get him to go to the barn but that was because of Bob. Brego knows he’s supposed to be behind the horses, mostly Bob. And of course Bob was up front wanting his grain.

It took a bit of maneuvering but I finally got Brego up to the barn and tied. He stands pretty well although he does paw every once in awhile. I ended up putting King, Dude, and Chaos into the smaller pen. I put Bob and Rain into the barn and let Sam wander around the larger dry lot.

The flies were bad so I groomed Brego down and put fly spray on. He stood like a gentleman. He loves to be groomed. I decided that I would try the fly mask. He took that like a pro too. So I went and got my bareback pad. Good thing I did. Stupid mice at a hole through part of it. Stupid mice. I threw the bareback pad on Brego and the only thing he did was flinch a little. Yesterday was the first time he’d had a saddle pad on in over a year. I tightened up the cinch, not a lot but wanted to see how he would reach to being cinched up and he didn’t care. I didn’t tighten it (mostly because I cant’ figure it out!) But he just stood there patiently letting me mess with him.

I decided that the flies were getting too bad so I stopped messing with Brego and groomed Sam down. The flies were terrible so I put a bunch of fly spray on Sam but it didn’t’ seem to work. I ended up going around to all of the horses and put fly spray on and ear stuff to make sure the gnats weren’t bothering the horses.

I decided last night to be brave. Instead of putting Sam and Brgo back into their small pen I decided that I would leave them out with the big herd. They are out with the big herd during the day so why not try it at night. My only concern was that they might push on the fence which is precariously in the ground as it is. I’m afraid one push from Bob’s butt and the fence and Bob would go toppling down.

When I went out this morning to let them out into the pasture all was good. No one had any extra scrapes or bangs on them. I guess everyone faired the night pretty well.

Dude was right at the gate with Bob in hot pursuit. I was surprised to see Bob trotting to the pasture. Then came the mass of Chaos, Rain, and King. I can usually egg them on into a lope if I holler at them to go. And of course they took off at a slow trot. Sam came next with Brego taking up the last spot. Those two went down the lane at a trot. Once Brego hit the pasture he let out a buck and tore across the pasture, which of course got Rain going into a gallop across the pasture too. So now I have TWO instigators (Brego and Rain).

I really do love watching the horses run through the pasture. I was surprised that Dude didn’t partake in the frolicking but I guess he wanted to be Bob’s shadow instead. What surprises me more is the herd dynamics now that they are all together. It used to be Bob and Rain as best friends. Sam and Brego as best friends. Chaos would pester Bob. Dude would be Bob’s shadow. King harasses Chaos and follows Dude. Now the dynamics are all different. Rain hangs out with Sam and Brego. Rain tolerates Brego to a point but will take after him. Dude is glued to Bob’s side even more. Chaos torments Sam and is Sam’s shadow. Chaos chases Brego. I’m not sure where King falls into the whole herd dynamics. It’s all very different than it was.
I’m sure the dynamics will change again when I introduce Maverick into the herd. I need to call the trainer today. We’ve been playing phone tag for the past three days. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Maverick doesn’t need more than the 30 days and he’s getting near the 30 days. I can’t afford anything more.

This afternoon I’m headed to the vets to pick up shots for the herd. I still need to order the rabies but I can’t get the west nile online or separate like I did last year. I guess it pays to know someone at a vets office. Hopefully it’s not too bad. If I administer the vaccinations myself I shouldn’t’ have to pay out the nose. I guess we’ll see how it goes.