These Belgian mares keep their foals away from trouble, including me and my camera. It’s only right and I was so impressed with their keen awareness of changes around them.

A pasture I pass everyday on my way to work was home for a pony, a paint and a chestnut mare. Then one day, the standardbreds arrived. There was snorting, and neighing and much jockeying around as they settled in to be a herd.

It was a cautious introduction: the chestnut, the bay and the paint on the left were the original inhabitants of the pasture.

This first video shows how unsettled they were at first, milling and then racing around with the occasional buck and laid-back ears. The barn horses had been stabled and it had been awhile since they’d been pastured out so, here, the grazing was good.

It was an exciting time with the chestnuts and bays. The pasture stretched beside and behind two bungalows on the highway. It is bordered by potatoe fields and scrub pine and has a line of trees for shade in the gulley. It’s about 5 acres of grazing and lots of room to run. And run they did! Check under the ‘Video’ tab for more action!

The three original horses – a chestnut, a bay and a paint, stayed pretty close together as they tried to figure out what had happened to their world.

The other horses ranged back and forth down the hill, across the field and up to the road. They’d stop, nicker and snort and mill around each other, maybe drop their heads and graze for a minute and then one or two would move restlessly about and they’d all be off running again.

the original three

The owners said they continue to be restless until a leader took charge. I guess it’s usually a mare who becomes chief and once that happens, they will settle down.