The saga of Olive and Roy

A couple months ago, Karen moved Roy into the stall next to Olive.

Since then, they've been mostly inseparable.

By which I mean, Roy calls and frets when Olive is gone, and Olive occasionally nickers at him.

You know, true love.

Both Olive and Roy are frequently and successfully turned out with other horses.

Still, they haven't been turned out together for a long time. The last time we tried it, they fought. But that was before they lived next door to each other. Surely, it's different now. At least that's what I told myself yesterday before I turned them out together.

Everything was fine at first. They greeted each other quietly, then Roy wandered off to roll.

After he was done, they regrouped in the corner.

I thought they were going to do a little bit of mutual grooming.

I was wrong.

So wrong.

So very wrong.

I can not even begin to describe how wrong I was.

It was so much worse...

and so much louder...

than I could have ever anticipated.

Good lord.

After this photo, I put the camera down and physically separated them.

Olive trotted right off. Roy followed her.

His whole demeanor screamed, "I'll show you who's boss mare!"

Then he realized that fighting is painful and started limping.

Olive was also hurting.

As for me, I was wishing I had stuck to model horses.

I caught Roy, assessed his wounds, found them to be minimal and put him back in his stall. Immediately, he started pacing back and forth and calling to Olive.

I caught Olive, assessed her wounds - also minimal - and brought her back to her stall. She nickered at Roy, and they stood together lovingly on either side of their fence.

Horses.

Sorry, Olive and Roy. I don't care how much you "love" each other. I am never, ever, ever turning you out together.