Author: Elaine

Smoke has a new stall, except that it isn’t new and isn’t even a stall. The barn we built seven or eight years ago has two very large stalls, which are open on the south side. Gates shut off the stalls when the horses are eating their concentrated feed, and are chained open the rest of the day so the horses can shelter at will. When I have two horses at home, they each get fed in their own stall. With three horses, one has to eat outside the barn. Smoke has panic attacks, and will break out of small enclosures when he feels trapped, so he has always been the outside horse. (When there are only two horses, I don’t have to shut the stall Smoke is in.)

Smoke, who is a very old 27 now, has grown noticeably frailer over the past year. I really hated the idea of feeding him out in the open this winter, when the weather might be very severe. About a week ago, I had a brainstorm. When we brought the property, the only existing outbuilding was an old shack with a small enclosed room and an adjacent stall. The previous owner had stored junk in this building, and we continued the tradition. However, since we had whittled down the junk over the years, I thought there might be room to build a small corral inside to make it safe for Smoke to eat in there. When he wasn’t eating, we could shut it off with a gate, since it would be too easy for a horse to trap another horse in there. Jack was dubious when I proposed the idea, but said he would think about it.

This morning, I had asked Jack to help me by doing some nailing out at the barn. Instead, he started taking things apart in the old shed. We cleared the area, raked it up, and used chain link panels to block off two sides of a corral, with the third side being the wall of the building. The fouth side is the opening to the barn. I raked and shoveled to clear the ground of many years of debris. I then went over the area thoroughly with a strong magnet to make sure we had picked up all the metal. To finish, we placed a gate across the opening to the “new” stall, which will be closed except when Smoke is using the stall to eat.

All three horses came over at one point or another to see what we were doing. Smoke watched us the longest, almost as if he knew we were doing it for him.

With considerable trepidation, I brought home Rags yesterday to join Smoke and Lily. I put Lily in a stall so she could meet Rags over the gate, and flinched when Lily squealed, struck and half reared to impress Rags. Rags seemed more intrigued than offended. Later, when I let Lily and Rags out of their stalls after their evening meal, heels flew in all directions, and I was only slightly relieved when I noticed that the two horses seemed to maintain at least one horse length between them when they kicked. Although the night was chilly, I left the bedroom window open so I could listen for sounds of fighting in the horse field.

This morning, they were still displaying enough snarkiness that I carried a whip as I handled the horses, to discourage them if they got carried away while they were next to me. A careful inspection showed no signs of impact injuries or injury caused lameness, so I decided they were adjusting. I saw almost no signs of aggression when I fed this evening. Jack let them out of their stalls when they were done eating their concentrate. I watched from the window and they all acted as if they had known each other for years.

It is probably too soon to be sure, but Lily may end up as the dominant horse. Without making a big deal of it, Rags drifted around her to get to a pile of hay, rather than driving her off from the one she was eating. I’ve never cared much how herd hierarchies work themselves out, as long as they are reasonably stable so the horses aren’t continually stressed. However Rags has run this field for quite a few years now, and I will feel slightly sorry if he is displaced by a redhead with an attitude.