She'd tested out boundaries with them. The nurses were obliging, willing to be petted as long as she complied with their instructions, but these new ponies were sometimes defiant, chittering at her angrily and revealing their fangs as she reached inside their personal space. That was new, that was something she hadn't expected, and she'd jerked her hand back. The two of them had a brief conversation, and then a head was lowered and she got a chance to pet it and scratch behind the ears but it didn't feel quite the same. It felt like submission under duress, and she quickly gave up and returned to her contemplation of the ceiling.