A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Maiden Season Part 5

Part 1 of the Baby Boomer Series

Part 1 of the Maiden Season


When Nick came running in screaming that Kurra was killing Heiress I was in the house putting away the items from the store, I hadn't noticed on my way in that Dave had turned Kurra out with Kurra. After all, he and Lindsay had both been given strict instructions that Kurra was to go out in the small field alone. Panic stricken I raced outside to see if I could intervene with the Arabian horses.

There in the near corner of the field was Kurra kicking the daylights out of the bay mare,Heiress. The dumb bay mare just stood there, almost like she was in a trance. She didn't kick back, she didn't gesture, she just stood there.

Kurra stopped kicking briefly giving Heiress a chance to go away but dumb Heiress just didn't get it. Kurra was outraged at the bay mare's obvious disregard for her authority. The red mare flattened her ears even tighter and threaten the bay mare again. She wanted Heiress gone.

When the bay horse didn't take the hint and move off, Kurra wheeled around and resumed kicking. Heiress's only response was to try and come up and nudge the angry mare. I could tell from her body language what she was thinking,
"Hey, don't you want to be my friend?"
Heiress, obviously was still not getting the message and Kurra was not amused! I couldn't get to the bay mare fast enough to intervene.

The next assualt the red mare lunged at Heiress with her teeth bared. She intended to attack Heiress the same way that the gelding had attacked Scandalous, killing her. My heart stopped but my feet were still moving racing over to break up the two horses..

But the sound of that blood curdling scream and the sight of the red mare charging so ferociously at her were enough for even Heiress to get the picture.. She finally took off running for those parts unknown that Kurra intended to be Heiress's new residence. With Heiress exiting the scene, Kurra stopped in her tracks.

She didn't want to kill the mare only to get the horse to leave her alone so she could graze in peace. She immediately dropped her head and set about munching grass not even bothering to watch Heiress's exit.

Once the frightened bay mare reached the far end of the field she turned and faced the red horse. The mare was shaking from head to toe. I could almost see her as she dropped her head and nodded in Kurr'a direction,asking
"Is this far enough?"
Kurra looked up briefly and then dropped her head again to graze not even bothering a response for the ingrate mare at the far end of the field. Heiress stood there quaking needing some kind of reassurance that the attack was indeed over. The only reassurance she would get was from me.

I checked the horse over carefully for the damage I thought must be there. The attack looked so ferocious that I couldn't imagine I didn't need to call a vet. Thankfully, Heiress didn't look too much the worse for wear. She did have a few bites and some lumps but nothing as bad as I'd expected.

Knowing how dense this mare could get about learning any lesson, I knew she could have been seriously injured. As it was, the biggest injury seemed to be to her pride. Not that that was a bad thing, she'd needed that pride knocked down a peg or two or three.

Kurra on the other hand, didn't have a scratch, not a mark anywhere. The dumb bay mare had never tried to fight with Kurra, she just wouldn't respect her space. I imagine before I got home, that Kurra had tried more subtle forms of getting Heiress to leave her alone. But with Heiress not understanding anything about herd dynamics she just hadn't taken the hint.

Most of the horse's injuries weren't even visible in a day or two. The only ones that remained were two bald hoof prints, one planted on each cheek on her butt. I swear, just like the horse in the cartoons, Heiress had a hoof print on each cheek. But the hoof prints that were left in her mind, those were the important ones. A new dawn of understanding rose with the attack by Kurra that day. Heiress finally understood about pecking order.

This probably sounds like an odd thing to say but I will always be grateful to Kurra for the events of that day. I had spent many hours working with Heiress trying to get her to understand that I was the one in charge. While I was making progress it was slow and usually costly to my person in some way. Kurra's education of Heiress that day changed all of that.

To be continued.........

Part 6

baby boomer Arabian horse Arabian horses horses horse dream horse maiden stallion
horse breeding Maiden Mare herd dynamics