Détente

George Orwell’s Animal Farm has got nothing on us.

          I won’t pretend that our current positions as Farm Sitters has all of the allegory and satire that Orwell packs into Animal Farm but watching the hierarchical antics of the “Residents of the Corral” play themselves out gives us endless hours of entertainment.

          We are presently in charge of four horses, two goats, a dog, and about 14 billion stinging little red ants.

          Danny, Kaitie, and Madison are spending a week in Disneyworld and as any of you who has even a goldfish knows, you must find folks ready, willing, and able to tend your furry or finned friends if you would like to go away.

          For any amount of time.

          Since our initial Farm Sitter stay at Tomboy Farm in Durango, our list of credentials has grown nicely to the point where we could open a small business and travel around and Critter Sit while others took their vacations!

          We are currently Certified in Chickens, Goats, Cats, (even felines with diabetes) horses, and dogs.

          Getting back to the endless hours of Entertainment from the Barn Brats led to me finding out that I now hold the unenviable post of Corral Control and Peace Officer.

          The backstory,

          As soon as two or more Critters are confined together, they start to work on who the Top Dog, Goat ,Chicken, Horse, etc. etc. is.

          This is one of those Laws of Nature.

          Who is bigger?

          Who is more aggressive?

          But, maybe, it’s ….

          Who is smarter?  

          Originally there were only two small horses here. Rose (the Mom) and Lilly (her daughter). They’re pretty cute and are actually smaller than ponies.

          Rose is kind of cuddly.

           Lilly is a bitch.

          So, it’s not hard to imagine who the boss is (was) in the corral, Lilly even bossed the two goats, Chones and Abigail around. In this case, Chones is the dominant one, which leaves poor Abigail at the absolute bottom of this Totem Pole.

          Enter Mystique.

          As soon as the trailer door opened, Rose and Lilly had fits!

          It was incredibly obvious who was gonna be Big Girl on Campus now! Mystique stands between 15 or16 hands high which makes poor Lilly and Rose look like Chihuahua’s around a Great Dane.

          Sure enough, when Mystique’s ten-day quarantine (she did not wear a mask) ended and they were all thrown together, she quickly cemented her status as Queen of the Corral, much to Lilly’s dismay. Rose could have cared less because she was already second horse, so what if she dropped to third? Rose now had the pleasure of watching her bitchy daughter be put in her place by the new Number One!

(Waylon, the new fourth horse is presently in his quarantine, and will be released soon. The plot thickens!)

          Lilly is presently making a spectacle of herself. She knows that she used to be on top and is obsessed with getting some of her lost respect back. It’s like watching the kid on the playground who used to be Top Dog until the New Kid comes to town, Now he spends all his time trying to sidle up to the New Kid, only to be rebuffed again and again.

          The others are watching this process with glee.

          At no time is this more obvious than at Feeding Time.

          There are no stalls here to confine them into so that they can eat in peace. Nope, its every horse for themselves!

          Luckily (for Rose and Lilly) the Caretakers (us) are smart enough to put the food out in two different locations far enough apart that when Mystique decides that she would like to have some of the other hay, Lilly and Rose nonchalantly stroll over to the pile that Mystique just abandoned.

          This goes on for hours.

          Sometimes Lilly just stands and stares at Mystique munching away,  dreaming of a long-lost past when she had the run of the hay! Now she has to be content with sharing with Rose who does not seem to let her emotions cloud her judgment when it comes to the food.

          She just goes to the other pile.

          Now enter the rain.

          Not just any rain,

          Texas rain.

          There is only one shelter in the corral and while it is certainly large enough to fit everyone in it, it is definitely not large enough for one bully and two meek cuties.

          This is not usually an issue. Horses can be out in the rain and do so happily if said rain is moderate.

          Not Texas Rain.

          Yesterday we had Texas Rain and it was obvious that the critters were getting uncomfortable. Mystique high-tailed it into the shelter as soon as it started.

          Rose and Lilly tried to just sort of, kinda, look-the-other-way, amble close to, but not quite enter the shelter, waiting for Mystique to shoo them away.

          They were not disappointed.

          Well, I guess that they were disappointed because they did not get into the shelter.

          On the first try.

          Then, just maybe, Queen Mystique took some pity on her vassals and acquiesced without giving any of her dominance way.

          She just ignored them.

          Rose was the best one to watch. She stood out in the rain until inch by inch, hoof by hoof, she backed herself neatly into the shelter not even once glancing in Mystique’s direction.

          It could have been one of those posts on Instagram where they dub in the animals talking!

          But the best is yet to come.

          Now it’s Feeding Time.

          We could have put their hay out in the usual places, and they would have come out of the shelter and ate it,

          Albeit reluctantly (and miserably).        

          So, we decided to try and press our luck and feed them inside the shelter, in opposite corners, but still within a tail’s swish of each other.

          The tensions mounted as I entered that corral with hay piled high in my arms, The neighing and whinnying commenced immediately as Mystique rushed over to me and tried to wrestle the hay away from me. Turning my back to her I entered the shelter and put half down in one corner.

          She was there in a heartbeat.

          Now, some in the other corner.

          I could see Lilly and Rose were in a quandary.

          They’ve never eaten this close to the Big Girl before .

          Eying the other pile of hay, they slowly walked towards it until Mystique decided that she wanted the other pile too! Lilly and Rose retreated quickly spooking Mystique who found herself in the confined area of the shelter and kicked her way out!

          Now everyone was outside, and everyone wanted to be inside.

          Rose and Lilly saw their chance and went for it until Mystique got her wits about her and re-entered the fray.

          Out came Lilly and Rose!

          Now I’m getting worked up!

          This is where I discovered that even the bully can be put in their place!

          With lots of hand gestures and name calling (their real names, not those other names!) I managed to make them understand that the piles were separate and that there was plenty for everyone and I wanted them to eat in peace.

          Sort of.

          Well, anyway, that’s how I remember it.

          I felt like Henry Kissinger at Camp David trying to get the Peace Talks going and get everyone at the same table.

          And here is the photo to prove it.

          I look like the Hall Monitor in high school.