The boys

Yesterday at morning feeding time John and I walked out to Pasture 5. We refer to this heard as "The boys". Magic, Tav, Dusty, Bodhi, and Cas. As we approached the gate we expected to see the boys hanging out awaiting their breakfast like usual. But there was not a single horse in sight.
John poured Tav's grain in the feed stall and I called to the horses. Still nothing.
Peculiar, I thought. The only explanation could be a fence down and everyone escaped. Before I took one step to begin my search, I looked up and saw a very funny sight. I elbowed John and whispered, "Look, look, look!"
Just peeking out from around the bend of woods was all 5 horses abreast in a row. All looking at us like WE were the aliens sent to eat them. They stood like statues, every one of them, staring directly at us. Magic took about two steps forward and stopped. The other 4 followed his lead, just taking a few steps. Brave Bodhi walked a few more steps, followed by Cas. But they were still hundreds of yards away! They kept this up for several minutes. Finally I called out, "Hi boys!" Reassuring them that we weren't the monsters in their game.
They blew snorts of relief and came up to eat their grain.

But, the fun didn't stop there. Magic has this "thing" he does at feeding time, mostly in the evenings, where he acts like there is a ghost in the woods to the South of their pasture. He'll be eating, then abrubtly lift his head as if something scary just whispered to him. And he'll even take it to the next step and trot a few steps away from his food. None of the other horses notice the thing in the woods, but it does stir up excitement.
So I moved Magic's bucket further from the woods a few weeks ago. He still sees and hears the ghost (maybe a raccoon family?) in the woods, but since he gets to eat closer to his herd he feels safer. Perhaps it is the alpha horse keen senses that distinguish him from the rest. Bodhi just calls Magic a big baby and threatens to kick him.

Gotta love the boys!