End of a lovely day

Okay.  I've given up.  I guess our new kid is going to remain Arthur Ray . . . aka Arthur aka Art aka Artie aka Sweet Boy.

I have to say I got a BIT concerned when we first loaded him into the trailer to bring him home.  Don't get me wrong - he was no problem at all to load up.  But when he realized he was going to be the only one in there, then he threw a FIT!! He carried on screaming and kicking and jumping around and trying to crawl UNDER the front restraining pipe.  But once we started out, he settled down (the trailer was no longer moving around like it was when he was having his fit).  

So we drove on home - it took an hour - and got ready to unload him.  But when we opened the trailer he refused to back out.  But that wasn't a problem . . . he's small enough that we just pushed the center divider to the side and he easily turned around and walked calmly down the ramp.  But  then as I was leading him over to his paddock, Duke came RACING up from the back pasture literally screaming -- louder than I've ever heard!  So I put Arthur into Bug's old paddock at the front of the barn and closed up the other two paddocks to keep Duke and Lizzie away from him.

So Arthur calmly started grazing in the paddock. 

Great!  I was very pleased that he relaxed so quickly.  So I decided we might as well go ahead and put Lizzie into the paddock next to him.  So Lisa went out and brought her in. 

Lizzie looks scared of Arthur

Lisa tried to reassure Lizzie (with Duke watching and thinking "Why aren't you petting ME" since he's usually the one she spoils rotten.   Check out the look on his face.

Lizzie stayed by the gate to the back pasture (by Duke) until Lisa convinced her with a handful of treats that she should come up closer to the fence dividing her from Arthur. 

 

Look at Lizzie compared to Duke - she looks like a stuffed animal!  (Cushings, of course.)

Well it was immediately obvious that he had no intention of going after her.  He just stood there looking at her.  So what did she do? . . . she started acting like she was trying to attack HIM!  What!  Good grief!  She has always been "low lady" on the horse totem pole no matter WHAT other horses were around when she was boarded over at Al's place.  I've NEVER seen her behave like that.

She would RACE up to the fence, and he would just give out a little squeal and turn and run about 2 feet from the fence, then go right back up there and look at her trying to get her to come back to him. 

After a time or two, Lizzie would still run up to the fence, but then she would turn and just pretend she was about to kick (but she wouldn't) while Arthur would stand there watching her, fascinated! 

But eventually she gave it up and went into her stall and he figured out in no time that if he went into his stall he could SEE her through the inside gate.  After that neither one was outside anymore!  

So at that point, I decided to open Duke's paddock back up to him in case he needed water -- he had been racing around the pasture like he was on fire ever since Arthur got there -- and all three of them stood at their doors and looked at each other.

At first they just stood back looking at each other . . .

But eventually, they got a lot braver about it and began touching noses!

After that, Duke calmed down completely.  So I decided to turn Lizzie out and open the gate between Lizzie's and Art's paddocks so Duke could check him out a little closer over the fence.

Duke and Arthur seem to be getting along fine already.  Lizzie? . . . not so much.  But she'll probably be fine eventually. 

Anyway, it went incredibly well!  After all the fits Duke threw earlier, he was completely calm and friendly at that point!  Excellent!

And we were told that Arthur likes women, but not men.  But that certainly hasn't seemed to be the case when it comes to Mark and Mike.

He likes them both just fine! 

I'll tell you what -- he is going to be soooo spoiled.  He is SUCH a sweetheart.