Arrival

After a tour-de-force 18-hour drive by Melissa and her stalwart co-pilot, the horses arrived safely last night after midnight.  It was not the time for niceties, so we turned them straight out into the field, where they disappeared into the darkness. Later, after the drivers had left, I set off into the field armed with a flashlight, and after wandering around for a while, I saw them coming towards me out of the shadows - first Chloe, then Bridget, then George.  Rose was nowhere to be seen, but I figured that as she's not part of the gang yet, she was probably off by herself and doing fine.  In the dark, as my fingers made contact with the horses' skin, it struck me how smooth and soft their coats were, the last vestiges of winter having been shed out since the last time I saw them. After we had greeted each other, the horses followed me to the water trough.  Although a little more alert to sounds than usual,  they were remarkably placid, considering that they had found themselves beamed down into a strange field in the middle of the night.

This morning, sure enough, there was Rose, grazing at a little distance from the others.

Rose

I brought everyone some feed and discovered that Bridget and Chloe are such good buddies that they will eat out of the same pile of feed without arguing.

Bridget and Chloe share a meal

There is a new dynamic in the group with the addition of George.  He tolerates Chloe, who seems to have rather a thing for him.  Bridget, however, is the object of his ire.  The three stay pretty close. At the moment Rose keeps to herself in a very calm, self-contained manner, although at one point today I did observe Bridget leave the group and follow Rose, who used to be her pasture-mate at the rescue barn.

Every time I come out of the house, Chloe looks over expectantly.  However, when I offered to let her out the gate, she declined.  Several times I've come out to find the horses all staring over the fence at the house as if to say, "Ok, we've checked out the new field - what's next?" George very much wanted to come out of the field this afternoon.  I put his halter on and took him for a walk around the house.  He found the experience quite taxing for his nerves, and after rounding the corner of the house and coming into view of his friends again, he whinnied and was very eager to be put back.

When I go into the field, Chloe is usually the first one to come over, but she acts as if she's worried George or Bridget will push her away.  George looks daggers at Bridget but doesn't become aggressive toward her if I'm standing with her.  I haven't approached Rose yet and plan to wait until she decides to approach me. Her current status was manifest by Chloe chasing her away from the remains of her dinner this evening.

Thanks to the cows who have been keeping the pasture warm while the horses were away, the bushes and poison ivy which used to grow in the tree line have all disappeared.  At the same time, the trees have grown considerably, providing an avenue of shade for the horses to rest in during the heat of the day.

George and Chloe graze with Cove Mountain in the background

A drink and a yawn