Our horses live out in a pasture. They do have shelter but it is not an enclosed barn so they need to be comfortable with things such as thunder storms. When the horses first came into my life, Deb made me sit out a severe storm in the car, watching how the horses reacted to the thunder, lightning and high winds. I'd been very nervous about how they would do out in the weather, and learned that day that they are smart and not prone to panic. There is usually a lead mare in a herd, and ours is Poesia. She is very wise and calm. The other horses all watch her when there is something happening, and take their cues from her behavior. They may be very nervous but if she doesn't give the signal to flee, they will stay put.
Right now, Anastacia is the center of Alexios' world, and when he is uncertain about something, he will watch her for cues and do as he is told. It is the perfect time in his life for him to experience the storms that tend to roll through here as he is old enough to be steady on his feet but still young enough to stay very close to momma.
On Thursday evening we had very high winds throughout the evening, and storms early in the morning. When we arrived at the pasture we found that one of the feeders had been blown clear across the pen so we knew things had been rocking and rolling for the horses.
Alexios was pretty clingy when we first got there. He'd been lying down sleeping but it probably hadn't been for long as he looked very tired.
Despite the fact that he'd been trying to keep his distance with us in the previous days, he seemed to need reassurance from Deb also.
As Anastacia ate her grain, she is being fed one specially formulated for nursing mares and foals, he turned his butt and slowly started to back up.
He let Deb give him a good scratch on his rear.
When I crouched down to take some photos, he even wanted to approach me.
He roamed around a little, but not with same energy that he'd displayed before. He was a tired fellow.
We decided that this was not a day to try to catch and halter him, so we just spent some time being there. He didn't seem to mind the company.
The skies were still heavy and we wanted to give Alexios a chance to nurse before the next wave of storms rolled through so we didn't stay long.
Deb noticed that Anastacia's udder was pretty full, indicating that he hadn't been nursing as much as normal. Most likely he'd been distracted by the noises that come with high winds and she'd had to work at keeping him calm.
We watched from outside the pen to make sure that he ate, which he did. As we left Anastacia was quietly eating hay, and Alexios had lain down beside her to get some more sleep. We checked in at the end of the day after the stormy weather had moved through. Anastacia was in the shelter with Alexios who had successfully ridden out his very first storm.
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