A Tail Tale

Horses are herd animals - they don't like to be alone.  A few years ago, Remi went to live at a trainer's farm, leaving Fritz as an only horse for a year.  He was so lonesome he spent a lot of time standing by the fence along the backyard, where he at least got attention from the dog.  Unfortunately, he was just a big plaything for Nikita.  Her new favorite hobby was biting Fritz's tail and pulling out hunks of hair.  I can only assume Fritz took this as attention, as he not only allowed it, he enabled her by standing with his butt to the fence so Nikita could reach his tail easier.  She took off about 2 feet of tail and thinned the rest.  The bad news is, tails grow in slowly.  Three years later, it still isn't fully re-grown.  And now I think it never will be, because today I saw him standing butt-to-fence with Nikita on her hind legs, biting out mouthfuls of tail.  A pile of chestnut horse hairs was on the ground.

I think I know why.  Code Red is gone for ten days for a horse clinic, sort of like boarding school for horses.  Fritz and Remi have each other, but it's not the same.  I hope Fritz's tail survives another three days until Code Red comes back.