It's been interesting on the ranch, as always. Calving has started and some of our mares are starting to have babies. Unfortunately, one mare had difficulties and was unable to care for her colt on her own. So, Danny has another roommate. The picture is Danny and his new roommate, which we call Bucky. Sandy is still in there, just too short to be in the picture. Bucky is a Thoroughbred colt and is actually quite tall for his age.
Danny is showing signs of jealousy when we stop to play with Bucky. Danny HAS to be involved and will push his way in to also be petted and played with. So this is probably a good thing in his development as we are able to provide some guidance to Danny on what is appropriate behaviour in a herd. Probably very similar to what his mother would have done.
But the two of them together look very cute playing. Bucky is still unsteady on his feet and I think that Danny takes advantage of that by literally circling around him sometimes. But it is good for both of them to have someone else to be with. Because of how big they are getting they are spending more and more time out of their pen during the day. They are allowed to wander around the arena area and they are starting to explore the grounds. Although they generally like to follow people around. Bucky will whicker and Danny will grunt their greetings whenever they hear a favourite voice. It does mean that we have put off putting Danny with one of the Llama/Alpaca herds for awhile so that Bucky will have someone. We'll see how it goes!
