Stallion Behavior as Witnessed by Animal Control - Good and Bad

 Part 1

While we were having this conversation, the Arabian horse in the paddock right next to us was expressing his displeasure at being ignored. Like all of my horses, he expected any gathering of people in his vicinity meant he should be the center of attention. To see that he garnered the type of devotion he believes he is entitled to, Patriot was putting on quite a show. He was bucking, kicking, rearing, f*rting, doing sliding stops and rollbacks, all in no particular order to get these silly people to notice how truly wonderful he is.

I had noticed the horse's behavior shortly after I joined the group. He had been quietly inching his way closer to the cluster of people next to his paddock. Once he got right next to us he extended his head over the fence expecting to be rewarded with human attention just for making himself available. When that didn't happen he erupted into the display that clearly screamed to be noticed. 

Jessica was the one to point out the horse's hilarious behavior and everyone turned to observe the show. Officer Page moved towards the horse just in time to get a splatter of mud, from one of the horse's impressive slides, on her uniform.

The female officer laughed and  Patriot reached across the fenceline to show his appreciation to the person who finally noticed him. Next thing I know Officer Page is hugging the head of this horse who happened to be one of my four-year-old stallions.  Not something most people ever experience with a strange horse, let alone a young stallion, so I pointed out to both officials the gender and she of this horse that was still enjoying his special hug with Officer Page.

I noticed Officer Bowman as the implications of what he was observing dawned on him. An expression of disbelief crossed his face and he quickly looked between the horse's back legs to confirm the necessary equipment was there before saying with a tone of thoughtfulness, "Wow, what a difference between these stallions and those we seized last week. Those horse were vicious and aggressive towards people.......... I didn't even know stallions could be as friendly as these have been." The expression on his face, when speaking of those other stallions, told a miserable story that hit me in the heart. I didn't know details but even this little revelation left its mark.

At this point Officer Page nodded in serious agreement and then  softened her expression as she returned her attention once more to Patriot. "MiKael's horses are like this." the woman remarked as she continued fondling my young stallion. Officer Page's words and her mannerisms implied my horses are different from most horses and Brian Bowman seemed to acknowledge that with a change of his body language as he studied the woman interacting with this young stallion. If Partiot had been a cat we'd have heard purring, he was that content to have this woman holding his head in her arms while she stroked his face.  

Give Dave an opening like this and he was all over it with cute little stories about our horses and their desire to be what we call pocket ponies.  Jessica was just as bad wanting to look like she was more involved here than she actually was.  Partiot was determined to stay the center of attention so there was a lot going on but it was time for AC to be on their way and they made their leave. 

I had stood for as long as I could endure so I was glad to see Pierce County Animal Control's visit to my farm was finally over. I headed back to the house so I could rest while Dave closed the gates on the two Animal Control officers.

Once again I had pushed myself beyond my physical limitations because of my concern for my horses but I was paying for it. Standing always causes increased pain levels so even this short talk with AC had caused my abdomen to tighten into a miserable burning mass. The crippling effect I experienced when AC first arrived had diminished as it had become clear I had nothing to fear from them but the longer I stood, the tighter my abdomen got causing that pain level to go back through the roof.

Now I really needed to rest but I  couldn't. I was in no position to be helping anyone but I couldn't get the picture of Arabian stallions so neglected they were vicious,  or the fact the last five rescues in my county had all been Arabian horses, out of my mind. Despite the pain,  now that I didn't need to worry about mine, I worried for the unknown Arabian horses who it sounded like needed serious help.

Those horses would haunt me for months before I finally learned more about them and their fate but for now I had to be content in the knowledge that my Arabian horses were in good hands...even Animal Control thought so. Now if I could just find out who had filed this false report so I could finally put this behind me, I could get back to what I really needed to focus on.....healing.

To be continued........

My Deductions from Animal Control's Visit.....