Bete noir

[glenatron]

These evening it turned out that I needed to deal with El Cobbo Furioso. Not sure what was up but Zorro was absolutely flipping when we got to the field, galloping flat out, bucking, snarping loud warning snorts and generally being very edgy and very full of it, spinning and charging off at the slightest change, lunging at Small or stopping and just doing this thing where he bucks on the spot so hard he goes backwards.

It was a touch intimidating, but we just waited him out, got the halter on him and brought him in in a calm and low-energy way in the hope that it would bring him down and sure enough by the time we got to his stable he was fairly close to normal.

No idea what that was all about.

Comments

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I think it was something like that. He gets very emotional sometimes and it's hard to judge if it is fear, excitement, fury or some arbitrary combination thereof.

I think he really wanted to come in but he's going through a "must eat my halter" phase that makes it very annoying to get the halter on. We're working on it, but this evening for some reason I thought it wasn't a good night to start an argument...

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Lurking predator encounter? Around here, I'd have thought it was a cougar, but I don't think you have them where you are.

[gnapp.livejournal.com]

Around here, I would have thought it was moose. (A moose near the fields can make something a bit too exciting out of "bringing the horses in".)

But then, ghosts in the horse's brain have the same effect too.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

In spite of ongoing mythology of Alien Big Cats in the region, I don't think we actually have anything bigger than a badger in the area, and Zorro has been known to see badgers off quite happily.