It was such a beautiful day today after all this rain we have had! I got out Rocko's harness and cart and then put him in the round pen to do a little jog at liberty for a warm up and he was lame! Had I walked him out to hitch I wouldn't have noticed as he was fine at the walk.
I have two paddocks that are separated by a gate and Annie is kept on one side and the two geldings on the other because she bullies everyone and eats their food. Last night I could hear Annie squealing so went out to see what was going on. It was dark, but when I got there I could see I had accidently left the connecting gate open. I guess she must have been kicking the snot out of poor Rocko! I am thinking maybe he is just badly bruised and hoping it is nothing worse. I did a little ground work with him yesterday and jogged with him on the lead and he was fine so something happened.
So since I couldn't drive him today I thought about driving her, but I was just so irritated by her I thought I better not transfer my anger. She bullies even when food is not involved too. I've done some timing, and she can eat 2 lbs of hay in 1 hour out of a nibble net. They are still eating theirs 3 hours later. The lady that gave her to me had let her founder before and said she had had her on a diet and she was big when I got her, but the woman kept her with full size horses so she may have had to eat her food in a hurry and developed this habit. I don't know. She is definitely not starving and gets fed 3 x a day and turn out too. She cruises around and pins her ears at the other horses and I don't let everyone together unless I am home but am thinking I might not let her mix with them anymore except through the rails or in the pasture when she is too busy eating to bother.
It is supposed to rain for the next two days so who knows when I can drive again. Annie is fun to drive and seems to like it, but the bully factor makes her a little hard to love sometimes. I can't say I really like her personality.
