Cash and Companions and Herd Dynamics

When I first moved Cash from his wonderful home with a herd of 6 or 7 other geldings to the solitude of the acreage, I was concerned that he would be unhappy.  I contemplated this for months before moving him but decided to do it anyway, maybe he would be OK with being alone.  He was NOT OK with being alone!  By about day 4, he was fed up and let me know as much by running, grunting, bucking, grunting, kicking, more grunting ... just generally carrying on like a madman.  I was a bit concerned for his safety actually, thought he might try to climb the fence out of desperation so I kept him confined in his pen which made him even more crotchety.

As luck would have it, my niece was going on holidays at about that time and I was asked to look after her horse while they were away.  So Cash was reunited with his old partner in crime, Benji, and boy, was he excited!  It took all of 5 seconds for them to remember each other.  Then Cash took a look around, realized he was now in the open pasture, galloped full speed to the west, realized "oops!" there's a fence in the way, BRAKES BRAKES!!!  Unfortunately for Cash, it had rained the night before and the grass was super slippery ... he left skid marks in the grass for about 30 feet right up to the fence!  Yikes!  But he got stopped in time and without missing a beat, spun around, ran off in the other direction and hasn't looked back since.  My niece and her family returned from vacation and dove straight into harvest so Benji has stayed with Cash for a bit longer than intended ... but they're not complaining!

About 2 weeks ago, I was contacted by someone looking to board a horse in this area.  She came out to have a look, she seemed nice, she liked the place.  So now her gelding has joined the herd.  And I'm kind of excited to have someone to ride with!

This is Doc ...

So the million dollar question was who will be the alpha?  No matter where Benji goes, he is always in charge.  No debate. At their old boarding farm, Cash was Benji's right-hand man and when Benji left, Cash assumed the role of head honcho, had a pretty big head about it actually!  The word on Doc when I knew he was coming is that he is a bit of a big man on campus.  So, three rather dominant horses in the same pasture.  For a bit I wondered what I had gotten myself into!  But Google reassured me that with a logical plan and some supervision, the herd will sort themselves out.

So for the first day, Doc was alone in the pen while Cash and Benji roamed free.  Doc wasn't happy but put some hay in front of his face and he seems to forget his worries. 

The second day, Benji was in solitary confinement while Cash (the less dominant of the two) and Doc got acquainted.  Benji wasn't happy but Cash and Doc seemed to come to an understanding fairly quickly: Doc is in charge, Cash was OK with that. 

Today, Benji got to rejoin the group, I wasn't quite sure how that would shake out since Doc's true colours are starting to show.  There was some kicking and squealing and pinned ears with Cash as the "buffer" in the middle but it wasn't long before they trotted off to the far end of the pasture to graze for the day.  Last I checked, there was peace.

I'll probably be repeating this process again next week when I bring home my new horse, Cruize.  I am quite excited about it!  I believe that Cruize is quite passive and won't challenge the leaders so the transition will (hopefully!) be easier.  My belief/hope is that Cruize will be easier to ride than Cash  and will serve as a confidence booster which will help me work with Cash more effectively.  And he's just a beautiful horse in his own right that I expect I will enjoy having.

Overall, I am enjoying the herd quite a bit.  I drive out there at least once a day to check on them, take care of their needs, say hello, mess around with them if I have time.  Cash, being my favourite, is loving the attention and his big attitude is coming back down to a manageable size and his friendly goofy personality is coming back.

And just one last funny picture: Lilly the contortionist.  She was being a nut case and I was trying to work so I confined her to her crate for the day.  When I found her this way I literally checked if she was dead or alive or what!  Turns out she was just napping ... and perhaps a little bit of protest at being crated.  Phew!  That's my silly Lilly hehe.