Stall Rest Chronicles 19 Feb, Watching Rodney

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin]

Finishing week 7 post surgery
Finishing week 1 of paddock rest

… and as soon as I brag on Rodney, he makes a liar out of me.

Or does he?

In yesterday’s post, I said that Rodney does not go out of sight of the barn. [SRC 18 Feb, Listening To Milton]

I drafted & scheduled the post on Friday afternoon. No sooner had I done so, we let Rodney out & he wanders off. Milton alternated between eating bites of alfalfa and staring into the distance in full Giraffe Alert Mode.

We could see Rodney off by the ring. It’s not clear if Milton could see Rodney or if Rodney was hidden by the trees from Milton’s viewpoint. Either way, this was as far as Rodney has gotten from the barn since Milton has been home.

Eventually, we couldn’t stand it & yelled for Rodney. He came galloping back. Ran hither and thither a bit. Milton had cookies shoveled at him while this was going on. Finally, Rodney zoomed into the barn. I’m here! I’m here!

Possibility. Rodney has been excellent about staying with Milton. As Milton feels better. Rodney is willing to go farther away. A random artifact of timing? We are being anthropomorphic? Or there are elements to herd dynamics that we, as non-herbivores, do not understand?

Onwards!
Katherine