Day 16

Today for the first time in at least 9 years (and maybe longer), Little Love went out in the pasture with another horse.  At her previous home, she would go out with other horses, but each horse was in its own individual paddock with an electric fence in between.  Sometimes the barn worker would forget to put the electricity on right away, and the horses would immediately use the opportunity to socialize.  But those moments were rare. 

Becky was eager to put the two horses out together already earlier, but I felt that Little Love had not quite adjusted to her new environment and it would have been too much to throw yet another "unfamiliar" thing at her - so we waited.  But yesterday when I put the horses out separately in the two paddocks side by side, I could tell from their behavior that they were ready to be together.

And they were.  We put them out in the morning, and as you can see from the first picture, it was quite cold even though there is still no snow on the ground. The horses sort of sniffed and then Little Love did her "mare squeel" which made Col move away politely but swiftly.  And that was that.  It got a lot warmer with the sun out and I realized that blanketing Lilo had been a little excessive (I don't believe in blankets, but she has had one all winter until now, so I worry that I shouldn't just take it off cold turkey...).  She rolled the second I took it off and then her and Col had a little canter, until they settled down to graze. 

It felt good to see Lilo with another horse at last.  It also felt good to know that she remembers/knows how to do that as sometimes horses that have not had the opportunity to learn this at a young age, can struggle with it later in life.  In any case, horses are meant to be together and although Little Love and Col are just a herd of two, it is still a herd.   With him she can relearn social skills (if needed) and perhaps some day she can be part of a bigger group of horses.