A new horse started boarding at the stable where I keep my guy. I know this horse, he is retired from the therapeutic riding program I am involved with. He is a super guy, and had I not already had my horse when he came to the program, I most likely would have taken him up as ‘my own’, riding and keeping him in shape. He is what I always thought of as my kind of horse. Big warmblood, wonderful floaty gaits, etc. My horse, on the other hand, is a shortish Arab cross. If someone had told me when I was a teenager that I would not only own, but love and worship a 15.2-on-a-tall-day, Arab/Saddlebred cross who occasionally misplaces his brain, I would have laughed them right out of the arena. Rambling off, back to the story….
My guy is low man on the totem pole. His place in the herd is right above my friends yearling. Which is interesting, considering that his bestest buddy is an alpha mare. Apparently he is absolutely not, under ANY circumstances, going to let this new big guy take his prized spot in the herd. He is carrying on like a nincompoop, cornering the new guy, rearing, striking, biting and basically being as ass. Especially considering that the new horse is all ‘eh, whatever shorty’, and ‘didn’t I tell you that I am not particularly impressed by your behavior’, and I think I even heard him say ‘I don’t CARE about where I stand in the herd already!’ Fortunately nobody has gotten hurt, and I know once this is all over I will be laughing about it, but for now I wish he would just knock it off. It is new territory for me, as his demeanor is pretty easy-going for the most part (see low man in the herd status), and seeing him like this is strange. I do not know too much about his history, other than he had been starved (twice!) when he was young, the second time was because he had a moron for an owner who had him out with a bunch of mares who would not let him eat. I recently learned that he was gelded late, and that might help explain why some of the mares just love him. So, I have a horse with a Napoleon Complex. Who knew that could happen?
