Berlin and Cru Meet Compa

Compa loves sleep overs.


The third and fourth nights in the barn I introduced Compa to Berlin and then Cru. Everything was repeated so Compa knew the routine. He was much calmer by the time he met Cru.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My biggest curiosity was the reaction Compa would have to another gelding. He got very excited but didn't display. I was happy about that. Apparently, he had time to think about the differences between Carli and Ziggy. What he did do, was show his excitement about yet another new horse by standing and balancing on his hind legs, neck arched and head tucked, but no movement of the front legs. He balanced like that for many minutes. (This horse has some serious potential!)

The isle introduction between Berlin and Compa was fun. Compa loved that Berlin showed more interest than the previous two horses. Now here was a horse he could play with. His eyes bulged with anticipation and he did not blink.

Berlin is one huge play machine. When he hits the play button, lookout - everything and everybody becomes a part of his imagination. He creates Rubik's cubes from every situation and Compa dove right in, trying to rotate all the colors on the block at once. Both geldings kept their noses pressed against the bars. Berlin would move down a few bars, Compa would follow, squealing with delight. Compa would strike the stall from the inside, Berlin would bang the outside. Slide down a few bars, bang, bang. Slide - bang, BANG!

Then I opened the feed and stall doors. Oh joy! Everything intensified. The squeals increased to hollering. They struck and danced around. It all looked rather funny, because they refused to separate their nostrils. The almost 18 hand Oldenburg and the barely 15 hand Andalusian cross stuck at the nose. Very funny. They breathed each other in and then one of them would holler. Like powerful magnets, their noses would slam back together again.  Eventually, they tired of that and began playing bite-me-bite-you, taking huge snaps of air from under each other's jaws.

I kept the doors open for 30 minutes and sat back to enjoy the show. They were very convincing.

On the fourth night, I brought Cru in. He took one look at Compa and pinned his ears and rolled his eyes. That was it. He refused interaction. He walked in the stall and asked for his dinner. When I opened the stall and feed doors, Compa craned his head around. Cru did not look up from his hay.

Yay! I was delighted, he would be the moderator during the integration.