Post by Pam on May 4, 2013 9:45:44 GMT -5
I love watching herd dynamics. A couple days ago I got a new mare in. After spending a couple of days in the barn, I decided to put her out with Solar and Bibbidi, who are good friends. Since Bibbidi is the dominant mare, the plan was to put Bibbidi and Dragon out together first and let them work out who was alpha horse, then add Solar. The first part of the plan worked fine. I put Dragon in the field, then put Bibbidi out. After charging at Dragon a couple of times, with Dragon simply walking a few steps away, Bibbidi was satified that she was still the boss and they were fine. Then I put Solar out there and all of a sudden Bibbidi turned into a spoiled little girl. "Solar is MY friend and you can NOT play with her" was the exact message she repeatedly tried to send to Dragon, lol. She was relentless, chasing Dragon to the far end of the paddock and positioning herself between the other two, who continued to try to get to know each other. I figured it would end after a few minutes, but it didn't. So finally, I banished Bibbidi to the barn for the day and Solar and Dragon were soon grazing side by side. Today, I moved some other horses around to open up another paddock and Bibbidi is out in it by herself while Solar and Dragon are enjoying each other's company. Kids..........
