Country diary: Even in tame horses, a wildness remains | Kate Blincoe

Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: A large mare is being aggressive not just to the dying deer in its paddock, but also me for trying to save it It’s been a strange few weeks, not least because Dad is in hospital. On the farm, we’re all trying to carry on as normal. Outside, too, has seemed peculiar: three oystercatchers on the cut grass of the Norfolk Showground event venue, their orange beaks flashing neon as they probed for earthworms. Unlike many waders, oystercatchers can nest in peculiar places such as rooftops or roundabouts, as extra protection for their young. Still, to find them here, hemmed in by a dual carriageway, is a surprise. Dad reminds me, from his hospital bed, that the River Yare is close. Another day, another anomaly. I’m driving down the lane, a car full of teenage girls, when one of them notices some horses behaving oddly. We stop to investigate. I quickly wish we hadn’t. The herd has gathered loosely around an adult roe deer on the ground. At first I think it’s dead, but then it tries to stand. It must have been injured on the road and staggered into their paddock. The black mare does not want it there, though. She bites at its neck, pinning it down and sending tuf