Well, THAT's a first!

I finally brought in another old mare on Aug. 25 to add a "back up companion" to Ferouge and Mare Mare's 2-mare herd. Granny is slowly being accepted by MM & F, though she still wisely maintains a distance of at least 30' from the other two.

Just now, though, when I glanced up from the computer, I spied Granny out in the pasture, running toward MM & F, looking nervously over her shoulder. With a tree blocking my view, I couldn't see what she was running from. She ran behind MM & F and stopped there, completely ignoring her "safe" distance from them. The Arabs glanced up from their grazing for a moment, looking in the direction of the "chaser", and then put their heads back down to graze again. Granny, however, was still nervously trotting around behind them. MM & F then raised their heads again, and all ears pricked toward the intruder who I still could not see.

All of a sudden, emerging from behind the tree that had been blocking my view, stepped a buck who was clearly and deliberately advancing on the mares. What on EARTH was he doing??? He walked a few more feet toward them, but when they stood their ground, he turned around and trotted off again.

That's a first for me. I've never seen a deer try to intimidate a horse before, much less THREE horses. Silly beast!

Never a dull moment at Shadowood.

Laurie