The horses continue to look good.The new mini-pasture fencing is a big help, Mare Alnitak now stays inside the pasture, the maintenance men can move to a new location and set up a new pasture in about three and a half days.

A trek to the area south and east of the Preserve brought another sighting of Achernar and Hadar. Fresh hoof prints and both large and small manure deposits indicate that the small mystery horse is still in the company of Capella. We still haven’t seen either one. The prints and tracks in the field indicate that the two horses once again explored an area near the Preserve.

February has been a busy month, there have been many visitors to the Preserve in small and large groups. The horses went calmly about whatever they were doing during the visits, whether foraging, napping, drinking or moving to a different location.

One of the guard dogs, who was introduced at an early age to the horses and whom the horses acept, had not been out for a while. He was a bit overenthusiastic, doing a lot of bouncing and rushing about though not chasing. Mare Bellatrix II decided she preferred a more peaceful atmosphere and she put her head down and quite literally pounced three times toward the dog who tucked his tail and ran a short distance away. He was quiet after that. It was gratifying to see that Bella has not forgotten how to handle dogs.