Mission Accomplished: Mister Goes to the Museum

The Appaloosa makeover mission has been accom- plished. The project and I posed for a few pictures, just to prove it.

Yesterday, after getting a bath and some final primping, Mister (registered as E Arrow Paha) got trailered to the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center in Moscow, Idaho, where he'll be on display through the summer and early fall. The museum maintains a small pasture behind its headquarters, where Mister and a 20-year-old Appaloosa companion horse are now available for visitors to view.

To get him there, we had to put a few unanticipated trailer miles on That 70s Horse, 29-year-old Tank. Mister balked at the idea of getting in until we put Old Faithful into the trailer first. Having been hauled a million and one rodeo miles, Tank was happy to jump in and show the lil' buddy how it's done. (He rode so happily that we almost forgot he was in there, and started to park the trailer before remembering to unload him!)

The barn seemed pretty empty after we got home from dropping Mister off. Funny how horses can grow on you in just a few weeks' time!

Extreme Makeover, Appaloosa Edition

Here's yesterday's photo of Mister (click to enlarge), the yearling Appaloosa who's at our place for a spruce-up before becoming the summer live exhibit at the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center in my hometown of Moscow, Idaho. He's come a long way in about 15 days!

* First and foremost, he's now a gelding--with no complications from last week's surgery. He's also gotten all his needed shots.

* He's learned to be tied, to be free-longed in a round-pen-type setting, and to have his legs and feet handled. He's gotten a good start on knowing what "whoa" means.

* He's been exposed to all kinds of new stimuli, including being blanketed (handy for keeping clean that white blanket of his own).

* Cosmetically, he's been clipped from head to toe, and has had enough daily grooming to get all his "dingleberries" removed--those caked-on balls of dried mud 'n' crud that accumulate on a horse who lives outdoors in a Northwest winter. He's had his mane and tail conditioned. Next up: His first bath (if we ever get a day warm enough to do it!)

For comparison's sake, I'll also include a "before" photo (again, click to enlarge). Let's hear it for elbow grease!

Guys At A Gelding Party (Not?)

Photo at right: "Mister," an Appaloosa colt, is the only guy who'll be at today's gelding procedure at our ranch (click to enlarge).

I don't know how many times you've been present for the castration of a colt, but I've been to a number of "gelding parties" over the years (one's taking place at our place today)...and I've noticed something.

Guys would prefer, if possible, to be doing something else that day. It's like an acutely personal sense of identification sets in; you bring up the subject, only to witness the winced expression and protective bring-together of the knees, followed by a rapid change of subject. Yikes!

Which maybe helps explain why the only guy expected to be at today's 11 a.m. appointment will be the future gelding himself. Our vet, her assistant, and the two or three others on hand all answer to Ms., not Mr.

And I know better than to tell Ed how it went once he gets home from work!

A Lesson in Herd Dynamics

Horses are capable of teaching you something new every day. My latest lesson is one in herd dynamics--especially between boy-horses!

On Sunday, we brought into the barn the yearling Appaloosa colt pictured in one of my recent posts. On Monday, The Tankmeister--our super-senior gelding (age 29), and the self-appointed guardian of Tiffany, the yearling filly--discovered the presence of the ungelded interloper. All it took was my leading him past the colt's stall. The colt let out one of those boy-to-boy throaty calls, and the normally half-comatose old fellow turned into a horse I didn't recognize.

Tank didn't just get upset. He got beside himself. Even back in his own pen, where he couldn't see the colt, he was frantic over the new, unexpected presence of a perceived threat to his domain. He didn't calm down until after I moved Tiffany to the farthest pen from the colt, which placed Tank between the younger horses' pieces of ranch real-estate. He still can't see the colt, mind you, but is quieter now that he's between the two--where (in his mind) he can protect Tiffany from the threat.

Yesterday, I snapped this picture of him standing guard over Tiffany while she was taking a sunny-day siesta. He's done this out in the pasture whenever we've had a foal out there with its dam. With Tiffany as the last of the foals, I should have known the old boy would still think of her as "his."

You know what they say about old men and smoke from the chimney: The fire still burns down below!

Weekend Update--Return of the (Short-Lived) Bliss

A high-pressure system hit these parts for the weekend, to prompt one of those horse-filled weekends that leave you falling happily into bed by Sunday night.

I went to "Trainerville," half an hour south of here, to ride Riley and take him some lighter-weight blankets. (It got up to 80 degrees yesterday where he is, probably enough of a shock to his system as it was, without suffering under winter blankets.)

I checked out the prospective grandkid horse, but passed on him. Too many issues that added up to "not quite right." A good thing to remember in such circumstances: If you have to talk yourself into buying a horse, he's not the right one.

I took Tank, That 70s Horse, out on a little field ride that included a few hill climbs. I've been riding him on the days I don't ride Riley, just to keep both of us "legged up." He's amazing--29 years old, and still ready to go when you are.

We also had a big barn cleanup session and then took delivery of the yearling Appaloosa colt that's here for for a spruce-up session (and to be gelded) before becoming the summer live-exhibit horse at the Appaloosa Horse Club. Here's his "before" shot; stay tuned for progress reports.

Spring was short-lived, unfortunately, as it's back down to the 30s again, with snow in the forecast for the next several days.
Back to those winter blankets!

--Your turn to entertain us with your own version of Weekend Update.