ANNIE HAS NEW, SHORT AND PESKY FRIENDS!

How are your animals during thunder storms?

Mine are not so great… I mean, none of them are brand new animals. None of them have never before heard a thunderstorm. And, they have all survived them… But, for some reason, my animals (all of them) freak out during thunder storms.

Well, the new mare, Annie, is probably the worst of them all. She is 4 years old, grew up in Nevada where they have thunder storms, but she must miss her security herd because she becomes very upset with strong winds and … now I’ve learned… thunderstorms arrive.

So, this week we had a huge thunderstorm here in Northern CA (Thank you, Raingods!). And when I woke up and went down to feed, this is what I saw…

Ponies and Annie living together!

The morning after the thunderstorm, I went out to feed and lookey who was together! Annie and the ponies!

IMMEDIATELY, I CHECKED FOR DAMAGE… All were fine!

Immediately, I checked them all over for damage. They either had to go over, under or through a fence to get here… so which was it?

Hmmmm, no damage to the ponies… nor Norma, nor Annie. Yay!

So, what was broken, I wondered? How did they gain passage?

I shuffled off to look at the most obvious answer – and low and behold… the gate was gone.

Usually, there is a gate here separating the two pastures.

Here is Slick, hoping that he wasn’t in trouble but also quite proud of the new pasture improvement.

ANNIE AND DODGER PROBABLY COOKED THIS UP TOGETHER.

That gate has been there for years. It is too tall for the ponies to unhinge it. So, I think Annie did that part.

But, I think Dodger incited her to do it because he wanted his old pasture back anyway. As I’ve said previously, Dodger became depressed when I shut them into the smaller pasture to provide room for Annie.

I think Annie was happy to remove the gate because she had been spending a lot of time around that gate, sniffing the ponies. I think she was lonely and ready to make friends.

Then came the THUNDER – A perfect excuse to run amuck and rip off the gate!

Hence, new friends, an instant herd and a new pasture improvement brought to you by Big Annie.

Annie wasn’t talking but she was the only one tall enough to take the gate cleanly off its hinges.

: I noted that Annie seemed to really like Norma Jean, my donk. Of course, everyone likes NJ. However, in this pic, you can see that Norma was not too happy being pushed around by Annie. I watched closely and no harm was done. Just, “I’m the boss” stuff.

SO I LEFT THEM TOGETHER… SEEMS KINDA NICE FOR THEM.

The ponies are familiar with living with big horses. They’ve lived with Mama Tess, Gwen, Remi, Bodhi and Rojo. They know not to get fresh with Annie.

This was reaffirmed at dinner time when I witnessed Annie made ‘that face’ and the ponies went running as fast as their little feet could take them.

The hierarchy had been settled. Annie would eat first and alone. Norma could eat near her, but not share with her. The ponies had to eat somewhere else.

But, everyone was much happier together.

I’m glad it worked out. Thank you, Mother Nature!

Annie ate first and by herself. Norma could eat nearby… but the ponies had to be far away. Still, they all got along and seemed happier for the grouping.