Buddy

Buddy was the embodiment of my dream. 

He was foaled here out of a lovely Arabian mare of Crabbet breeding by a Tarpan stallion who was the son of my stallion (unfortunately made infertile by a frantic mare). I knew as soon as I saw him that I would keep him as a stallion. I also knew that I probably shouldn't. I preach that to other people - but I do love being around stallions. 

Like every foal of a Tarpan, he was stamped with the coloring of one. Grulla coloring, dorsal stripe, finger prints on the forelegs, tri-color mane and tail, and an attitude that says "prove that you are better than me" are just some of the things that come with the package. They are smarter than any other breed I've ever worked with. I have accused them of being able to do calculus and haven't been able to disprove that hypothesis yet - and I've been around them since 1984. 

The Arabian blend gives heat tolerance and some size. Tarpans tend to be around 10-12 hands. The Arabian boosts that up to about 14.0 to 14.3 hands. It also increases endurance potential since the Tarpans do not sweat easily - thus increasing heat related problems. 

Both breeds have tempers and both have enormous senses of injustice. Violate either and you will have a battle on your hands of epic proportions. By the same token, they are also capable of intense loyalties - and you'd best not interfere with one they consider theirs. The Mongols rode similar horses into battle for this reason - they would fight like the soldiers on their backs. It is no wonder Eastern Europe feared the dark little men on the fierce little horses!

So Buddy was of these ancient bloodlines-so I trained carefully and well as he grew. He outgrew the foal coat and turned into a buttermilk buckskin. He was a magnificent horse. 

I never got to ride him much because people are always antsy about riding with stallions. I understand - who wants either a fight with one or one trying to breed your mare while you are riding her? Still, I wished I could have enjoyed him more. 

Time went by - and things worked out that the old mare pastured with him had to be put down due to health reasons. Buddy was not one to live solo and he was not going to accept a gelding. He'd already made that very plain. One of my mares had had a long infatuation with him - and she was the only one completely unrelated to him. So she went out with him. 

In hindsight, I probably should have gelded him then, and mis-mated her in a couple of months. But I didn't. 

The next summer, I had to leave on a business trip. Of course, that was when she foaled - and lost the baby. She also had tears - so I separated them until she healed. Buddy was enraged - that was HIS mare, and she needed to be back out there. She rebred immediately after I put her back out - and 11 months to the day, her filly (Jolene) was born. 

Probably because of the stillbirth, the mare wouldn't leave this baby alone to sleep. So a little human interference was called for! After a little essential oils to calm her and massage, mom and baby were fine. Proud Buddy strutted his stuff - and turned out to be a wonderful baby sitter. A year later, Belle joined us. 

But I had decided that enough was enough - and gelded Buddy. By this time, he was 14. Naively, I thought once the hormones had left that he would simmer down.

Some horses are just always going to be stallions. Buddy was one of them. 

I tried putting him out with various members of the herd and he systematically beat, bit, kick, and ran the entire herd. He nearly killed his own foals - something he had never shown a propensity for previously. He left scars on every mare out there. 

In a moment of clarity, I did the only thing I could do - I put him down. 

It was the death of my dreams. I had always wanted to breed, to ride a beautiful horse that I had bred, and to have a lineage. He was all of that. I was not going to have the rest of the horses hurt. I could not have any humans endangered. I refused to have him go to auction as horse meat and I will never sell a dangerous horse. 

I am now 60 years old. I cannot do that again. It's over. I still have some lovely horses that will likely see me to the end of my days.  So be it. 

Here's to new trails with new partners. Cricket, Jolene, Belle, Dolly, Julie, and maybe Redford. 

God, I miss Buddy.

Belle-Dolly and Buddy's daughter

Belle was foaled in June, and looks much like big sister Jolene with the exception of a smallish star high on her face. She is showing the roaning characteristic given to her by grandma Allura, but is otherwise looking to be a sandy colored buckskin much like her daddy. Unlike daddy, this baby has some legs on her-she will be taller than Jolene, I think, as she is nearly her height now. Dolly is 14.2, but both her parents were over 16 hands. Don't think Belle will go that tall-maybe 14.3, but she will beat her sister.

She is one laid back kid. Just doesn't get wound up about things. Oh, she'll pull back and object to something, but it is never the "ohmygawditisgoingtoeatme!" Variety. Just " if you don't mind, I'd rather not." She's really cool to work with. She walks off, I turn my back, and next thing I know there is a nuzzle on my back-hey, you quit playing with me!

The puppies mystify her. They won't stay still long enough for her to sniff. Very strange little horses with short legs (dachshunds).

Feed buckets are good, but feed sacks are scary. Working on that one.

Going to the dogs

Almost three months ago now, we decided that the one dog we had, Millie (a non-descript mutt of no discernable breeding who doesn't like me worth a damn  - she's timid and I am the one who does the wormer and flea treatments ergo I'm the bad guy) wasn't worth a damn as a watch dog. About the only thing Millie will bark at is deer, possums, coons, and buzzards. Since none of those are much oaf a threat to either steal us blind or cause us bodily harm, we needed some dogs that would actually BARK.

 As usual, it's my job. Tommy doesn't make the decisions around here, I do. It's not that he's henpecked-he wants it that way. The few times he has made the decision - well, results have generally not been so good. He doesn't think along those lines-he's more of the analyst type. I'm the planner.

So how to find DOGS. Well, for me, going to a shelter is out of the question for the simple reason that I'd bring all of them home. That's definitely a counter-productive move from the get-go. Do not want to go to the pet store as that supports the puppy mills and I truly detest the breeding practices of 99.9% of the purebred owners. (Cat, horse, bird, reptile-any animal that is kept as a pet-there should be very, very strict laws about reproduction.)

Craigslist - not the greatest place, but it beats Petfinder. (Why? Because Petfinder almost invariably refers you to a shelter that has some ungodly requirement that you're going to fail as a pet parent. I've tried three times to adopt cats through there. I failed one time because I let my cats out of the house (I live on 27 acres out in the country, for God's sake!), the second time because I had had a cat die of unknown causes (does everyone have God-like powers of knowledge???), and one time because of the litter I use. Give me a break! Either you want the animals to have homes or you don't! You don't even come out to see what I've got here. ) If you've never looked at craigslist.com, you need to. It is a classified ad section on steriods.

People who have pit bulls NEED to spay and neuter those dogs. They can't GIVE those puppies away. Just because YOU like them, folks, doesn't mean other people are going to take them. I think they're fine, but I'm not going to get one either. Just not my taste in dogs.

There are other dogs in there--some of the toy breeds (the prices on those itty bitty things!!) and some really big dogs (good sized prices there, too!). I keep looking-and finally come up with some beagles up in Summerville (which falls through) and dachshunds in College Park. I've always been a sucker for the hound breeds and dachies are the smallest of the hounds. We had a dachie mix one time - Ginger - and she was a great dog.

I come back with two-male and female. She's a tan and will be a "Tweener". Her name is Bonnie and she is a pistol. She bosses everybody. She doesn't beg, she tells. He is a red or copper and may be a large Tweener or a small regular dachie. Name's Clyde, of course, and he's a laid back sweetie. You do get the sad puppy eyes from Clyde.

And, yeah, they bark. Mission accomplished.

Well, got up the nerve to ride Redford (formerly known as Razz or Razzamatazz or Tucson) a couple of days ago for the second time. This time I decided to ride at home and use just the rope hackamore as he is very lacking in basic skills. What I learned was revealing-he has been intimidating people with tantrums-half-rears, twisting, threatening bucking, and whipping around on both sides to bite at your legs. Plus-the sonofabitch can shy and swap ends like a rodeo bronc. (This old gal can still stay on that-but likes it less than she used to.)

Now I have his lessons straight in my head-and they go like thiis:

1. He learns to be saddled and girthed without biting and moving around. His intimidation/dominance tactics have got to come to an end.

2. I'll ride with dressage whips in BOTH hands until he learns to keep his head where I put it-and his mouth closed.

3. He needs a roller bit to keep him busy-and probably a copper one. I'd like to see how he reacts to a ported bit as well. He's probably going to freak about the chin chain, but he'll just have to live with it. May try the TTeam bit and use four reins. The loose jaw would be more like the snaffles he's used to.

4. Work on transitions, curves, and straight lines.

5. Get him out in the clear cut ASAP. That will keep him busy watching where his feet are going instead of thinking up evil thoughts.

That should be enough for now. When that gets done, time to re-evaluate and re-set goals!