This Just In...

Justin! For readers who missed the original announcement, Justin belongs to Tess, who will be heading up Farcical Farm while David and I are in Tasmania (leaving in ~3 weeks...eek!). He rolled into town early this afternoon, surveyed his new domain, and quickly recognized that Tonka is easy to conquer. Ever since then he has been eating, drinking, and merrily picking on Tonka* whenever the spirit moves him. He did do a few laps of the paddock at a half-hearted trot when he saw me coming with his blanket, but Tess had warned me about this possibility in advance. So far he has been a nice addition to the farce -- handsome, goofy, cheerful and cooperative. We did have one altercation at dinner time when he had the audacity to paw at the paddock gate, and I had the audacity to send a feed tub whirling at his nose from the shadows. He was duly surprised, so let's hope he has learned that Bad Things come to those who do not wait more patiently.

*Don't feel too bad for Tonka. He is a very subordinate horse and this is his lot in life. Justin has not done him any physical damage (who knows about his ego), and I firmly believe Tonka enjoys being pushed around more than being alone. I would never want to see him in a large herd environment, but he does well in the company of any other single horse.