Csarli Made New Friends!
Throughout my life, I have had many horses, often several at a time. I have bred and sold horses, so there has always been a herd. Recently, I sold many of them, ensuring they found good homes, and for almost a year now, I’ve only had two. It felt empty, and I talked to some people about possibly getting another horse. On Tuesday, a lady contacted me. She had heard from my farrier that I might have room for another horse. They were about to send one to slaughter, and they felt sorry for him. They sent a picture, and I was sold. Everything happened so quickly because the transport to the slaughterhouse was coming that same day, and they offered to bring the horse to me instead. I was informed that he had a ligament injury, so he couldn’t be used as a riding horse, and I fully understood this. He had ring shoes and long toes because he was originally meant for slaughter. When he arrived, things were a bit chaotic. My two horses, who had been alone together, were not exactly ready to let a new one in, but Csarli was calm and stayed away. Luckily, I have a very large open stable, so they each took a spot in different ends, allowing him to settle after the journey.
This is when it’s fun to study the horses and their communication. In my small herd, Maersk is the boss, and Mercedes is “under” him. In this situation, it was Mercedes who stepped up to show Csarli that he shouldn’t come close. She lunged at him and squealed a few times. Maersk was almost neutral, watching Csarli from a distance. Now, it was Mercedes who protected Maersk from this brown intruder, and she was on high alert. After a while, when she realized he wasn’t dangerous, the lunges became less frequent. When they started to get curious about each other, she still intervened, not letting Csarli sniff Maersk.
On Friday, I had the farrier come to remove Csarli’s shoes and trim his hooves, and the others wanted to join. They had already become friends, though their interactions were still measured. Yesterday, they moved as a unit to the pasture (I watch them secretly), and they looked like they had always been together!
You learn a lot by studying horses and letting them go through their routines and rituals calmly. My horses spend most of the day inside (they have an open stable of 30×70 meters) and then graze at night when the horseflies and flies are asleep. Now, we will observe how Csarli moves on his legs and try to trim and adjust his hooves so that hopefully, he will walk a bit better. You can never know everything about horses, and it is as interesting to study them now as it was 50 years ago 🙂
Do you also study your horse/herd?
