The new digs.... Haha, get it?

Yesterdat was the big move! This is going to be a short, not well written, photo packed post because I wanted to update you guys but I'm a wee bit busy today. :) So anyway, I packed up all our stuff, loaded Digby into the trailer, and off we went. 

Digby is the ever cautious loader. (BTW - I've never actually used shipping boots before until this time.)

We made good time (ie: Digby loaded pretty quickly and we didn't hit a shit ton of traffic) and threw Digby into his stall to settle in. I unpacked my stuff and explored while he munched on hay.

The most handsome hony in his new stall.

The pond on the left, some fields on right.

Some of the turnouts. Look at all the grass!! Woods in back contain trails.

Ring. We have jumps but they were removed for the drag.

View of the far, far turnout entrance

Later in the day when the bugs weren't so bad, I put Digby out with a nice gelding named Simon. I knew Simon as a kid, believe it or not! They got along well and happily grazed next to each other for a while. Digby can go out with anyone, mare, gelding, one other horse, huge herds, whatever. It's the one very easy thing about him.

Simon and Digby

We introduced the two mares (Loca and Tinker) who typically goes out with Simon into the equation and things did not go so swimmingly. Digby ended up being cornered and kicked in the stifle by the one. He seemed ok, just a scrape, and we let them run around to see if they'd calm down. They did not. Eventually the barn owner and I said, ok this isn't going to work with all 4 of them. At the BM's suggestion, we tried Digby with another group, a pair of two older geldings who were laid back. They did not care for Digby in the least. The one gelding is the barn owner's and she was worried because the one gelding, Buster, was being a bit aggressive (weren't kicking him but would chase after Digby a bit if he got too close to them) so we eventually cried "uncle" and put Digby in an individual pad for the night. It wasn't what I wanted to do, ideally, but he was within several feet of 2 groups of 2 horses and I knew he'd be safe for the evening.

I was honestly pretty upset after all this. I think most of it was because I was tired and stressed but it was disheartening to have moved to a "better barn" and watch my poor horse get his butt kicked... twice. I had to text a friend to get some reassurance. It's definitely the right decision for me to have moved, but it was hard to watch. Most of the horses at this barn have been together for years and have already formed good pairs or groups. 

The plan for tonight is to put him back with just the original gelding, Simon, and the mares will have to be alone in one of the smaller pads. We shall see! Fingers crossed. :)