Every herd needs a watch horse. After all, when a twig snaps in the woods half a mile away, they need to be alert! Sometimes Freedom is absolutely fixated on sounds or smells that are far too subtle for me to hear. Zelda and Curly generally ignore them, too, but Freedom? He’s all over it. If there’s something that might possibly be a problem, he’s going to keep an eye on it and guard his girls.

The day I took this photo, he barely acknowledged my presence, except to come over and snag a peppermint. Then he went right back to watching and listening, his ears pricked his attention laser-like. I stayed very still and tried to figure out what had caught his attention, but I never figured it out.

You might ask what Zelda and Curly were doing while Freedom stood at attention? Eating hay, of course. Without a care in the world.