A couple months ago I had the chance to get another horse called Shorty, who, at 16 hands 1 high, is anything but short! He is a Standardbred gelding, just turned 19 and is proving to be quite a gentleman. I have him agisted at a friend's farm and even she has complimented him on him being so good. When I saddle him up, he lowers his head so that I can put his bridle on and he stands still when I am getting on him. Of course I use a mounting block because I am not 10 years younger and it takes a bit more effort. The first time I rode him out of the farm, we walked across the road and down through the bush. He carefully picked his way over the rocks and dirt, mindful of me riding him and slowed his walk to keep alongside the other horse and its rider.
On the day we picked Shorty up, we drove to the next place to pick up a horse called DJ. We took Shorty off the float and put him in a small yard to wait and in the next yard was Harry. Harry was the dominant horse of the stud so Shorty went over to say hello. He went up close to him and touched noses with him over the fence. In a moment, Harry squealed at him and Shorty walked away back to the furthermost side of his yard, away from Harry. He took a drink from the dish, came over to me and I reassured him and patted him before he walked away.
A second time Shorty approached Harry, nudged noses again and this time Harry not only squealed but he also gave a threatening snort and kick - not to make contact but just to let Shorty know who the boss was. Again, Shorty walked away. After some thinking time, he came over to Harry, nudged noses for the third time, then as Harry went to retort, Shorty moved away, turned his back and gave a little kick out at him. He was letting Harry know that he wasn't going to be threatened by him.
Move forward a couple months later and he has completely settled in and is looking great! Lynne has put him with the other older horse and the 2 of them can graze as much as they like. The other horses aren't quite as fortunate as they need to keep to a regular diet so they don't get fat. When Sinbad is having his hard feed, Shorty is on his own and he looks longingly over at all the other horses, wishing he could join in.
A couple weeks ago, Lynne picked up a couple of rescue mares who needed fattening up. She kept them in a smaller area while they settled in and then put up another electric fence to give them a bigger space to graze and run in. Their fence line was right next to the paddock Shorty and Sinbad were in and while Sinbad grazed, Shorty went over to greet them both. He nuzzled noses with them and watched them as they went back to their grazing.
The older mare decided she'd flirt with Shorty and remind him of what he once was before he became a gelding. He responded, bared his teeth and leaned forward. She flicked her head and coquettishly walked away, pretending to ignore him and he was not impressed by her teasing. He went over closer to her and when she moved in, batting her eyelashes and tossing her head, he slightly reared at her, before walking away. He was pretty worked up so we went and rescued him and I walked him around the yard to give him time to cool down, before saddling him up and taking him for a ride.
By the time we returned from our short ride, he was sweating as it was a hot and humid day. I unsaddled him, and took him to a paddock further away from the old mare. After he had grazed for a moment, he pawed the ground, lowered himself and had a good roll around. The old mare looked over in his direction but he paid her no attention.
So the lesson learned from Shorty is: Initiate friendship and be kind to strangers. Don't let a person treat you with disrespect and stand up for yourself.
Lesson from the Bible, Romans 12:17, 18 "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
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