Unusually unusual

Today should not have gone near as well as it did. 

Mark your calendars, ya’ll.  I won’t say that very often.

Remember Jethro?  I get the feeling that he really wants to be an easy keeper, but no matter how much Safe Choice and free choice hay I give him, he still doesn’t have a very nice top line.  His spine sticks up just a wee bit and the top of his ribs can still be seen.  So my thought was that after spending a month locked in a 12x12 stall at the shelter and two and a half weeks stuck in a pen in my yard with Jed his muscles might just be atrophied.  His gut has shrunk a bit after two wormings, but is still more than adequate for his size and his butt has filled out nicely.  However, even though his pen is about three times the size of his stall, there still isn’t any room to run and play when the urge strikes.  Last week I wondered briefly if I could put him in with the Fairmont studs, but then thought better of it because strange stallions will almost always fight and I didn’t want anyone hurt.

Then yesterday I woke up to find Drunken Neighbor’s proud cut gelding standing in my driveway and whispering sweet nothings to Don Juan over the fence.  Don Juan was calm, accepting, and even looked like he wanted to play with the big gelding.  Hmmmm….  This set my little brain to whirring and I made the executive decision this morning to try putting Jethro in with the other stallions and see how it went. 

It was terrifying!  I doubted Jethro would make it out alive.  Don Juan was so aggressive and kept rearing and striking out at poor Jethro…

 

 

 

Um, yeah.  The two of them hit it off like old college chums running into each other in a gay bar.

 

 

Kincaid made nice with the “I’m a baby don’t hurt me” suckling motions and little Rusty just couldn’t get enough of Jethro.

 

 

 

Dagwood knows that the surest way to tell a stud from a mare is to sniff their hooves and chew on their lower legs. Huh?

When you’re still not sure, just pretend you’re a dog and take a long whiff right where it counts.

 

Jethro never panicked or became annoyed.  His ears were always up, he never lifted a leg to threaten a kick, and his teeth stayed hidden.

 

I had left Jethro’s halter on at first in case I needed to pull him out of there quickly.  But the introductions only lasted a few minutes and then everyone settled down together to eat some hay.  Right now everyone has squished themselves into the run-in shed to share in the shade.  So much for strange stallions always fighting!  It probably would not have gone so well if there had been mares in the area, but I guess a Lucille donkey in the yard doesn’t count.

 

Now, would someone please come up with something organic to kill all the burdock plants on the farm?  Please??

The Fairmont Boys

I promised pictures of the stallions that I still had left over from the Fairmont seizure and I’m finally delivering.  Better late than never?

This is Chip, and I would like someone to supersize him for me.  Because I love him and he is the black stallion horse that I always wanted as a little girl, only trial size.  I would like the family pack sized version, please.

 

I think next spring I’ll find a pony-sized harness, fix up the pony cart that has been sitting up on the ridge since before we bought this place, and turn Chip into a cart pony. 

Everyone falls in love with Don Juan.  Granted, he’s very handsome, but he’s just not my type of horse.  He’s very narrow and I prefer to feel like there’s a full-dress Harley under me rather than a moped.  I’m sure once he’s gelded and evaluated under saddle, he’ll have a home in no time.

Dagwood… I love him!  He and Rusty are so affectionate and whenever I’m out there, the two of them are right next to me, one on either side, following my every move.  He’s the first to nicker at me when I come out the door in the morning, and was the first stud to make Riley welcome at weaning time.  Does he know he’s Riley’s father?  I wonder.

 

Little Rusty… this is as far away as I could get for a picture.  He’s like a fat leech with legs and fur.

 

Fraggle is much sleeker and shinier than when you last saw him.  He’s also a big sweetheart that’s always looking for attention and a head rub.

 

 

Last, but certainly not least, Kincaid.  He is quickly becoming the new Maverick!  Kincaid is showing a lot of the same intelligence and need to please that endeared Maverick to me.  He nickers at me every time he sees me and has the same sense of humor that I saw in Mav.  He’s still jumpy and shy around strangers, but is always looking for a scratch behind the ears when I’m alone.

   

 

Riley went to his foster home today.  His main job in life is to keep Huey company and I’m sure the two of them will get into all sorts of trouble once they’re together again!

Introductions – the sequel

Matilda is a Percheron or Percheron cross mare and looks like she’s preggers.  Of course.  She’s also terrified of humans, but we were able to catch her tonight and get her wormed.  Then Glenn took her out and hand grazed her in the grass for awhile and she seemed to calm down a bit.    She’s a bit on the thin side, with very little muscle along her top line, and is also covered in lice.  She’s rubbed herself bloody in places, so we also got her dusted with powder tonight.  She thought the canister of lice powder was going to eat her, but we got the job done eventually.

 

Kincaid was the last to be caught and put on the trailer.  He was also the toughest!  We thought he was going to break his leg at one point when he reared up and got it caught in a cattle panel.  It was bent at the knee with the sole of his hoof facing up.  He couldn’t move far since he was pinned against the fence, but every time one of the deputies tried to reach in and cut the cattle panel with bolt cutters, he’d try to bite them. 

 

Chip is one of the mini studs.  He’s very much in charge of the mini herd and was doing battle with Don Juan before we got them rustled up and in the trailer.  He seems to think he’s 10 foot tall and bullet proof when it comes to the bigger stallion. 

 

Little Rusty is also a stud.  He’s also the one that wants to play, play, and play some more!  He’s getting friendlier every day and he just wanted me to scratch is neck for hours tonight. 

 

Ginger is just a cutie patootie.  She really wants to be friendly, but just can’t make up her mind.  She’s fine as long as she’s getting treats or food, but without incentive she really doesn’t want to have much to do with us.

 

 

This little pregnant cutie has got to be one of my favorites.  I call her Shortcake.  She’s another that doesn’t think humans are worth the attention unless there’s food to be had.

 

More to come tomorrow.  Time for a nice hot shower, some Tylenol PM, and hopefully, some very deep and uninterrupted sleep!