My mom used to sing this song to us when we were little, and I loved this version by Catherine Raney, from the movie Flicka. I wanted to show you the horse photos that I took last week on my parents’ ranch in Idaho, and thought this song would best accompany them while you browse through them. I never met a horse I didn’t like, but some of these are plain gorgeous.
This is Bluebird, a two year old Hancock bred filly that they purchased last summer. She is as friendly and curious a horse as I’ve ever met. She isn’t started under saddle yet, and the word is that Hancock colts can be a little broncy, so I’d love to be there to see her ridden for the first time! She shows no indication now of having a bad bone in her body, she’s a real sweetheart.
Bluebird again.
They call this mare “Ruby Red”, and she’s a granddaughter of Dual Pep. She is in foal to a gaited mammoth jack for this spring. Here’s her baby from last year:
This is Garnet, a yearling mule filly. She is by far the friendliest animal on the place. I was working with a couple other yearlings in her pen, and every time I wanted to get close to the others, Garnet would back her hind end up to me, begging to be scratched. I soon learned to not be afraid of her advances, though they came heel end first, because she wasn’t at all threatening to kick, just wanted me to scratch her. She’s quite a character.
Stormy is this beautiful filly’s name, and this is one I wanted to bring back home with me. She is 2 years old, solid built, completely gentle and wanting attention, and hasn’t even been saddled yet. She kept tempting me to beg my husband to let me stay in Idaho for a month to start her training…if you know my husband, he’s always joking that he’ll send me to my folks’ place for a month if I don’t stop complaining or nagging. So he probably would have readily agreed. But this girl was just beautiful and sweet, and loved the camera. She’s out of this next mare, Lazaroni, and their buckskin stallion Doc.
This mare was about four when I rode her last, and now she is seven and has gained about 300 pounds, I think. She’s in foal here, of course, to the buckskin stud, and is looking pretty heavy. Lazaroni is a real sweetheart, but she has been put out to pasture having babies the last three years. I can’t wait to see her next foal!
This is Lazaroni’s foal from 2010, and she’s a cute little yearling named Donegal. Since my sister was working with another yearling, I chose Donegal to spend a couple afternoons with. She was a bit of a spitfire to try to catch, but I got a halter on her and trimmed her hooves. Once she was haltered, she let me touch her fine, she wasn’t afraid of anything, she just wanted to stay in control.
And finally, here is their new stallion, a two year old Hancock/Blue Valentine colt that is looking really good since I saw him last (just a few months ago at Christmas). He is gentle and sweet and inquisitive and friendly, but has not been started under saddle yet. I told my sister she had better start him or she’ll have to hire some buckaroo to take him for awhile. He’s already 15.1 and growing steadily, he has really nice conformation—long legs and a short back. I hope his disposition stays sweet.
Those are the horses…..more photos to follow, and a few good stories as well.
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Lovely pictures! So glad you had a good time!