A BOUVIER DES FLANDRES AND HIS HORSE
Predator or guardian?

My brother lives on 113 acres (approximately 38,500 square meters) about an hour from us, and has a young 9 month old gentleman puppy named Angus (a son of Kata, my son’s bitch). Much of the property is wooded (forest), and there is a river running through part of it. This property is the personal domain of Angus, and as you can imagine, there is much to keep him busy there.

However, because my brother’s young daughter is in school during the day, Angus has been traveling elsewhere for amusement. He has made fast friends with a young boy who is still too young for school, and has been traveling 2 miles through the forest each day to visit the child. The boy's parents like Angus, but do worry a bit about the safety of their cats. They have also noticed that Angus stands at the fence to their pasture and stares longingly at their goat. Angus communicates by growling at the goat. This, plus the daily drive to go fetch Angus each afternoon convinced my brother’s wife Patti to try taking Angus with her while she cared for the horses each day.

About two weeks ago a new baby Clydesdale was born. The Clydesdale is huge breed of draft horse, which generally stands from 16 to 18 hands (6 feet, 1.83 meters at the shoulder), and weighs from 1700 to 2000 pounds (909 kg). Some of the mature stallions and geldings are taller and weigh up to 2200 pounds (1000 kg.).   

Apparently the new foal triggered some parental instinct in young Angus. He was instantly  in love with this new baby horse.

At first the horse’s mother was not at all keen on allowing Angus near her new baby. However she apparently sensed he meant no harm, and  he is now the baby horses’ new friend, protector and playmate

Angus is beside himself with excitement each morning, and kisses and plays with the baby horse. It will be really interesting to see if this relationship continues and flourishes as the horse grows older.