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The Order of Things

             My name is Serabba and I want to tell you how things work here. I came to Weathertop Farm when I was about 12 years old. I had spent all my life on the farm where I was born. At my old farm nobody bothered me. I'm not very big and I have to admit that my kind of gray isn't what you would call distinguished, but I was pretty much the Boss Horse. I got to choose my pile of hay, who could eat with me, and where I wan ted to stand in the run-in shed. I was always the first one at the gate to go into the barn. When my owner, George, moved me closer to where he lived, everything changed.
         Weathertop Farm looked really nice and so did the horses. There were only three geldings in the pasture where I was going to live. She (who takes care of everything) put me out in a small grassy paddock next to my new companions so that I could get to know them across the fence. They all seemed OK to me. The Boss Horse was a handsome, lively, bay named K. Next to him was Pilot, a big old chestnut who was half Belgian draft horse and seemed easy and good tempered. Last in line was tall, skinny Louie, who looked like he couldn't find his feed bucket and would trip over it if he did. 
          A week went by. One morning after feeding, She took me out of my nice grassy paddock and put me in the pasture with K and Pilot.  (Louie was out with his man). Boy, was it a big surprise! I went in holding my head and tail high and looking my very best.  All of a sudden K came over with a nasty look on his face. The look said, “Go away and keep away from my buddy, Pilot.”  Period end of discussion!  I was very surprised. He seemed so nice on the other side of the fence when I was in the small paddock. He had stayed near the fence and kept me company all week.
        She stayed outside the fence watching and didn't do anything even when I went over and asked very nicely to get out and go back to my quiet paddock. "You'll get used to them and they will get used to you", She said. 
          I went a little away from K and Pilot and began to graze. They star ted to graze too, but they were always watching me.  In a little while tall skinny Louie came back with his man and was turned into the pasture. Then it happened all over again. Louie came over to say hello. Louie was the tallest horse I had ever seen I held my head and tail high.  I wan ted to look bigger, be cause I was the smallest horse in the pasture.  K charged full speed at me with his ears flat back and showing his teeth.  Louie put his ears back too and followed K.  No question, K was the Boss Horse.  I wasn't going to try to change anything, but I would have liked to be friends. No such luck!  K was always between me and the others making BAD faces.  The first evening, when I saw her coming with the feed buckets, I went quickly to the nearest pail on the fence. The bucket turned out to be Pilot's and before I knew it he was behind me and had skinned a big chunk of hair off my rump. I turned and ran off to a safe distance and wai ted. When She had fed the rest, She called me and showed me my bucket, which was right next to the water tub. Someone must have told her that I always had a drink after I finished eating. I ate fast, had a drink and completely forgot where I was. I walked over to Louie and asked if I could share some of his dinner. A large scrape on the side of my neck was my answer. I may not be the brightest horse in the world, but I got the message. I sure made a lot of mistakes in the first few days and I learned a lot of rules. 
#1 If I was very slow and very careful I could eat out of the same hay pile with K,   but never with  Pilot or Louie.  
#2 I wasn't allowed in the best end of the run-in shed except when the flies were very bad. (Then all tails were welcome.)
#3 If I was the first one to see her and get to her, She would give me an extra piece of carrot and a rub on the face. 
#4  I should not go to my bucket until everyone else was eating. 
#5  I must be patient at the water tub and drink last. 
It didn’t take me long to get all the rules straight. 
           Louie was the most difficult, be cause he was the lowest one before I came and was always afraid that I might challenge him. He made an ugly face whenever I got anywhere near him.  All I wan ted was just to be friends with everybody! 
          George came to ride me every weekend. We sometimes rode with the other horses, even some of the mares from the other pasture, but I liked it better when we just went out peacefully by ourselves. George had owned me for a long time and we got along just fine. I was a lot smaller and slower than the other horses and George was a very tall big man. Sometimes the others told me how funny we looked. That hurt my feelings and made me go even slower so I could stay behind by myself. 
          Mostly, though, things went well for the next few years. Louie and Pilot got friendlier and let me in the shed when it was rainy and cold and even when the flies weren’t bad. The grass was long and delicious in the summer and there was plenty of hay and warm blankets in the winter. Did I mention that She thinks horses should live outside all the time unless they are sick or something? We are never sick or anything else and we like it fine outside. It makes us all cross if we have to go in a stall to wait for the blacksmith or the vet. Then we bang on the door and call to the others and make sure that She doesn't forget that we are in the barn. We don't have to stay in very often. 
          All of a sudden one night a new horse appeared in the small paddock next to our field. He was young and looked nice and lively, so I star ted to go over and say hello to him, but K made his BAD face and told me to stay away. He said he would take care of this new fellow.  For a week K stayed near the fence and we watched him from a distance. Finally one morning while Louie and Pilot were out on a ride and K was down in the bottom of the field, She put a halter on the new horse, whose name Shady, led him through the barn, across the lawn, She opened the gate and turned him loose. I went over right away and said hello. He said hello right back and didn't even bite me. Just then K saw us and galloped madly up the field with his ears back and told me to get away from Shady. Things got all confusing. K told us all that we couldn't be nice to Shady. So we all went around making BAD faces. It was hard for me be cause I thought that this was my chance to have a good friend. 
          Shady was the last to eat. He couldn't have a drink of water until everyone else was finished. He had to eat hay and grass way away from the rest of us. He was a very unhappy horse, just like I was when I came. I am not much good at being a Boss Horse any more. I haven't practiced it for a long time. So I was very quiet.  
        I made friends with Shady. Soon we were good buddies, but it only las ted for a week. One day while I wai ted ahead of him for my turn at the water tub he pushed in and had a drink before me. I was surprised, but I thought, "No big deal I'm not as thirsty and he is."  At feeding time after I finished my dinner, I walked over to see if he had anything left. I just asked nicely if I could share and all of a sudden he charged at me with his ears back and his teeth right aimed at me. I was so surprised that I didn't move as fast as I should have and he took a scrape of skin off my back. When She came out with hay that night I star ted to walk over to share with Shady, but then I thought about what had happened at feed time and looked around for K. He is always good at sharing. He is the Boss Horse and I am the Lowest Horse. He knows that I would never tell him that I wan ted to be Boss Horse. 
          For a long time everything went on very smoothly. But Shady was always busy. He didn't like to just stand around after eating or while we wai ted for food. He wan ted to play. He tried to play with everyone. is favorite game was "grabby face". K and Louie would each play "grabby face" with him for a while. They were good at playing tag and chased up and down the paddock until they had enough and then they would say very clearly to him, "Beat it, Kid!  Bug off".  Shady was never ready to stop, so next he would go and try Pilot. Pilot didn't play very well be cause he was old. Louie would turn his back if he didn’t want to be bothered. 
         Shady had a way of coming up behind you and resting his head on your rump that wasn't nice. He would push up and down with his nose and then reach down and sniff at your flank. That is a very rude thing to do! He could seldom get Pi to play "grabby face", but by doing the rump and flank thing he could get Pi to chase him or at least to run away. It was sort of funny to see old Pi cantering down the field bucking while Shady ran behind him nipping him at the top of his tail. I always liked it when everyone else got tired and Shady asked me to play! I could play all his games. I even showed him the rear and neck grab game. Sometimes he got a little too rough for me and once he knocked me down. I think it was by mistake. At least he never did it again so I think it must have been a mistake. 
          Then, came the day that Shady made a BIG MOVE!  No one really saw him do it, but when we looked around he had his nose in Pilot’s bucket and Pi was walking away with an unhappy look on his face. She was there and slapped him and told him to get back to his own place, but the damage was done! Now Pi had to move aside when Shady wan ted water or hay. 
          Poor old Pilot he was very unhappy. She had to go out and get him for dinner. He just wan ted to stand in the shed. He didn't pick up his head as high anymore and he had a funny look in his eyes as if he was always waiting for something bad to happen.  I felt very sad for Pi. From the very first day he had been Second Horse. 
           It was really sort of strange too. Pi was still top over Louie and Louie was still top over Shady. Everything had shif ted around. It was very confusing for a while. Everyone was still top over me.  I don't mind. It is very easy being Lowest Horse, you just get out of everybody's way all the time.  K and Louie are the ones who have to be on the watch for the first sign that Shady wants to move up another space. 
          Pilot was so unhappy that he stopped eating and so She moved him to the mare’s pasture where he could be Top Horse. The mares were happy to have him around and he was a happy horse again. 
           I don't think Shady would be a good Top Horse. He's too young and would be very bossy, always be worrying that someone might push him out again. I don't think he would let me eat with him. I'm glad K is still at the top. I like to share hay with him. I'll tell you a secret, sometimes he even lets me have a bite of grain if I ask nicely. 
           So that's the way things are at Weathertop Farm at least right now. It's the way things work in most pastures. The trick is to know just where you belong.