Herd dynamics...

Welcome to Levi's new site! We have so much to catch up on.

In January, I moved Levi to a new boarding facility where there is more space and the potential for interacting with other horses in a more natural setting, which is great for young horses. We are now thinking of integrating Levi into a herd of other people's nice geldings, which is what this video is about. Have a view, and think about what you would do if you were observing this first hand: would you choose to open that gate and let the younger horse in with that herd, or not? (If you don't feel like reading, you can skip to the end for the answer!)

Above anything else, this video completely captures Levi's personality. Here, we see Levi attempting to gain favor from a small herd of geldings which he hopes (as I do, or did, more accurately) will accept him as a new member. It begins with him strutting his stuff, brushing past me like a cat (as is his way), and showing off for the herd. He prances and tosses his head, dancing around like he's auditioning to become a member of a boy band. He is quickly swerved from across the fenceline by the herd leader, and cuts the nonsense, then goes right into some appeasement behaviors which demonstrates that he can actually read the room. These horses are all quite familiar with Levi but he has not been in this particular pasture before, and never beside them all at once, and was super proud of himself and totally jazzed to be up there. I was personally much less excited, considering his behavior and the quiet "no" we were clearly given by the herd leader and his second in command, even before this was filmed. Jumping to the next scene, we see Levi stunting, demonstrating his ninja moves and potential as a foot soldier. He circles back to Anton, who is unimpressed, and who sends him packing, right back to me. We see him brushing off the rejection and returning jubilantly, greeting me again with a solid fist bump: perhaps he thinks he has made the team. I have taught him to check in with me in this way whenever he is out in an open space, so that I don't have to go chase him down, in case anyone is wondering what he's doing and why I allowed it. After the little mutual congratulation, he sashays away to explore, thinking I'll just follow him. I don't- I stand there with the herd, waiting for him to return; he doesn't, because he knows. He and Anton seemed to have clarified a few things unbeknownst to me, but I think the outcome of the little meeting is quite clear. If you never meet Levi in person, this video is all you need to know about him to understand who he is at heart: he is this type of guy.

For some context, this herd of four resident geldings- a Friesian, a big white Warmblood cross (I think, although I'm not certain of this), an older Haflinger, and an Arabian- had just moments before incorporated a new member, Remi, the little gray Arabian in the purple turnout sheet (who moves to quickly back up his new leader). I put Levi up on the hill at the request of the owner who wanted to see if we could integrate all the geldings into one big herd to roam hill and dale. This was a little test to see if this would even be possible. I was game. Levi was game. However, as you watch the video, you can see some important clues that integrating this horse into that herd is not going to happen anytime soon.

I'll make a few introductions so you can understand what's going on in the video. The herd leader is the striking black beauty, Anton, a Friesian who was recently imported from Europe and gelded just last year; he is very well-mannered and a total gentleman, at just six years old. This horse, in my opinion, is a tribute to a gorgeous breed that is often poorly managed and can produce some real shitheads, and he's the complete opposite of that. I have handled him before, just taking him to his turnout whenever help was needed for that, and was impressed by his alertness, focus, sensitivity, and sensibility, which are fortunate aspects for a herd leader. I believe he was trained in dressage but I haven't seen anybody really doing anything with him under saddle, or anything else really, and I am not sure why, because this beautiful gelding seems to have the good mind and athletic potential to be a performance horse. In any case, his job at this time is apparently to serve as the leader of this little band. Anton's lieutenant is Hunter, the big white gelding stragetically posted up by the gate. One look at Hunter tells you that this horse is extremely intelligent, and his social behavior with humans and horses is excellent, and a reflection of that good mind. He is apparently wonderful under saddle. I do not know his breeding, but he is perhaps a Warmblood cross by the look of him, with maybe some stock horse blood as well. He was rescued from a kill pen, which is fortunate for everyone considering what a nice horse this is. In any case, he and Anton have this herd situation figured out. Between the two of them setting solid boundaries, the message is very clear to Levi and I: "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

The verdict is a polite, but solid, "no", from the gelding herd, with regard to Levi's application. As a result, I won't be advocating for Levi integrating into this group anytime soon. He and I have some important work to do this summer, and I don't want him injured or with marks on him from rough and tumble stupidity; while "natural" life out in a herd is a wonderful aspiration and idealistic thought, it just does not seem to be the right thought at this time. Do you agree with my evaluation of this situation? Again, this may not be forever- horses and situations change on the daily, but for now, he can stay in his own generous turnout space during the day, and at night just be calm in his stall with two gentle older geldings to interact and mentor him. He has an excellent situation over all, and it's fortunate for us that we could even consider doing this in the first place.