Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Topper's Big Adventure

Well, yesterday I decided to try putting Topper and all of the geldings together. It seemed as if it was going to be a success until Topper tried to check out my little lollipop Brighty. Brighty ran around like chicken little, causing a slight flurry of activity among the herd. Then Topper saw the very cute Scamper and decided he needed to be inspected. Scamper is so cute and he is also Ari's very good pal, as well as Ari's maternal brother. Scamper didn't want Topper sniffing him, so he made a ruckus and that got Ari upset. This is when the real trouble started. My lovely Ari decided to launch a frontal attack on Topper. Topper wasn't interested in fighting, but the whole herd went on the move at this point and it became a bad situation. Now Topper was agitated and Ari was mad. Ari was the aggressor and he probably would has finished the fight if I had not intervened.

My old companion Shaka stayed calm throughout all of this, so he walked to the gate to get in and away from the activity. Bounce saw this and decided he would do the same. By this time Ari had moved the herd down the hill, but Topper had separated Brighty and was trying to check him out. Brighty wouldn't settle down, so it was still anxious. My husband was able to get ahold of Bright, allowing me to get Topper. Topper was actually glad to come in, he was very tense. He spent the day in his stall and he was glad for it! 

Today it will be Ben and old, reliable Shaka with Topper. I had hoped this would work, as it would have freed up a paddock during the winter. Oh, well. Not to be. I'm glad no one was hurt.

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