Note the Fire Breathing Dragon

Note is a funny one.  He can be sweet as pie with me, and even gentle and affectionate.  However, he also has a temper and is sorely lacking in the social skills department with regard to other horses.

This makes sense, since he was a cryptorchid stallion until he was six he probably didn't have much interaction with a herd, and so likely never learned how to play nicely with others.  I get it, I've handled many stallions and I'm well acquainted with safely addressing those behaviors.  However I do wish that he would chill out so he could have more friends.  Highboy tolerates him pretty well, but Note gets pushy even for Highboy's taste.  The two of them get turnout together on occasion, but I'm always careful to bring Highboy in before he gets too worn down by Note.  I don't have any other horses that can go out with Note.

I've had to rearrange the herd a little this week because of the nonfunctional status of my tractor early this week.  I needed it to move big round bales, so Highboy and Note have been together while Silver was in the paddock where Highboy usually stays.  This is what Note did sharing a fence line with a new horse:

You see Highboy greeting Silver in a friendly way, and Note behaving like a fire breathing dragon while Silver stands just out of reach, wondering what on earth Note's problem is.