Wednesday, January 31, 2007

A Little Sheepish...


Quiet Storm settled right into the routine around here. Darling would go out and lead her about a bit, or brush her, and then she'd spend the days grazing with her new buddies, our sheep. This provided some entertainment, for our filly was a bit of a follower. Without a horse to follow, she began following sheep. Sheep, however, are a bit nervous around large animals who follow closely behind them.


One day I was out watching them and saw one of my icelandic ewes and her lamb heading from the back of the pasture towards the front for a bit of water. Quiet Storm dutifully followed, expecting that this was her job...to follow. The ewe glanced back out of the corner of her eye, not very comfortable having this very big (compared to her) animal following at such a short distance. She picked up the pace a bit.


Naturally, Quiet Storm's longer legs had no problem keeping up with the ewe's tiny legs. The ewe broke into a trot andQuiet Storm calmly picked up a trot and followed along. Now the ewe was downright afraid. The whites of her eyes were showing and she kept turning back to find that the 'predator' was still hot on her heels! She broke into a dead run, frantic to escape, but to no avail. Poor thing. That horse just followed her everywhere she went!


The lambs, unlike their moms, had no problem at all with the young mustang being in their pasture. They'd graze together, eat out of the same pile of hay, and sneak into the barn to escape the summer heat. It wasn't uncommon to find a lamb standing directly underneath our wild horse. She never offered to kick, just acted like this was a normal part of life! In fact, Quiet Storm has become so bonded with her 'flock' that she completely ignores the horses that live next door or travel up and down the road!

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