Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Sonora is standing next to her mother, Pony, in this quick snapshot. It's truly unbelieveable to see this little 3 month old foal growing like a weed and filling out and building muscle. I completely give credit to the grass out in the desert. Also, having more than just a paddock to explore has got to make a difference in muscle and brain development, and bone growth. Pony gave birth to Sonora on June 14.
My Bella is now a year and a half old. Her mother is Pony and her father is an incredibly beautiful Andalusian. Her eye is what artists try to achieve. She was born on March 17, 2005. Notice how green the desert is behind her.
It took me all of 5 minutes to fall in love with her and 2 1/2 months to buy her. It scares me to death to think about starting a yearling. What if I make a mistake?!! She has had the ferrier trim all 4 feet, and has stood quietly while being tied, and has had a large old saddle cinched on her back. All done with gentle hands. She has accepted all of this willingly and seems to know what her job will be in a few years. Right off the bat you might consider her to be a Buckskin, but I'm thinking maybe next spring she will shed out as a grulla.

Pony, Sonora and Bella are going back out to the hundreds of acres for more free grazing. They just came in for pedicures this week. There are two more mares and foals out there, and a little band of geldings on the other side of the fence that hang together. I miss seeing Bella when she's on pasture but all the boring little lessons I might try to teach her can't possibly compare to the mental and physical growth, and learning her own balance while being out in her little herd. I have to remember that anything bad that could happen to her in the wide open spaces, could happen in the paddocks as well.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Molly,

Gosh they are beautiful. I do love Andalusians. Gave mine away to my little girl. ;-)

It would be so wonderful to be able to put my horses out on 100 acres or so. They wouldn't know what to think. I'd be nervous about them out there too, a little. But again, they can hurt themselves in the stall or in a paddock. The best thing is that when they are out like yours, they get a chance to be real horses.

What a pretty place you have to keep them.

Kimberly

Donna said...

There are two mares in foal at the farm where I ride, I can hardly wait to watch the two little ones grow up together. There is a yearling buckskin that just arrived from a rescue program in Canada, he is my new favorite. Lovely photos!