Post by rafa on Apr 5, 2015 2:23:54 GMT -5
Creating a thread here to document naturally raising four ponies! I'll be working through these Challenges as I raise them. I'm hoping to reach 5 star with all of them. But first, a cute photo of Azar, from Katie, and Harli, from Courtney:
THESE TWO are expecting. This was the unplanned pregnancy I was talking about in that breeding question thread! Will it be a unicorn? Will it be a pinto? Will it be... both? Who knows. Anyway, on to our subject ponies, in the order I acquired them!
Willoughby is a little chestnut Thoroughbred I picked up from the AC. He's a really sweet little guy, and so far seems to always aim to please. He's done everything I've asked of him with very little hesitation. I'm really happy he seems to be able to work through his nerves; for this reason, I'm thinking he'll make quite a jumper, and will hopefully enjoy Cross Country. Willoughby's color is 135 green, as seen on his halter! You can tell by his photo that he's quite proud of his color! Bathing him was a little nerve wracking; these ponies are too tiny for the bath I use for my catz and dogz! But he survived, and enjoyed the grooming he got afterward (the fly spray... not so much!). I turned him out with the rest--they ate together until I realized I needed to separate them--and then brought him back in for the night.
When I first got Dove from the AC, I imagined she'd be sweet, refined, delicate. When I picked her up, the spot on her neck was actually black, but was so striking I felt I should enhance it a bit by changing it to 85. Her name came shortly after that. Dove isn't delicate--at all--she's a freaking bully. She can't tolerate having any of the others near her, which sucks! She makes group turn outs very complicated. When Dove got her bath... she disappeared entirely. But she seemed unfazed and tolerated my grooming, except when it came to fly spray. She tried to take off running, but I got her. > Dove is quite a little pig! She's the reason I couldn't feed them all together. She wouldn't let other ponies near the food. Dove's color is 175 blue, SO FAR. I'm not sure how I feel about it. As far as disciplines go... what's a pegasus to do? Maybe dressage.
And here are some photos from turn out time:
I LOVE ROOK. I love his little badger face and snip, love his color, love that he's a pegasus, etc etc etc. He's another pony I found at the AC. I went with the intention of picking up another LTP (at this point I had 28 horses in my stable, and intended to make it an even 30) and I had to go through SO MANY before Rook came out. He's pretty shy, pretty submissive, but I did catch him bringing out the angry eyes at Dove. Maybe he was standing up for one of the others? He seems like the type! For bathing, I skipped the bath and went for the hose. Rook enjoyed the grooming more than the others, and even tolerated the fly spray okay. Rook was sick when I got him from the AC, so I treated his food with medication and will be keeping a careful eye on him. Rook's color is 220 Red-Orange, and his discipline will be In-Hand.
Last but not least: Maestro! I picked up Maestro shortly after Rook, and I had planned to get a mare (I prefer them!) but then out walks Maestro! I couldn't resist: look at all that chrome! M is a Selle Francais and potential Dressage horse. He's kinda hard to read, but he seems much more inquisitive and sensitive than the others, which has me thinking he'll be a dressage natural. M loved the hose so much he laid down and rolled D: which wasn't exactly what I was aiming for. His bath took a little longer as a result, but he did enjoy the grooming. The flyspray freaked him out a bit (lol, his face) but he was very good! Dove really bullied M when they were out together. When I separated him to make sure he could get some food, I found he'd barely eaten at all when he was out with her. M's color is 85 Red.
And here are some photos from turn out time:
Count the angry eyes! Everyone took a turn! I particularly like the last photo of Rook teaching Dove a lesson, and the photo of Willoughby glaring at Maestro for doing something silly. I wonder if Willough was feeling a bit embarrassed?
Okay, so now these four have had their SS debut, and we've gone through the 1 star challenges! The next set of challenges calls for more socialization and some training basics, so it should be interesting. Their little halters look so dorky because they haven't quite grown into them yet, but I'll be keeping them on from now on, I think. Expect a Manda horse show off soon. D;