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Bond. James Bond.
Jun. 20th, 2005 10:31 amAlternate subject line: Double Oat Seven
There's another new gelding at the barn. He's a bay pony named James Bond, though everyone calls him JB. JB is one of three horses that Don'd looked at that were being sold by a woman who ran a small lesson stable. He's no youngster, but is pretty much exactly what we need to replace the late Miss Ellie. JB is a quiet easygoing guy. So much so that Don was a little worried about how he'd fare on Sunday which was his first day turned out in the pasture with all the other school horses.
Usually, a new horse in the herd goes through a period wherein all the other horses try to push 'em around and bully them so that they can figure out where he'll fit into the hierarchy. Until now, the only horse I've seen not go through that is Pumpkin. Apparently Pumpkins super cuteness powers also affect other horses, since he had 'em just about fighting each other in order to hang around him when he arrived. JB doesn't have that amazing power, so there was some concern that such a quiet guy would get beaten up a bit.
So I went out back to check up on him a couple times. Both times, he was hanging around with horses of various ranks in the herd and there was no ear pinning, no nips, no threats or crowding, just everyday herding about. That was odd, but good. Heck, I even saw him hanging around with Cappucino and Angel, the 2nd and 3rd ranking mares who like to beat up geldings on general principle. That was very strange, since when JB arrived and was put into the stall next to Angel, she was NOT happy about it. She bounced around and kicked and bit at the bars and such to let him know she didn't want him living next door.
Still, it was odd that he wasn't even getting any dirty looks from the other horses. That is, it was odd until I turned Amigo out a little later in the afternoon.
Amigo is an upper-mid ranking guy and decent sized. He doesn't get pushed around much. When I turned him out, he spotted the new horse and went over to investigate. There was a brief period of snuffling and inspecting. Now normally, this is where Amigo would see how this new guy fit in by being pushy. Instead, JB went on the offensive, nipping and chasing Amigo a bit. Any time Amigo'd come close, JB would go after him. Any other horses near Amigo would also get a bit of bullying, just for good measure. Soon it all ended and it was back to herding as usual.
All this leads me to believe that JB is a pretty clever fellow. I suspect he's been the new guy in a herd often enough that he's decided to avoid the breaking-in tradition and that the best defense is a good offense. Obviously it works pretty well.
Of course, he hadn't had to deal with Firecracker yet. Since Firecracker was working on the trail rides, he was one of the last horses turned out. They were all too busy enjoying the grass pasture when I left, so I didn't get to see the inevitable confrontation between 'Cracker and JB. I can almost guarantee that Firecracker won. He may be an old guy, but he's one gelding you dont' mess around with.
I took a few pictures of JB. I'll upload any that're worth looking at, later.
There's another new gelding at the barn. He's a bay pony named James Bond, though everyone calls him JB. JB is one of three horses that Don'd looked at that were being sold by a woman who ran a small lesson stable. He's no youngster, but is pretty much exactly what we need to replace the late Miss Ellie. JB is a quiet easygoing guy. So much so that Don was a little worried about how he'd fare on Sunday which was his first day turned out in the pasture with all the other school horses.
Usually, a new horse in the herd goes through a period wherein all the other horses try to push 'em around and bully them so that they can figure out where he'll fit into the hierarchy. Until now, the only horse I've seen not go through that is Pumpkin. Apparently Pumpkins super cuteness powers also affect other horses, since he had 'em just about fighting each other in order to hang around him when he arrived. JB doesn't have that amazing power, so there was some concern that such a quiet guy would get beaten up a bit.
So I went out back to check up on him a couple times. Both times, he was hanging around with horses of various ranks in the herd and there was no ear pinning, no nips, no threats or crowding, just everyday herding about. That was odd, but good. Heck, I even saw him hanging around with Cappucino and Angel, the 2nd and 3rd ranking mares who like to beat up geldings on general principle. That was very strange, since when JB arrived and was put into the stall next to Angel, she was NOT happy about it. She bounced around and kicked and bit at the bars and such to let him know she didn't want him living next door.
Still, it was odd that he wasn't even getting any dirty looks from the other horses. That is, it was odd until I turned Amigo out a little later in the afternoon.
Amigo is an upper-mid ranking guy and decent sized. He doesn't get pushed around much. When I turned him out, he spotted the new horse and went over to investigate. There was a brief period of snuffling and inspecting. Now normally, this is where Amigo would see how this new guy fit in by being pushy. Instead, JB went on the offensive, nipping and chasing Amigo a bit. Any time Amigo'd come close, JB would go after him. Any other horses near Amigo would also get a bit of bullying, just for good measure. Soon it all ended and it was back to herding as usual.
All this leads me to believe that JB is a pretty clever fellow. I suspect he's been the new guy in a herd often enough that he's decided to avoid the breaking-in tradition and that the best defense is a good offense. Obviously it works pretty well.
Of course, he hadn't had to deal with Firecracker yet. Since Firecracker was working on the trail rides, he was one of the last horses turned out. They were all too busy enjoying the grass pasture when I left, so I didn't get to see the inevitable confrontation between 'Cracker and JB. I can almost guarantee that Firecracker won. He may be an old guy, but he's one gelding you dont' mess around with.
I took a few pictures of JB. I'll upload any that're worth looking at, later.
