Two months after my little mini stallion Cisco went to the great pasture in the sky, I've been reminded daily of how animals grieve for each other when separated after a long friendship. Cisco's lifelong buddy Poncho has moped about every day, struggling with laminitis when he's in with the herd (too much new grass) and struggling with confused loneliness when I confine him to the dog yard ("Why am I here all alone?"). Even the playful and affectionate antics of my beagle don't bring out his play drive. Disney brings him the Jolly Ball, offers him a chew on his bone, pulls the pony's tail and jumps on his back!
Hour after hour, the little fella would stand in the corner, head down, refusing to eat unless I sat there with him. He whinnied now and again, his voice sounding weaker than it used to, a far cry from when he barrelled around the paddock with his young nemesis. I already knew that horses are emotional, and develop strong feelings of attachment to their herd buddies and special friends, but this has given me an even greater insight into horse psychology.
So you can imagine how happy I was today when in the first warm sunny rays of spring, Poncho decided to chase Disney and engage in some mutual face nuzzling and licking!