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A couple geese decided to spend some time in the dirt pasture on Sunday. I don't know why they'd want to hang around in that pasture, since 1) It's dirt and 2) there's nothing to eat and the only nearby water is a drainage pond which is full of runoff from the dirt pasture - in other words, NOT a place waterfowl would want to swim around or nest.
But the pair decided to claim one of the few non-muddy parts of the pasture for themselves. Being geese, they made a loud fuss whenever one of the horses would come near. The horses, being horses, decided to avoid the noisy aggressive bird monsters. You never know, they might be horse eaters, after all. Unfortunately, the spot the geese had chosen wasn't terribly far from the stock tanks, so some horses would start to head down for a drink only to be greeted by honking and wing flapping and hissing along the way. This kept up until the end of the day when we turned out the last of the school horses, including Firecracker.
Firecracker is an old gelding, but aside from the white hair growing in on his face, you wouldn't know it. Even at almost 32, he's king of the herd and doesn't put up with any troublemakers. Normally, he'll ignore disputes and attempts to move up in the ranks from the other horses unless they directly affect him or just get annoying.
So we turned out the last of the trail ride horses and they did their usual rolling and such. Firecracker found a good spot and flomped on down to cover himself in dirt and mud. The geese decided, however, that 'Cracker's rolling spot was too close to the little patch they'd claimed as theirs. Stupid geese.
Firecracker's first response was to startle and get back on his feet. Then there was maybe a second or two of him looking at the geese with a look like "Oh no you didn't!" Then he went after 'em.
After that, the dirt pasture was goose free. When I was leaving, I noticed a pair of geese in the front ring. I suspect they were the would-be invaders, who'd decided that the horse-free front ring was a safer choice than the dirt pasture with the grumpy gelding in it.
But the pair decided to claim one of the few non-muddy parts of the pasture for themselves. Being geese, they made a loud fuss whenever one of the horses would come near. The horses, being horses, decided to avoid the noisy aggressive bird monsters. You never know, they might be horse eaters, after all. Unfortunately, the spot the geese had chosen wasn't terribly far from the stock tanks, so some horses would start to head down for a drink only to be greeted by honking and wing flapping and hissing along the way. This kept up until the end of the day when we turned out the last of the school horses, including Firecracker.
Firecracker is an old gelding, but aside from the white hair growing in on his face, you wouldn't know it. Even at almost 32, he's king of the herd and doesn't put up with any troublemakers. Normally, he'll ignore disputes and attempts to move up in the ranks from the other horses unless they directly affect him or just get annoying.
So we turned out the last of the trail ride horses and they did their usual rolling and such. Firecracker found a good spot and flomped on down to cover himself in dirt and mud. The geese decided, however, that 'Cracker's rolling spot was too close to the little patch they'd claimed as theirs. Stupid geese.
Firecracker's first response was to startle and get back on his feet. Then there was maybe a second or two of him looking at the geese with a look like "Oh no you didn't!" Then he went after 'em.
After that, the dirt pasture was goose free. When I was leaving, I noticed a pair of geese in the front ring. I suspect they were the would-be invaders, who'd decided that the horse-free front ring was a safer choice than the dirt pasture with the grumpy gelding in it.