Ingenuity

There were some odd noises coming from Ginger's stall this morning. Yet when I walked over to investigate, nothing seemed amiss. There she was, hanging over her door, happy to say hi, contentedly muching on some hay. I walked away a few steps before I realized the eating hay thing was certainly not normal for that time of the morning - breakfast should have been long finished. Back I went, wondering why she had hay left and hoping she was alright. Again, everything seemed fine, so I assumed she'd found a bit in her bedding or behind her hay net and that was that.

Nothing to see here

I went back to grooming Bridget, when the noises started again. Some groaning, some scraping, a little bit of banging. Not what a horse owner really wants to hear coming from their horses stall!

Again, all was fine. Time for some undercover surveillence. La la la, here I am over here cleaning tack in the corner and petting the cat, NOT paying attention to you at all Ginger....

Seems pony has been rearing/climbing up the side of her stall in order to be able to reach into the feed stall next door! It was actually super funny to see because she is very careful and quiet about the whole thing. First, she attempted just standing on her tiptoes on the bank of shavings on the edge of her stall. She as super methodical about it, inching along the length of her stall trying to find the perfect spot. When that failed, she'd reach up with a foreleg and lean her knee into the wall, using it to balance herself and gain a little extra height. When that failed, she did a levade type thing and reached over and grabbed hay that way. I'm thinking that's what the grunting noises were about - looked like it would have been hard to balance like that for long and when she looses her balance she ends us leaning on the wall with both knees!

Unfortunately no pics of the crazier moves because I suspect she knows she's being bad and won't really do it if you're obvious about watching. Also, I may have told her she is a greedy pig and I think she takes such things to heart ;) I did get a couple of pictures to give you the general idea though:

So hungry and sad, hay so very close. She's right up on the wall standing on her tip toes here

How it looks from the other side when she's standing normally - no way can she reach the hay on the other side - it's only stacked 2 bales high in there. Reminds me of how 6'5" G hides all the junk food  up in the cupboard above the fridge grrr Ginger. trust me,  I know the struggle is real.

Yet with a little ingenuity the problem is solved. Wish I could have got better pics, but I had to be  really sneaky to even get the ones I got. She gave up with a big sigh and a foot stamp and went out in her paddock to sulk when she figured out I was really and truly on to her.

I'm not super worried about her hurting herself doing it - the walls are smooth, very sturdy and high enough that she shouldn't get a leg over. We will be installing another big board to make her thieving (theoretically) impossible and the temptation less. These cobs are ridiculously food motivated, this is all taking place about 30 minutes after breakfast and with only a few more minutes to wait before she goes out in the pasture! Dieting is HARD :)