Unexpected Glue

The younger herd!

My seven Fell Pony mares all were running together, spending nights on the hill and days in the paddocks where I can check them over and manage their caloric intake. They have delighted me by coming into the paddocks each morning, awaiting my arrival and morning greeting. Then the herd split in two, with half coming in and the other half staying out so that I had to go out searching for them. I was surprised by the glue that had kept them together and that I had removed.

The herd that has continued to come into the paddocks is the older three mares. The herd that has been expressing their independence is the three youngest: four-year-old Calista, her foal Mayflower, and yearling Aimee.

Herd dynamics always fascinate me. So when the mare herd split in two, I was curious what had changed. I knew I had made a change in the herd, separating Madie for part days in preparation for foaling. When she foaled, I removed her from the mare herd entirely to give she and her foal a chance to bond and then get used to life on the hill without pressure from more dominant ponies.

Madie ended up being the unexpected glue in the herd. Madie likes to be in the company of the older mares who are close in age to her. Aimee likes to be in the company of her mother. With Madie in the herd, these preferences kept the herd together because Calista didn’t want to be alone. With Madie removed, Aimee no longer had incentive to stay with the older mares, and Calista didn’t either with Aimee joining her band. So interesting! Recombining the herd is going to be fascinating when the time comes!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2021

If you enjoyed this story, you can find more like it in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.