Phantom at the Gate
/The Three Sisters - my homebred Fell Pony mares Rose, Honey and Madie - had finished their feed buckets. I opened the two gates required for them to go out to pasture. Then it was time to untie them and take their halters off. First, I untied Madie and let her loose, and she trotted off to the gate. I walked to Honey next and untied her. I was also watching Madie, as she went through the first gate, but something between the two gates in the small densely-vegetated paddock between them spooked her, and she spun and came back into the main paddock. Honey wasn’t watching, and she trotted through the first gate and then suddenly detoured into the weedy paddock. Apparently there was some phantom at the gate scary enough to keep the two mares from the enticement of the green grass of the pasture. Very odd!
Lastly, I went to untie Rose. She is the most food oriented of the three as well as being the herd leader. She knew the other two had headed out of the paddock towards green and was giddy to join them but didn’t seem aware of or concerned about the behavior of the other two. I untied Rose, and she quickly went into a strong trot through the first gate, past the weedy paddock, and out to pasture. The other two mares overcame their concern of whatever had bothered them and headed out to pasture, too. The photo here shows Rose headed out at a trot, as Madie and Honey evaluate the situation from their positions.
Two days later, when next my management of these ponies was identical, the same pattern played out. There was apparently, again, a phantom at the gate that kept Madie and Honey from leaving alone. Rose, though, was once again their intrepid leader, focused on her goal, and pulling the other two along in her wake. Herd dynamics are so fascinating!
© Jenifer Morrissey, 2024
More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.
