WHEN THE BARNYARD IS LIKE THE SCHOOLYARD… Please just all get along!

Now that Sam, Rojo and Remi have gone off to their lovely new digs, the horses left back home are jockeying for their new positions in their herds.

At the moment, I have 4 paddocks: The ‘upper deck’ with the trained horses (Gwen, Finn, BG and Wrigley), The ‘mid deck’ with the new horses (Missy Miss, Mo and Baby Bart), the ‘back of the house’ paddock with the delicate and special care horses (Annie, Norma and Dodger) and then the Big Pasture (5 acres) which I use in rotation for all three herds.

This is the back pasture and part of the big 5 acre pasture. I’m excited to see all the green after only 2 days of rain. Yay! Annie was in the 5 acre pasture and she bulldozed the fence to get into the nextdoor pasture to visit Missy Miss.

BARNYARD/SCHOOLYARD

But this morning, there was a skirmish.

Annie broke into the Mid Deck Paddock.

You see, I have Annie in with Norma and Dodger because they already liked each other and lived together in Grass Valley. And because I have hotwire in that paddock which I need for Annie because she breaks down any fence in her way.

However, I think Annie would like to share with Missy Miss.

Annie will always make herself as close as possible to Missy Miss, even though they are across the aisle from each other. Whenever Missy Miss is in the Big Pasture, the two girls will stand next to each other on either side of the fence.

Hmmmmm.

It was Missy Miss, Mo and Annie, followed way behind by Baby Bart. Usually, Annie is in her own pasture with Dodger and Norma. But overnight, she had pushed her way into this pasture.

Missy Miss, Mo and …. Annie. Annie likes Missy Miss – but she doesn’t belong in this pasture.

Why don’t I put them together?… For a coupla reasons right now.

1 – Annie needs to be in hotwire because she will bulldoze any fence. We have hotwire on her present pasture she shares with Norma and Dodger.

2 – I cannot put Missy Miss in with Annie because she chases Dodger.

3 – If Annie is stressed in any way, she will chase Baby Bart.

Sigh…

While I wait for Baby Bart to go back to LifeSavers (that was the deal in exchange for Sam), I have been deciding how I’d reconfigure the pastures so that Annie and Missy Miss could hang out. I haven’t figured out an answer… yet.

Finn and BG eating together, Wrigley and Gwen. They are at peace.

Poor Wrigley… I want to open the gate between Missy Miss, Mo and Baby Bart, but Missy Miss hates Wrigley. She goes after him with ears pinned and teeth bared, kickkickkick!

THIS MORNING.

Last night, I had let Annie, Norma and Dodger out in the huge 5 acre pasture.

This morning, I found Missy Miss, Baby Bart, Mo, Annie and Dodger all in the Mid Deck pasture – where only Missy Miss, Mo and Baby Bart had resided last night… Evidently, Annie had pushed her way into their paddock and a party ensued. Luckily, Dodger took shelter in the far end of the paddock. Missy Miss protected Baby Bart and Mo did circles.

Sigh.

Since Annie seemed to have lost some interest in harassing Baby Bart (he is bigger now…), I figured I’d remove Dodger first. Although he could easily have put himself back into his own paddock, instead, he was pleading with me to ‘do something, it’s all messed up!’ I always laugh at how horses can get themselves into new paddocks but they cannot figure out how to go back.

Anyway…

Norma had stayed back in her paddock. She was there, alone, probably trying to keep as far away from Mo (the new, white donkey) as possible.

Sigh.

I actually thought Mo and Norma could be friends.

Sigh.

I put a halter on Dodger and walked him back into the ‘back of the house’ paddock with Norma. He was relieved. Norma didn’t seem to care. She was eating breakfast.

I put out some food… look at Baby Bart. He has never liked me and I don’t think he ever will. It is heartwarming to me that he gets to go back to his friends at LifeSavers.

Uh Oh, here comes Annie… she thinks this trough is better than the one in the other half of the pasture where I had put her food… Annie is Boss. Look at Missy Miss’ tail swish!

Annie licks her lips, Mo stays steady, Missy Miss moves around to the other side. Baby is getting a last bite.

IN A FEW HOURS, MORE JOCKEYING

In a few hours, I went back out to make sure that Baby Bart was OK. I found the 4 of them huddled under the one tree with the shade triangle attached. (This is not the best pasture for a large horse like Annie.)

As soon as they saw me, they came over with Missy Miss in the lead (she is such a lovely mare!). Mo was behind her, then Annie and Baby Bart trailed. When Missy Miss stopped, they all stopped. So, this indicated to me that Missy Miss was the Boss.

Annie took her position and everyone else shifted

These three settled into this feeder. Annie likes donkeys and she likes Missy Miss. She does not like Baby Bart.

IF ONLY THEY’D JUST LIKE WHO I WANT THEM TO LIKE.

I want Mo to go live with Norma and Dodger. However, Norma and Dodger want nothing to do with him.

I want Annie to live with Missy Miss, but I also want them to live in a pasture large enough to shade Annie, which would mean they would have to live with Norma and Dodger – but Missy Miss chases Dodger.

I want Gwen, BG, Finn and Wrigley to be able to go out into the 5 acres with Missy Miss and Mo… except Missy Miss hates Wrigley and she double barrel kicks him non-stop. I have no idea what he did to her, but she absolutely hates him.

Baby Bart went into the other side of the paddock and the other feeder. He did this because of Annie. Normally he pushes Mo around and eats with Missy Miss.

SO…

At dinner time, I will move Annie back in with Dodger and Norma. I’ll let her play with Missy Miss today.

I do need more paddocks… and I am making a plan for the next time I have a big job and can afford a big fencing expense. I am thinking about the best way to make/divide a few more paddocks and some additional shelters.

But until then, I think I’ll keep it all status quo for now – until Annie decides to push down a fence for another neighborly visit!

Dodger was happy and safe back in his pasture.

Norma was thrilled to be away from all the excitement… she quietly ate while everyone else jockeyed for position.

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