This morning when I went out for my daily check and to fill the water trough, the horses came up to see me from the north pasture, through the middle pasture, and over to where I was filling the trough in the south pasture.
This is the herd boss, Trouble. He lives up to his name. I find it hilarious that, when he was turned out with Abby for the first time, she had the upper hand and bossed him around! It wasn't until the rest of the herd was along for back-up that Trouble regained the upper hand as alpha.
He's a big Quarter Horse that Tim bred. Look at that bone! But he is not overweight; he's solid and strong. And, as Tim says, he lives up to his name. He's very people oriented, but he can be pushy and you have to remind him that YOU are the boss when you are with the herd.
Here, next to Trouble, is Dolly. I can't quite figure out her place in the herd. She's almost always by his side, but she does not aggressively chase the others off or pin her ears. She seems very sweet and gentle. I don't know much about her yet.
I smiled today when she came over to say hello and I noticed she had the tiniest white "blaze" I have ever seen on a horse! See that white line? That's it! I know a variety of names for blazes (snip, stripe, bald face, blaze, half blaze, star, partial blaze, etc.) but I have no idea what a fine line of white might be called. And they are centered so well down her face. (Her left eye seems a bit wonky.)
She also has a small star that is usually hidden under her forelock. And a white snip by her left nostril. I really like Dolly. She's very quiet and gentle.
Dolly is looking over Hoakie's backside. I did not get any close-ups of Hoakie today. He's another one I really like and is a quiet, gentle gelding. He and Diablo are the two we rode on Christmas Eve Day when Tim invited our family out to the barn.
Next up is Thunderbolt! Or, it may be Lightning. I got his name wrong the first time, and now can never remember which it is. He is a large pony (about Pokey's size) with a lightning strike-like mark on his left shoulder and running down his leg.
Thunderbolt/Lightning is a nice guy but he does tend to pin his ears at Abby when she comes around. I think JC, Trinity, and Braden would enjoy brushing him. Maybe Addie, too, although she's still pretty small herself.
A nice profile shot of Thunderbolt/Lightning. That's Hoakie behind him.
This is Diablo. Despite the male name, Diablo is a mare and we rode her along with Hoakie on Christmas Eve. She is very quiet and seems content to hang back as the other horses come get attention.
The black horse is Mystery and belongs to a gal who boards him at Tim's. I don't know his real name. He, too, has a very unusual facial marking - a large off center sprinkling of white hairs. Not enough for a blaze or anything, but enough to make him look like he got some flour dusted onto his face!
Snowball is what I call the little white pony. He has no name, and is a rescue Tim found and gave a home to last fall. Apparently his owners were elderly and could no longer afford to feed him. He was in bad shape when Tim brought him home. Snowball had a tough winter as he was quite thin, but he is doing much better. He seems friendly, but is definitely the lowest horse in the herd hierarchy. It looks to me like he might have some Arabian blood.
Here's what I mean about Thunderbolt/Lightning pinning his ears and being bossy. And you can see his lightning bolt marking, too.
Here Abby is coming up to see me. See what Mystery and Snowball are looking at in the pasture across Ranch Road? That's a llama. There are two in the neighbor's pasture across the road.
There are at least five homes/horse properties clustered together by Tim's. I counted 30+ horses this morning! (Oh, and two llamas.) I am really enjoying immersing myself back into the horse culture and having Abby to play with. Tim's given me permission to work with his other horses, too, so I have gone from no horse to quite a few in a very short time!
