Flaire 'comes home'
The arrival of this young paint mare on a cloudy June afternoon felt strangely uneventful. Unlike the sensational landing of Tasha and Midnight in January (which was preceded by months of preparations and uncertainty), Flaire showed very little flair for the dramatic. She showed up, she looked around, and everyone knew she was home.
The resident herd accepted Flaire relatively quickly, although some mandatory drama did occur in the beginning. The youngest and lowest ranking members of the herd (Sorento, Belle Amie and Midnight), formed an 'alliance' — if I were to anthropomorphize equine behavior, I'd say that Belle incited the other two to give the newcomer the cold shoulder in order to maintain her status of the queen mare in the herd (especially since Flaire is also a female).
But Midnight and Sorento couldn't last a minute; they immediately came to the round pen where Flaire was acclimatizing, and made contact.
The 'grooming ritual' performed by Taz also took a slightly different form this time - Flaire was more interested in pretend-grazing together than bonding physically.
The arrival of another mare triggered a reaction in Belle Amie who might have temporarily felt overlooked and loosing her position as the herd's 'queen bee'. Sensitive attention and affection coming from the human handlers brought needed reassurance.
Sorento, who ranks higher than Belle and Midnight in the herd hierarchy, also took a protective role over the mares, maintaining high energy and not leaving their side.
