Horsing Around

Yesterday afternoon, for lack of anything else to do, the girls and I went for a little drive. We were out roaming around the more country-esque parts of our town when we came upon a pasture of horses. This particular pasture caught my eye because two of the horses were running and there is nothing more majestic than running horses. As we came closer and closer I realized that they weren't just running, that one was chasing the other. Then before I knew it they had stopped running and were actually fighting! That did it. I had to pull over to watch this, as horrifying as it was. I couldn't believe it when I saw them rearing up and crashing into each other. They curled up their lips and bit viciously at each other's heads, necks and legs. They looked like dogs fighting, only on a gigantic scale. I was relieved when they finally separated and one trotted to another part of the pasture. However, it was only a moment or two before one of the horses was charging back towards the other horse for round two. I wondered what the one horse had done to tick the other one off so badly. As I sat there watching I thought about the things my friend Sonja had taught me about there being a head horse who holds control and about social behavior within the herd. Someone had obviously overstepped some boundaries and stepped on another's hooves! I was feeling a bit smug about the new found knowledge I have about life in the country when I decided it was time to go. As I prepared to pull back onto the road I took a second for one more glance back at the horses. It was then that I became instantly humbled. With that last glance it became very obvious that what I had witnessed was not just the disciplining of an out of line horse, it was more of a...mating ritual. I guess I still have a lot to learn.