We are Herd

I don’t often acknowledge what a strong connection there is between me and my horses, but the more time I spend with them, the more I feel it. They are mine and I am theirs… we all know it.

Flurry is particularly cute. He knows the sound of both our cars, and every time I drive past, whether it’s a time of day I’m ‘due’ or not, he lifts his head and watches me pass, ears sharply pricked. “Hey mom! Are you stopping by?”

While waiting for the osteopath the other day, I arrived early and brought a curry comb, hoof pick and fly spray down to the field. Currying, picking out hooves, picking off mouches plates and spraying on the fly spray took about ten minutes. I still had twenty minutes to wait, so I stretched out on the grass at the side of the field to enjoy the intermittent sunshine and the birdsong.

Within minutes, my two horses were standing beside me, while their two field companions remained at a distance. They know that they are not mine and I am not theirs…

Aero literally stood over me, as a mare will stand over her sleeping foal, occasionally whiffling my hair with his muzzle, or gently nuzzling my legs.

Flurry was not allowed to come any closer than two metres for more than a minute or two at a time.

The merest flick of an ear from Aero, and he would back off respectfully, to stand and rest as close to us as he could. And so we stayed, for twenty minutes, until Chloé arrived.

We are a little troupeau of three.