Horse quirks

MiKael tagged me to write about the quirks that my horses display.

1. Back in 1999, I bought six mares from the Lucina Huzul stud. It turned out that all six had been covered before delivery, and next spring five foals appeared. The mares and foals together formed a band who stayed together, and the foals were not especially fussy from which mare they nursed. At least once I saw a mare with a foal nursing on each side. They are still a close-knit band.

2. I tend to leave the foals as late as possible before weaning, provided that the mare maintains condition. This has led to the sight of a just-turned yearling lying down on his belly, legs tucked under him, whilst reaching up to nurse.

3. Olga, who simply has to appear in this list, was bought as a 4yo in 2000. It appears that she had been raised for sale, and had been weaned very young. Consequently she preferred human company to equine, and proved partial to human food too: chocolate, cheese, sandwiches, etc. She's settled down to peaceful co-existance with the herd, however she remains highly independent and can easily be ridden away from the others.

4. Nelly, the alpha mare, and her daughter Lee are very much rulers of the herd. I have seen them together standing guard over a foal from the herd, left asleep on the ground by a negligent mother, not allowing any horse or person to approach.

5. Gelu, the old grey gelding, is an expert in removing his own headcollar and those of other horses. When stalled, he likes to remove his headcollar and wander around the barn, leaving droppings in the water and generally making noise. When I go out to see what is happening, there he is standing with his head down in the manger to hide the fact that he is untied. The others whom he liberates are learning this trick of hiding their heads in the manger too.

6. I have also caught Gelu and a large pig mutually grooming, which happened when I visited a pig farm owner and tied Gelu to a pig pen which was the most robust object around. The pig was quite tall when standing propped against the fence.

Overall, they are a mixed bunch. Some are distinctly quirky, others just go out and do a day's work in a quite regular way. That gives us plenty of lattitude to match horses to riders, anyway. We've had some quirky riders, like the man who wore a pith helmet (I didn't know that such things were still made) and sang to Olga around the trail. They got on very well.

I'm not sure who else to tag, as I'm near the top of the pyramid and most others whose blogs I read have been tagged already. However, based on their escaping so far, I'd like to suggest:

ELL in Maine.

Igallopon in New Mexico.

Two people in opposite corners of the US, let's see if their horses have similar quirks?

Comments

[Callie]

A pith helmet? OMG! I'm afraid I'd be laughing non-stop. Oh, I hope you have a picture of that!

[risingrainbow]

I couldn't believe the pith helmet either. That is really a hoot! But a horse grooming on a pig and a yearling nursing laying down sound like maybe you should be writing a book. Lol Thanks for playing along.

[Anne]

As we keep telling you, you must write a book. I want Gelu. Any horse that will mutually groom with a pig has to be a serious character.

And he hides his head so you won't see his halter is gone?!?! That's hysterical.

Very interesting post about very interesting horses.

[Victoria Cummings]

What smart horses you have! Where's the photo of Gelu and the pig? That's so funny!

[Scary]

Good list.

[BarnGoddess]

Gelu sounds like MY kind of horse :)

[Transylvanianhorseman]

Callie and RR: just see my next post. You will be rewarded!

Anne: I must get on with that book. In what Danielle describes as "our copious free time". How do people manage who also have children and a social life?

Victoria: Somewhere I have a photo of Gelu with the pig. I'll search.

BG: I can imagine you getting on well with Gelu. He is one of those once-in-a-lifetime horses that one never forgets. I hope that he makes it to a ripe old age like Scooter.

[Strawberry Lane]

What an interesting list of characters you have for your book ... that we are all waiting breathlessly to read.

Now Olga is something ... a little gourmet girl!

[Strawberry Lane]

I've lost the track, but you suggested somewhere about creating a tag about photos of people back when, in perhaps amusing situations. What a fun idea!