Removing the estrogen from the herd

Finally, the little Molly pony found a new home, as a companion pony for a Haflinger. I really liked her, she had such good manners with people, but I never realized how much strife she caused, just by being there.

I can only compare to today - the first day without her. As I fed the horses their grain/soaked hay pellets, they all gathered close. All three geldings, touching. No squeal from a diminutive equine, just this laid back, "Yay food" but no aggression! It was the oddest thing. I took Baasha away to feed him in the barn, and after he was done with his grain, I put some hay in front of him.

He looked at it and said, "Meh."

I was like, "What, what...you're not hungry?" As I cleaned his feet I heard his stomach, it was totally full, gurgling and happy. He just stood there. I pulled a few choice pieces of hay from a fresh bale, and he ignored it. What's this?

I rolled a bale up the hill and put it in the feeder for the other two. The feeder was still full - no little Molly standing there scarfing it down continually. The geldings actually sniffed and touched the new hay with thier mouths, but didn't take a bite. My gosh - they were FULL!!! I could hear them thinking, "Yup, it's just more of the same. Grass hay."

I was completely blown away. My horse is finally able to eat as much hay as he likes, and there is no twice-daily fighting over grain. Everything is different now. It's like, Peace on Earth.

I finally returned Baasha to the paddock and I noticed the other geldings were standing under the apple tree, waiting for gravity to give them a treat. This was new. The herd boss YELLED a neigh at Baasha, clearly saying, "FINALLY. Geez, I thought I was losing my entire herd!" I snickered at his concern.

As I left, the geldings just hung out under that tree, in complete harmony. I grinned and whistled all the way home.