Happy Days…and I’m talking from a horse’s point of view! The horses have been out enjoying the warmer weather without their rugs on, nothing like soaking up a good bit of Vitamin D!
It was great the other day to turn out the two flat 3 yr olds, who are not that far off running. One is by Three Valleys (Snowy Valley) and the other by Exceed and Excel (Starlight Secret). They both got on very well with the older jumpers straight away. Red Not Blue was the boss of the herd but now the 3 yr old Snowy Valley has taken over. He claimed his authority without any fuss - just a bit of sign language!
One thing Monty Roberts said to me when he visited a few years back, was observe your horses as much as you can out in the paddock and it is amazing what you can see and learn about each one. It certainly is true and the herd mentality is fascinating. We are very lucky that we have the opportunity to allow the horses to be horses for a few hours each day during their rigorous training regime; it certainly helps them relax and be themselves.
The pecking order of the herd certainly changes from time to time and I have had horses at the bottom of the herd, they start running well or winning and you can see that they get more confidence from this and move up a place or two. Since Headly’s Bridge won, there has definitely been a change in him out there. He is much less of a push over to the horses above him.
Introducing younger horses can bring more interaction as they tend to like to play more and I have been seeing Red Not Blue playing with the Exceed & Excel 3 year old, Starlight Secret. They play with their heads and rear a bit at each other, all good harmless fun and they use and stretch different muscles that they normally wouldn’t.
Outside The Box on the right, with the two 3 yr olds
The two 3 year olds meeting Opera Prince (on the right)
From left to right: Starlight Secret, Snowy Valley and Red Not Blue
Headly's Bridge
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