Stella came to live at Hanaeleh a few years ago when her owner, Alberta, needed some extra help. Alberta is one of our neighbors and has been very helpful through the years, so when she said she needed some help, we were happy to provide a temporary place for Stella! Stella was originally slated to return home in November, when she put her foot through the bars and got it stuck, and in the ensuing craziness of trying to get her out, Alberta fractured her arm. Luckily, she healed and is doing well now, and was able to take Stella back home this week.
Special, however, was not terribly thrilled about his roommate of two years leaving- he pretty much screams like a wild banshee whenever she is more than about 10 feet from him. In order to try to appease him, Sally put Maggie next to him, but Maggie did not care for the stall, and Special tried to bite her, so she put her back in her stall. When I got to the barn, Special had calmed down quite a bit, although he would call out every 20 minutes or so. I figured that he needed a strong female in his life, so I moved Gypsy into Stella’s old stall.
Once I took the halter, Gypsy looked around the stall. “Hmm…” she said, sniffing. “This is… acceptable.”
“Oh, good,” I replied.
Special came over, eager to see his new roommate. “HihowareyoumynameisSpecialdoyoulikehayIlikehay.”
“You don’t get to touch me,” Gypsy said.
“But…” Special started.
“No.”
“Um, OK,” he said, and, amazingly, backed off.
“I like the bedding down here,” Gypsy told me, “But there needs to be more on top. It is clean enough, however.”
“Oh, good,” I repeated.
She walked down to the bottom, and Rio walked over. “What up?” Rio asked.
“You may address me as Gypsy,” Gypsy said.
“Um, OK,” he said.
“She’s mine,” Special said, coming down.
“No way,” said Rio.
“I saw her first,” said Special.
“I don’t care,” Rio answered.
“No,” Gypsy said. “Both of you answer to me.”
“But…” Special started.
“I said, you don’t get to touch me. You also do not get to address me directly. Go away.”
“Um, OK,” he said, and walked back up to the top to finish his dinner (which was fortunate as he hadn’t eaten much since Stella had left.
“So, what’s up?” Rio asked.
Gypsy frowned at him. “No. But you will learn,” she said, and turned back to me.
“That’ll do, human. That’ll do,” she said.
I rolled my eyes but closed the stall door. “Oh, good,” I said.
Gypsy inspects her new digs.
Gypsy walks down to talk with Rio and Special.
Special, Rio and Gypsy have a discussion over who is in charge (Gypsy, of course!).
Um… what’s that human doing there? Shhh… stop talking. Maybe she’ll go away.
Gypsy says hi before demanding her stall be filled with more hay.