At the beginning of April, Ivory and Diva came home to Willow House from the farm near Ponygirl where they were boarders. I wrote about their return in Homecoming. All summer, Diva and Ivory had a field to themselves, while Czarina and Mousie lived together in a separate field. Czarina has never gotten along with Diva. They’re two feisty red-heads who don’t see eye to eye.
Now Ivory was returning to Ponygirl’s place to be close at hand as Ponygirl’s winter riding horse. Diva was staying on at Willow House. It was time for Czarina and Diva to make peace.
They have had all summer to get to know each other better, visiting over the fence. In preparation for bringing them together in the same field, Ponygirl dressed Diva’s legs in pink wraps to protect them from kicks. She left her halter on her head in case it was necessary to quickly remove her from the field. But the introduction went pretty smoothly. Czarina was very protective of her little herd, standing on guard between Mousie and Diva, making certain that Diva kept her distance. Check out the body language in the first three photos. Czarina carefully places herself between Diva and the others.
But gradually, as the days went by, Czarina let down her guard. Now, 10 days later, Diva is pretty much one of the group.
While Czarina will still snap at Diva if she comes too close, she has stopped lunging at Diva and chasing her away. Peace has returned to our little barn.
Willow House Chronicles 