Hello. As you can tell by the title of this post, my name is Sparky and I'm here because my sister Bella asked me to write about the life of a Pasture Horse. I call Bella my sister because her mom and my mom are related so that makes us sort of related. We're like best friends but also like brother and sister. It's nice.
I've been a Pasture Horse for a while now so I know a lot about it. I lived in the pasture in Minnesota and now I live in one in California and I can tell you there are similar rules to any pasture situation. Out in Minnesota, we had lots of horses sharing the pasture. I don't even know how many - I couldn't count that high. But there were enough so that we kind of split up into groups within the big group.
Right now, our herd consists of me and five other horses. They're all my friends. Well, Marquis isn't really much of a friend. I don't really like him. But I try to because it's not nice to be mean to other horses.
When I first moved into this pasture, there were just four of us. There was me, Apollo, Domino and Favre. Favre was our leader. He's a big chestnut gelding (we're all geldings. We had mares in the pasture in Minnesota and I really liked that because I love mares. They smell pretty. My best friend was a mare named Treasure and I still think about her. She was so nice) and he was a good leader. He made sure everyone knew the rules and he let us know when it was okay to come up from the grass or go out to it. He was always fair. He didn't just bite or kick anyone because he could. He only got after another horse if he really had to.
Him and Apollo sometimes got into arguments because Apollo had been the leader before Favre came and he didn't like losing that. I felt bad for him but that's the way things work in a herd. You have to respect the leader. Favre let Apollo be the second in command and Apollo was really good at that. He helped to keep me and Domino in line and made sure we understood what the herd was doing. It's important for horses to understand the herd. It keeps you safe.
Favre is one of my best friends. When we were in the pasture together, we stayed near each other all the time and he was always nice to me. We liked to swish flies off each other and groom each other and all those nice things ponies do when they're friends. Now he lives in a stall right near the pasture. He misses being out here with us and I miss him too. Sometimes our moms turn us out together and that's so much fun! We play and play. We like to play rough, rearing up and playing bite face and stuff. Bella likes to play too but she likes gentler games so I don't get so rough with her. With Favre, I can be really wild! It's fun.
When Favre left, Apollo went back to being the leader. Apollo is an Appaloosa gelding. He was a good leader too. Sometimes he was a little grumpy but he was always fair. I always got along well with Apollo. He went away though and other horses came in and things got a little awkward because no one really knew who was supposed to be in charge.
For a little while, I was in charge! That was scary. It happened because I've always been the horse that leads everyone down to the grass and back up. I don't really decide it though - I just ask the leader if we can go and if he says it's okay, I lead the way. Then all of a sudden, everyone was looking to me in order to down or up and I didn't quite know what to do. I tried to do my best but I never really liked it. It's a lot of responsibility! Now Cowboy kind of runs things and I'm glad. I don't like being in charge of anything really. I'd rather just be friends with everyone and follow along.
So let me tell you about all my pasture friends.
Cowboy is a brown and black and white Paint. He's really handsome and he's a nice boy. He's friendly and even as a leader, he doesn't get after us much. I'll be honest and say he's not as good a leader as Apollo or Favre - those guys knew what they were doing. But he does his best and someone has to do it. None of us are really natural leaders.
Cowboy is good friends with Domino. Domino is a black and white Paint and of all the horses in the pasture, I've known him the longest. Domino is a nice guy but he can be kind of pushy. Like when my mom comes out to see me, Domino sometimes comes up and tries to butt right in. He doesn't mean anything by it but I don't like it. It's just Manners. You don't go poking your nose in when another horse is visiting with their person. I like his mom lots but I don't barge in when she's with him. Dom just doesn't know any better.
Domino is a lot like me as far as our position in the herd. We both just try to avoid getting in trouble. We don't want to be leaders or be in charge of anything. The only reason I lead everyone up and down is because I really like to be out on the grass so I'm always eager to go. Neither of us really cares what hay pile we eat out of. I usually wait until everyone else has a hay pile so I can eat in peace without another horse coming to chase me off it. Dom usually grabs one early and he will put his ears back to hang onto it but he's not very assertive otherwise.
Patch is my best friend in the herd now. He's a brown and white Paint and he's real easy-going like me. He's friendly and we like to stand together and visit while we swish flies off each other. He doesn't like to play like Favre did but he's a really good companion. When we go out on the grass, me and Patch usually find a spot that we like and stay together on it. Dom and Cowboy usually have another spot further off and then the other two find their own place.
Riley is a big bay and he shares his people with Cowboy. They go riding together but they're not really close in the pasture. Riley is kind of a big goof. He's nice - he always greets me with a deep nicker when I come back from working and that's awfully nice of him - but a little awkward about pasture ways. He doesn't really understand about things like picking your hay pile and when to go up or down from the grass. He's good-natured and follows along well enough so it's not bother - not everyone is experienced in a herd after all. So we all get along with him.
Marquis is different. His person is the same as Patch's but he's totally different. He's a mostly black Paint and he's nice looking but he's pretty clueless about pasture life. He always lived in a stall before, I think and he doesn't know anything. The first week or so that he was in here, he just stood by the gate and whinnied. Poor Patch felt like he had to stay with him to keep him company which was awfully nice but hard for Patch because he wanted to be out on the grass with the rest of us.
Marquis comes out now but he's still really awkward about things. I bet he doesn't know how to find shelter in the trees or turn his butt to the wind when it's cold. He'd probably stand looking right at it. And he's cranky and miserable sometimes. None of us pay him any attention except to chase him off if he gets nasty but one day he hurt my mom's arm when all she was doing was petting him. I don't get mad at horses too often but that was too much for me! My mom is the nicest person I know and he better not ever go near her again!
Marquis and Riley are sort of friends. Riley is nice and doesn't really have a special friend since the rest of us are paired off so he hangs around with Marquis. That makes Marquis a little easier to live with. It's really important for a herd to get along and having just one horse that doesn't fit in makes it kind of hard sometimes. It's not his fault and we try not to hold it against him but he can be annoying, there's no doubt about it.
I love living in a pasture. When the grass is long, we stay out and graze all day. We take turns taking naps in all the comfy places and the others stand guard around us so we'll be safe. That's nice. It's good to know you have friends looking out for you. We play and run sometimes and sometimes we just stand around and swish files. Lots of times, we share the pasture with coyotes and deer but we don't mind. It's a big pasture and there's lots of room for all of us. There are lots of birds, too. I like birds. Sometimes they land on my back and ride around while I graze. I like that. They're my friends.
So that's what it's like to live in a pasture. Poor Bella never has and I feel sorry for her. I know she'd like it. I wish she could come out with us and play and run and eat grass. She'd be so happy and so would I because then I could be with her all the time and not just when our moms ride and turn us out together. But she has a nice stall and she likes it and sometimes she lets me go in it and that's nice too.
I hope you liked my guest blog! Maybe Bella will want me to do another one sometime.
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