The Barnyard Chronicles: 'Bad' Horse

Horse & Boredom can be a bad mix!

And, keeping it real, my horses are probably bored right now. My time is sparse with the baby and apple orchard. Throw in a few rainy days where they have to stay in the barn and it's the perfect recipe for boredom!

And I have this horse named Apollo. I think I've mentioned him before :) If there is one horse who cannot tolerate boredom, it would be him. His mind has to be continuously stimulated to the point where he's tired and needs a nap - otherwise, he is bored.

And this picture is evidence that he is extremely bored.

 Excuse me while I CRY!

 Bahhhh! Look what he did to this door!!!

He's done a lot of things in his times of boredom, but never to this amount of destruction. I think the baby put him over the edge! Every time I have brought home a new family member, he's rolled his eyes at me. But the baby, too much for him!

Gypsy, who is stalled next to him, is a 'chewer'. A chewer as in, a bad habit, she chews on wood. She'll do this whether she is bored or not. In the 6 years I have known her, she has always done this.

Sometimes, a horse stalled next too another horse with a bad habit, will pick up on the bad habit. I was a tad concerned Apollo might when they moved home with me. But alas, he did not. 

This is a wall of Gyspy's stall. Above is a photo from the inside, below, a photo from the outside of the stall. You can clearly see her bad habit and the peaks and valley's of artwork she has created for everyone to see in her stall!

This is a bad habit work of art.

THIS, below, IS NOT!

THIS IS 'I am SO FREAKING BORED and I am mad at your for letting me be bored so I am going to destroy things' work of art!

 

And to further prove my case, that Apollo is doing this out of boredom [and a tad of spite], this is an inside view of his stall. See how nice the wood is. No peaks and valleys like Gypsy's. He does not have a bad habit of chewing!! This I know.

And to top it off, he left me a nice chunk of tongue and groove wood, that he pulled OFF of the door he ruined, right in the middle of his stall!