 |
RE: [RC] sorting by colors - Tracey LomaxOne other interesting thing, I think horses are snobs! Besides the "color" sorting, the working horses seemed to have a higher status than the rest. If one of them joined the workers, or an unbroke horse started under saddle, they moved up the pecking order. Was a real lesson in "horse herd" social interaction. This I do see. I have one horse rising 16 who is in semi-retirement. He's hardly ridden but he's hauled out, dusted off and taken to a show occasionally where he wins, gets tickets and money, comes home and becomes a pasture ornament again. He used to be "king of the hill" but that title has now been taken over by my new baby, who is an up-and-coming-going-to-be-brilliant event horse. Barney is definitely top dog now, although he and Toc are paddock buddies. Toc has gone from being a thug and a bully to being more like Mark Rashid's "passive leader", the one who's been there and done that but no longer needs to let the world know how important he is. We also have another horse, big gelding who suffers from ongoing lameness issues (hey, so would you if you walked into telephone poles), and as a result is ridden sporadically. He's never really progressed from being a baby and was always bottom of the pile. Then last September I got another horse off the track (I do TBs in a big way) who was going to be a "spare" horse for Roderick but is turning into another potential event horse for me. I'm absolutely mad about him and ride him almost as much as Barney. As a result, he's starting to exert himself as well. He took over the pony, who has now gone back to my friend, so he's buddied up with Harry and playing protector against Barney. To really mix it up, I've taken in a livery with a tendon injury. I don't think he's a full TB, and none of my other horses (who have all been in TB herds for ages) will have anything to do with him, they loathe him. Even Harry tries to chase him. I find the dynamics fascinating, especially as they're at home. I have hung a hammock in the paddock and spend hours watching them. The hammock is another story for another day though, I'm in court and magistrate just walked in. Tracey =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|