His name is Shooter's Little Joe. DH has 6 personal horses right now, plus 4 ranch horses. He's hoping to buy a colt each year in order to keep a good string of horses under him.
There's a lot of work that goes into making a good ranch horse. And let me just say that I am no horseman. I took a colt starting class in college and that is the extent of my colt education. I felt so sorry for that colt being paired with a city girl like me who didn't know a thing. That colt taught me a whole lot more than I ever taught him. The rest is just 33 years of observation and conversation with a man who does this well.
We had this little colt cut a few months ago and DH started working with him a few weeks ago. We bought him at the Clovis Horse Sale and he was already halter broke.
We used to keep mares and a stud horse here and raised horses, but we no longer do so.
Kind of miss those little babies!
I love watching DH work with horses:
Our new colt is gentle and easy to work:
DH starts with a lot of ground work:
Daily:
These photos were taken on various days so they are not in order. DH does a lot of ground work before the colt is ever saddled. Lots of flag work in order to get him used to unusual and varied movement and sound:
He spends time on another horse, getting the colt used to someone and something being above him
DH never takes his eye off of Shooter, reading his reactions and giving and taking cues
Getting him used to being saddled daily:
I think this was his first ride
Once DH decides he's ready, Shooter is introduced to lots of miles of pasture and his round pen training will be concluded:
After each session, he gets a welcome shower
A nicker of delight:
DH thinks he's going to make a good little horse. He's sweet and gentle,and takes instruction easily, although DH says he's like a pet coon and wants to explore everything. LOL. A good way to close out a morning's work:
8 comments:
Awww, so sweet. I just love horses. Had a few here and there growing up. That would be so neat to raise them. But I didn't marry a rancher ;) Have a great day!
This post just makes me smile. I already love that horse! I hope you'll post more updates as he grows up.
Cool group of photos and good for your husband!
Ohhh He is so sweet!!!! And that smile - ha ha - I love it!!! Looks like a good ride!!!
Great horse pictures! This may be a silly question but I am going to ask it anyway! When the men need horses to round up cattle or work the cattle, do they ride your horses or do they provide their own horse. I think riding your own horse verses riding someone else’s would make a difference. At the same time having to haul their horse to your ranch would be complicated too!
Awh! I love this post. I'm a horse lover girl. I never had one but believe I drew thousand of them in my life, lol. Thanks for sharing. ;^)
Am sure DH is a kind and gentle teacher and this will make Shooter a good Ranch horse.
Looks like he's gonna be just fine. He's a pretty thing! My Cowboy used to train ranch horses for a living. He could sure turn out some good ones. Now his health won't allow it, but he has his trusty steed, Chip, and they still work together whenever he can get in the saddle. The new "farm dog", however, could still use some round pen time -- haha! My Cowboy tried roping in front of her yesterday, and she ran away! She's scared of everything. Today, the crop dusting plane has been going over, and she's been hiding in bed!
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