Love Sick Pony

I think I mentioned this before but about a year ago I decided to move Gatsby to 24/7 turnout. Partly to save money but also partly because I thought it would be good for him. He had been on night turnout before (usually from 3-4pm till 5am) and it did wonders for him. So when a spot opened up with my BO's semi-retired mare I jumped at the chance to try it out. The mare is known to be picky about pasture-mates but she and Gatsby hit it off right away.

This is them sharing their first meal together. Love.

This has turned in to a wonderful situation for me because not only does Gatsby get 24/7 turnout but he also has a great buddy that he has grown super attached to. Until he becomes too attached.Gatsby and Jass (the mare) appararntly have a pretty strange relationship...Gatsby is totally fine and well-behaved if he is taken out and Jass stays, the separation doesn't bother him at all. In fact, he often seems relieved to be rid of her for a bit. But, if you take Jass out and leave Gatsby...major no no. He will call to her, buck, run like crazy, pace, etc. until you bring her back.

Here they are catching some rays over the summer.

Unfortunately we had a little case of this on our walk this morning. The farrier was already at the barn working on Jass. I brought Gatsby down to the cross-ties no problem. Everything was going fine until Jass was done with her shoeing and got put away. Gatsby was not pleased to say the least. I got him mostly calmed down (I thought), finished tacking up and got on. Bad decision. He was so anxious about her leaving him that he would not stop tossing his head on our whole walk around the track and actually did it so much that his curb chain unhooked from one side which just aggravated him even more. At this point I was pretty sure he was either going to re-injure himself or I was going to get thrown so I hopped off and walked him back to the barn.Our ride was much shorter than it should have been but at least no one got hurt.

Silly lovesick pony. Grrr...so annoying lol!