It seems like every time I looked around recently I would see horses grooming each other. I realize that isn't terribly interesting, but I have to say it is cute to watch. It is fun to watch the horses form friendships and interact with each other. A few of the residents here had either never been turned out at all, or only been turned out by themselves prior to retirement, so they had never really had the opportunity to form strong social bonds. All of the horses here are turned out in small groups on several acres, even the horses that are stall boarded. It is so interesting to me to watch the horses learn to just relax and be, well, horses.
One thing I have noticed is that I will regularly see certain horses engaging in mutual grooming with other horses, and some horses I have never seen do this. For example, Elfin is an extremely social horse and has been since the day he arrived. Yet I have never seen him engage in mutual grooming. Teddy is another horse that has been making friends since he walked off the trailer but again I've never seen him grooming or being groomed by another horse, and the same for Harmony, Ogie and Buffy and a couple of other horses. I wonder why? Anybody have any thoughts on that? I guess it is possible that I've just never been in the right place at the right time to see them in the act, but after all this time I find that doubtful.
Here are a few very repetitive pictures I've taken in the last couple of weeks of some of the horses grooming each other. What is scary is I have a lot more pictures that look a lot like these that I could also post, but I won't bore everyone that much!
Sebastian and Faune. Sebastian is a little over 15 hands and Faune is just shy of 18 hands so Sebastian is really having to stretch!
Sebastian and Trillion
Leo and Apollo
Leo and Homer
Have you had enough for now? Are the horses all starting to look exactly alike?
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2 comments:
Just the opposite, I am now starting to be able to tell them apart!
Me too, I love looking at them doing fun stuff like that. Mine are doing the exact opposite right now. They whinney when you take them apart, but they've been kicking the crap out of each other recently, which they've never done before. It's two mares, ages 22ish and 7. Wonder if they are finally trying to establish who's alpha or something. The third little mare in the pasture with them just stays the heck out of it and says whatever.
Maybe yours are like people (I know some people hate comparing them to people, but you have to see some similarities sometimes). Some people like to be touched and rubbed and others cannot stand it.
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