Larkwood Life: Titan is with the big boys now

Having a first time foal around brings with it lots of learning and plenty of decisions to make...the first of which was determining when to introduce all of the horses together. They have been able to see each other and smell each other but not actually been able to run together.

Switch came on heat fairly soon after Titan was born which presented our first challenge, as that was the time that Navajo got himself caught half way over the crusher...remember I wrote a blog about that one...lol

The next time she was on heat, which by the way happens every 21 days until she falls pregnant, we ended up stringing the electric fencing all the way around the paddocks and over the top of the gate as it was the only thing we could do to keep Navajo and Switch apart. It didn't take long for them all to learn that if they touched the wire they would be shocked. It has been the best deterrent we have used so far and initially we bought the electric fencing for the sheep, so it has come in handy again for the horses now.

We had thought that we would keep Titan and Switch on their own until Titan is about 4 months old, however we have had to change our minds about that....Switch has an appetite these days second to none and she has quickly flattened 3 paddocks. It is sad to think that just a few summers ago we had enough rain fall to keep the grass growing throughout the hotter months,leaving our flock of sheep with plenty to eat and last them all through the winter. This season we started with a big bang with rainfalls and storms, but it soon petered out and we haven't had anything in the last month other than a few drops at a time from a cloud burst passing overhead. So with the little rain and the excessively hot days, the grass has not had a chance to recover from our harsh winter....

On Sunday we decided it was time to put the horses together. We turned off the electric fence, opened the gate and watched to see how they would all react being together. Well we were quite shocked for a start to see how Switch immediately bonded again with Navajo and the two of them went running off together. The other horses sniffed at Titan and went on about their business both accepting him and not viewing him as a threat. An hour or so later poor Titan was left on his own, standing on the edge of the fence line right at the open gate, not venturing any further. He called with his pitiful little neigh to his mother who he could see in the distance, but she was too far away to hear him. It took us another hour to push him past the gate and out into the walkway, where he then ran off to find his mother....it wasn't a quick trot though as he went the wrong way, came to the partially made dam wall and didn't know how to get over, ran back and then down again. It took us all walking down with him, guiding him with open arms before he finally made his way into an open space giving him the freedom to run to her at last.

Three days later and we have separated August and Zorro from the rest of the horses during the day because Navajo sees them as a threat and doesn't want them around at the moment. I open the gate between us and Belinda in the mornings and the two of them graze there now. Titan has settled in well with his mother and father together and every now and then I notice Angel babysitting him, so I reckon that everyone is happy now...until it is time to start weaning him!!!!!