That's what I've always been told at least. And I do believe it, to an extent. I mean I really don't think Socks sits around thinking about how I didn't give her treats the last time I saw her. However, I also think she has some concept if time and past, because trust me, if I go a week without seeing her, I pay for it. On a normal day, she calls as soon as she sees me and comes over to the gate and waits to get caught. If I haven't seen her in a while she stands at the bottom of her paddock, back turned to me, and won't even look at me until I'm beside her. Then she'll walk slowly up the hill and act like I'm just any other person. She's great at the silent treatment, she really is.
A few things have happened lately that got me thinking.
First is Jimmy. Up at my dad's he was definitely the low guy on the totem pole. He wasn't allowed to eat, drink or sleep near the others, they'd chase him off. He was always off by himself, except for the odd time when Cas decided to hang with him. Then when he came down to the stable, he was put in a paddock with Socks. They never had anything to do with each other at my dad's but they grew very close very quickly.
Once Artemis was born, Jimmy was in a paddock alone. Then after a few months he was put in with a horse named Devon. Devon was the dominant one. Jimmy was soon covered in bite marks. E kept a close eye on them and this is what he observed, the reason Jimmy kept getting bitten was because Jimmy wouldn't back down. Devon would warn him off and Jimmy would ignore him. The ears back would turn into a warning with teeth and then eventually a bite. Nothing would make Jimmy back away.
He wasn't in with Devon for long and after that he was in with little Eli. That also didn't last long because this time little Eli's owner was concerned about the bite marks on his horse. So little Eli was moved and Jimmy was alone in a pen again.
A few months later and Jimmy was put in with big Eli. In no time it was established that Jimmy was in charge. The tiny, 14.3 hh horse bossed around the 16 + hh horse. Jimmy started to get a reputation as being a mean horse. (I'm actually going to have more about that in another post).
Just this past week, a new horse, a pony actually, was put in with Jimmy and big Eli. Big Eli is leaving at the beginning of the month so this pony, Zaine, will be Jimmy's new paddock mate. E and T were waiting nearby to rescue Zaine if they had to. Everyone was sure Jimmy was going to chew him up and then spit him out.
Jimmy had other plans. Apparently him and Zaine love each other. They rub on each other, stand together, Jimmy doesn't seem to have an issue with him. Dominance issues did come out at meal time but they were resolved quickly and peacefully (Jimmy's still in charge, no ones surprised).
So E brought up an interesting point. Maybe Jimmy just doesn't like big horses. All the other horses he was in with were all bigger then him, by at least a hand. With the exception of Cas, every horse at my dad's, including all the ones who were mean to him (and I do mean mean, it went beyond mere dominance, I love Pawnee but he is a jerk) were all taller than him.
The only horse taller than him that he doesn't have a problem with is Socks. And yes, I have an explanation for that.
When we bought Socks, we bought her along with another horse, a Paint Horse named Target. For nearly two years, until Target died, it was just the two of them together, every day. They were tight, to say the least. After Target died Socks stopped eating, lost a bunch of weight and would run around the property. She never really got over it, or so I think at least. We bought Pawnee, and then Jimmy and the others but she never bonded with any of them. Cas was born and although Socks was a great mother to her, she was never really attached to her after Cas got older. The only reason they would be together in the field was because Cas followed her. Socks did her own thing on the edge of the herd. Her and Jimmy pretty much had zero interaction before coming to the stable.
After coming to the stable, a very strange and new experience for them. Socks being a trail horse and Jimmy hadn't been off my dad's farm since we bought him. The barn, the people, the activity, it was a lot to take in and they stuck together. They're on opposite sides of the farm now but they still call and get excited when they see each other.
I think because he was in that situation with Socks though, might be why Jimmy never had an issue with her. She's also not an in-your-face kind of horse. She's dominant yes, but if you leave her alone, she leaves you alone.
So maybe it is possible that because of how the other horses treated him at my dads, he doesn't like big horses. It's something to think about at least. If a horse that's been abused by humans in the past still have fear issues over it, why couldn't a horse that's been mistreated by other horses?
Next time it'll be Socks and her abandonment issues! If a horse can have them, she definitely does.
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