February 17, 2011 Montana Meets Stormy

Today Rick, River Glen Farm's horse wrangler, and I discussed adding one of our other horses to Montana's field. Since his arrival Montana has been kept in a paddock by himself so he could settle in without distraction or competition, but today we decided it was time to bring him a buddy to live in his field. Horses are herd animals and they like company. Even though Montana is a big boy he is old and very fragile,so this had to be taken into consideration when we made our selection for his paddock mate. We decided on Stormy a little tan and white mini. He's a sweet little guy and we have never seen him kick or bite at another horse. Most of the times when horses are first introduced to each other there is a lot of whinnying and squealing and even kicking at each other. Occasionally one horse will chase out after the other. Fortunately when we introduced Montana to Stormy there was none of that. Stormy ambled over to Montana, they put their noses together and sniffed each other then lowered their heads and started grazing. Stormy had been in a paddock with Atlas a handsome shiny black Friesian gelding, Comet an eight month old black Friesian colt and Monet a black Welsh/Hackney pony. Atlas would allow Comet to eat with him but he always chased Monet and Stormy away. When Cowboy fed them he had to put out three piles of hay so that Stormy and Monet got to eat. As of yesterday evening, when Cowboy put out the evening pile of hay for Montana, Montana allowed Stormy to eat right along side of him. I think they are going to be good companions even though one of them is a giant and the other is a runt. I hope to get a picture of these two this week-end. A philosophical note: In life the most interesting and rewarding friendships are often forged from people who's lives don't mirror our own. Diversity rounds off our rough edges. Gemma