Fergilicious Transforms to Ferginator

Fergie is a mare who has lived here for years, and most of the time we call her Fergilicious because she is a sweetheart and fun to be around.  Occasionally I do see her Ferginator side, though.  Thursday evening this week the tractor was finally repaired and running, and I was attempting to move large round bales into the paddocks for the ponies and the mares.  To do this I need to leave a large gate open, and so I tie up Fergie so that she can't escape and roam the property while the gate is open.  It makes her mad to be tied up while food is being distributed, and she does her best to untie herself and enjoy the feast, which she has accomplished on more than one occasion.

This time I had tied her very securely, and it wasn't possible to untie herself.  She was mad she couldn't get loose, so she performed a deliberate maneuver with her head and neck which snapped the leather crown piece and the whole halter fell off.  She was free!

Fergie proceeded to gallop around the back side of the barn to flirt with Highboy.  He is one of her favorites.  When I heard the thundering of hooves and the excited squeals from behind the barn I hopped off the tractor and headed to the barn to capture the elusive Fergilicious.  She ran into the barn to flirt with Monty over the gate (she has a thing for bay thoroughbreds I guess), and I cornered her there.  She made one effort to run past me and leave the barn which I thwarted by swatting her with the end of a lead rope.  I pointed at her and told her to stand still, which she reluctantly did.  I put a different, unbroken halter on her and put her in the stall in the barn to wait there until I was done moving big bales.

This made Fergie even madder!  She proceeded to kick the walls and make what I can only assume to be dinosaur noises, bellowing her frustrations at being confined without food.  I ignored her.  If I had responded she would have felt like her poor behavior was effective because it got my attention.  I put both big round bales into the paddocks.  I fed mash to the other horses.  I walked in and out of the barn at least a dozen times giving her chances to decide to be polite.  She continued to try to get my attention by banging the walls and screeching.  I went ahead and filled every water tank on the place.  Finally I paused in the barn and looked right at her and said, "I'm not letting you out of there until you are quiet and ask me nicely."  I then left to finish filling water tanks.

The next time I walked into the barn Fergie was standing quietly with a friendly look on her face at the door to the stall.  I asked her if she was ready to come out now and she nickered softly.  Satisfied with that response I haltered her once more and led her back to her paddock which now had a big round bale in it.  I made her stand nicely while I removed the halter and then dismissed her.  She took off at top speed headed for the big round bale, which is taller than she is.  When she reached it she reared up and mounted the bale, rubbing her belly on it until she fell off the side and over the metal feeder in which the bale was contained.  She mounted the bale twice more, rubbing her neck and chest on it and then falling off the sides before she finally just settled and decided to eat.

The Ferginator sure is intense about her hay!