Habits

In the year Hap lived elsewhere, I’d manage to forget several of his habits.  The least objectionable of these is the “empty the stock tank on a warm day” habit.  Now, mind you, he doesn’t drink the water:  instead he uses his head to scoop the water over his forelegs, chest and neck.  It is very entertaining to watch but makes  a muddy mess around the stock tank.  Fortunately, the hydrant is over the stock tank, so it doesn’t take much effort to fill it.

I am less fond of his habit of pinning his ears and attacking Rags over the partition between the two stalls as I put Rags’ horse chow into his feed bucket.  Hap looks more like a velociraptor than a well-bred Thoroughbred when he does this.  Rags pays no apparent attention to these attacks, although he is careful to stand just far enough away from the partition that Hap can’t actually connect.   Or perhaps Hap doesn’t really want to risk retaliation by connecting since Rags is the dominant of the two horses.  I try to remember to warn my critter sitters since it is a bit startling the first time one sees it happen. I think it is akin to dogs’ fence fighting, which is also very annoying.