I finally got pics of Linda's new baby, born March 23. (Hey, I made in less than a month, and that's pretty good for me! ::) )
This is Poco's Pistolero, aka Pistol. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/horsebaby01.jpg)
He's a friendly little fellow.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/horsebaby02.jpg)
Pistol enjoying his very first carrot. There will be many many more. ::) :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/horsebaby03.jpg)
Start working with his feet right away DanG ;) You'll make some poor horseshoer very happy down the road. :)
Great looking little guy Dang. Beautiful coloring and markings.
I'll have to make sure my bunch don't see him, you may have visitors for a few weeks. ;)
Nice looking youngun there Dan.
Nice looking colt, good hips,nice chest, looks like straight legs. We always handled our babies everyday from the day they was born. They had halters on and was lead in and out with momma everyday, as well as picking their feet. They had there first trim at 60 days, well actually just touched with rasp. Its easier to handle them at 100-200# then at 500#.
OH YES!!!!!!! NNNNNNOOOOOOOO hand feeding and that includes carrots, apples, snacks. :D :D Like thats going to happen. I can tell by looking at the DanG mom, if its not already, will soon be spoiled rotten.
Thanks CLL. I was hoping for some feedback from some of the real horsemen on here. I was reading his conformation as being pretty DanG good myself, but I'm far from an expert. Pistol is the fourth and last of a series of full siblings, as his Daddy passed away last summer. The oldest one has great conformation, and her little sister is almost as good. The third one is a colt but has some problems...pasterns too straight, either front legs too short or back ones too long ::) :D , etc. #3 guy has an appointment and time will tell if Pistol stays complete or not. I'm not one to put up with a stallion on the place, but I'm thinking we have a little gene pool that deserves to continue. Mom, Dad, and all 4 kids have a really special dispostion. Dad was a very managable stallion and was ridden in many parades with no problems. Mom and filly #1 were both ridden with no previous training. The filly was ridden in a parade 2 weeks after first ride. :)
I'm with you on the hand feeding practice, but I married someone with a soft heart and a hard head. She spoils everybody but me. :-\
He's a cute little fella 8) 8) As a hay producer I'm always happy to see baby horses because they grow up to be big ones ;) ;D
With the help of lots of hay, right Corley?
My hay business likes horses too. ;)
Super looking little fella there DanG. He does have nice markings and conformation. Definitely worth seeing how he turns out before doing any irreversible surgical procedures. I assume its a quarter horse with a name like Poco Pistolero. I like the Poco blood myself. If he turns out good for you I might have him a girlfriend. Would like to see his papers sometime.
Is this the one thats gonna pull a wagon? :D ;D
He is a nice looking foal. Nice and thick where he needs to be and a baby doll head.
How is he bred? I have guessed the Poco Bueno, just curious about the other lines. Is he cow bred on the other side as well? What ever the lines, they surely seem to cross well.
Congratulations. :)
Yup, and the bigger they get the more they eat ;D 8) :)
We brought the li'l dude home today. He was taken away from his mama a week ago and has been in a stall. We were a little worried about how loading him would go, as we didn't want to frighten him with the trailer, but that was all for naught. We backed right up to the barn door, but he could see his Mom. When we opened the stall door, he just hopped right into the trailer trying to get to her. ;D :D :D
The trip home must have been interesting for him, but he seemed pretty calm when we got here.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/homecoming01.jpg)
I noted later that he hadn't left us the customary "gift" in the trailer. My Daughter said, "I guess he was scared s**tless!" :D :D
Offloading went smoothly, but he didn't want to go into the pen through the walk-through gate.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/homecoming02.jpg)
I guess he figured it was another trap. Anyway, after a few minutes of gentle coaxing, little progress was being made, so we switched gears. I led him around to the drive-through gate on the other side, and he walked right through there.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/homecoming03.jpg)
After the gate was closed, I released him to a smorgasbord of grass and weeds that was chest-high. That little paddock has been vacant for several months, since Pistol's sister graduated to the pasture with the other big horses. Our policy is to keep the young'uns in this little paddock near the house, isolated from other horses for a couple of months. That makes them think of us as their family, and they are always easy to catch after that.
"You want ME to clean this mess up?"
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/homecoming04.jpg)
I brought my old horse home when he was about the same age. He's somewhere around 24 or 25 years old now. Just a 1000lb big red dog. Hadn't been ridden for years. Probably eats better than I do. The pictures bring back a lot of good memories.
DanG, he sure is turning out to be a nice looking pet, I mean horse. :D
You gonna leave him a stud or is it to late?
Nice lookin' colt Dan.
I only got one question......Where's yer cowboy hat ??? :D :D
His put on a few pounds , really turning out to be a good looking horse Dan. :) Liiinnda sure has something to be proud of , other then you of course , ;D ;)
Really pretty horse and nice lines. You sound jealous DanG!
I agree about training them very early. And yes, they are like pets after a while.
Ours work pretty hard at times, but we sure do take care of them.
Thanks for all the compliments folks, but I had nothing to do with this apparent success. We just happened to have some really good genes fall into our laps.
Fish, he still has everything he came with, and no decisions have been made yet. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I hate the thought of ending this bloodline. On the other, there is a severe glut of unwanted horses right now, and it could be said that any breeding at all is irresponsible.
I chose one of those pics(out of the 65 that my Grandgirls took) to show off his hindquarters and to show how well he leads. Unfortunately, it also reveals that I've just about run out of something to sit on! :o :D :D :D
Great looking colt! Glad to see you're handling him early. Most horses handled early won't buck because they don't know they can. One word of caution, once you have him where he will come up to you on his own no matter where he is, you may want to think about getting rid of the halter except when you catch him. They have been known to catch a hind leg in a halter while scratching their ears, hooking the halter on limbs or wire, etc. I speak from experience on this, as a friend lost a horse that was in a pasture and hooked his hind leg in his halter. Of course he should have been checked daily but wasn't.
Looks like yer doin a great job with him. I would hold off on the surgery if you think there is any chance you might breed him. A trainer friend of mine had a stallion that he could tie up to a hitching post beside any mare without the stallion bothering the mare. I asked him how he did that, and he said he always used a special halter with a chain on it when he used him for breeding. Although the chain wasn't necessary, the stallion know when that halter went on he could be a college kid again. Trainer said it only took a couple of raps on the nose when he got a little horsey while wearing a regular halter before the horse figured out the rules.
Thanks Iffy. The halter is off. I don't believe in leaving them on but I ain't the only one involved around here. Can't seem to get the other party to see things my way. ::) I got my ways of catching them without a halter if I can get close enough to grab a halter, anyway. I ain't above using a bucket of sweet feed if all else fails. :D :D
Pistol's Daddy was the sort of stallion your friend had. He was ridden on trail rides and parades regularly for many years, with never a problem. He was handled in much the same way. Unfortunately, he dropped dead shortly after Pistol was concieved. The up-side is that Pistol looks and acts just like him. He has a full brother who has been gelded, but he has some slight conformation problems. He also has two full sisters, one of whom is here on our place. I'll see if I can scratch up a couple of pics if y'all are interested. ::)
Go scratchin' I would like to see more of both of them . :)
What isawlogs said ;D
DanG, just remember it takes a good stallion to make a great gelding. I wouldn't worry about doing anything until he is 14-18 months. That way you not only know what he is going to look like , but also what his temperment is.
Here's a shot of Fanci, who was second in the family of four foals. In our estimation she ain't built bad, but not as good as her older sister or Pistol. This was taken last September when she was 18 months old. That scratch on her side was superficial and didn't leave a visible scar. Something had spooked her and she ran through some bushes. She's normally very calm and steady, and I never did find out what got her going. ::)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/afanci01.jpg)
Well, ya got yourselves a good hobby anyway. ;D
Pets you say? My uncle always had work horses, but they didn't work too hard. ;D Had a horse drawn plow that worked, and a horse drawn manure spreader than worked, always hired the neighbor with a tractor. Cutting stove wood, I can't say 10 cords of wood was too exhaustive with all the time in the world to cut it. :D
This is Diamond, the oldest of the four. She belongs to the stallion's owner, as per the original agreement. This one started showing some definite Palomino coloring when she shedded out this spring. It is still kinda pale, but it's there!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10074/diamond01.jpg)
Diamond is three and a half years old, and the pic is about 3 months old.