Bella has always been the horse in the field causing
trouble. When she was in training and would get the winters off for vacation,
she never understood that there were horses outside long before her and that
they had an established pecking order. All Bella knew was that she wanted to be
alpha mare.
At one barn she would fight over the fence with the
broodmares, mostly with the alpha mare. Bella wasn’t even in the same field but
that didn’t matter to her. She would bite, strike and squeal at the others. She
even resorted to biting their blankets, succeeding in ripping at least one of them.
The next barn turned her out with the lesson geldings for
winter vacation. One of them, Snappy, was usually the one to stir up trouble, but
that changed when Bella came in the field. He kicked her, and she chased him
down and kicked him right back. From then on Snappy followed Bella around like
a puppy dog, and they stayed close to the other’s side. Bella still bit, kicked
and squealed at everyone in the paddock, but she did so with Snappy more affectionately.
If she was busy annoying another gelding, Snappy would have his nose on her
body, like a reminder that he was there and she didn’t need to worry with the
other geldings.
I went to take a picture of Bella and Snappy touching noses but I got her striking him instead.
Bella and Snappy at Kismet Farm.
At Bella’s retirement home she started off fighting with
both geldings and mares, but soon found her best friend: a chestnut Saddlebred
mare named Belle. How coincidental.
Bella and Belle have been turned out in a paddock with just
the two of them the past couple weeks and I have yet to see Bella try to assert
dominance over her. There is no clear alpha between the two of them, they are
simply best friends. If one mare moves to another spot in the paddock, the
other follows. If I try to catch Bella, Belle runs right along with her. Belle
has been friendly toward me in the paddock whereas Bella runs away so she doesn’t
have to come in.
Bella and Belle
The two mares staying away because Bella thought I was trying to catch her
I never thought I would see the day when Bella got along
with another horse so well. The two mares even get to be stabled next to each
other when they come inside for the night. They nicker at each other, run around
together, and they even touch noses. What amazes me is that is all happens without
any biting, kicking, or squealing from my mare.
Bella and Belle really are two peas in a pod and I’m grateful
that they have each other as best friends.
This time I was trying to catch her and they ran
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