A change of scenery

P2 has been put on box rest on BG’s shelter for his mud fever. It creates a bit of a problem, in that we can not catch BG in the field, but it is good in another way as it forces us to do more with her in the field. She was hungry for her tea last night and came and stood right next to me when I put her food bowl down, but she wasn’t having her head collar on. Every time she would come back to me, even resting her nose in my back, but she was not having the head collar on. It was a pity because it was quite a still night, so probably the best night to catch her if I was going to be able too.

In the field she has too much room to escape if she needs to. So I got my husband to fence off a pen where we can feed BG, creating a little space which can become her safe spot and we will have a bit more control over her. She wasn’t too keen on it though, as she is wary of electric fencing. It was quite sweet though as she was looking to me for confidence all the time when thinking about entering it.

I put her food bowl in the entrance to the fenced off bit and let her take a mouthful and then gradually moved it back as she took a mouthful at a time. Once she was all the way in I just let her be. She ate her tea, spun on her haunches and charged out the gap in the fencing.

This morning she went in quite confidently to eat and I put the fence up behind her to trap her in, although I stayed in front of it. If she got scared being trapped I could see her charging through the tape, but not charging through me. She was a bit nervous when she finished eating and didn’t know where to turn but she left the pen reasonably sensibly when I opened it up. She looked for a brief moment like she might charge off, but didn’t.

Now she has gone a while without having her head collar on I will have to decide when to face that battle. I don’t want to leave it too long, but I don’t want to do it too soon and upset the little bit of confidence she has grown at entering that area.