The same day that Mama had her TIA, Jackson had purchased a horse from out of town. That fact kind of got lost in all the 'excitement' of the week that followed, but on October 18 he and Jeremy were able to drive down to pick up Gus, the newest member of the Willis Creek Ranch family. Gus is a stud colt - was 4 months old when Jackson purchased him. Gus is a little funny looking in some ways with the pink around the eyes and pale skin, but that is because he is a Cremello. It is really exciting from a breeding point of view because he has a genetic makeup that when he is bred to certain color mares he has a better chance of throwing a buckskin or a palomino. Because he is so pale/white and has the light skin he will require a little extra care in the sunshine of summer. The light pigmentation of his skin means he could get sunburned. Basically he is a white horse with blue eyes which will become even more striking as he gets older. And the boys are super excited about the color possibilities when pairing him with their mares. It is also fun that Gus and Maverick are about the same age and will grow up together. :)
They had to figure out how to get that halter off him... it came with him from the farm and it was a bit of a trick to remove it. :) Nothing like a totally wild little horse!
The next morning, Monday morning, we all went to the barn to check Gus out a little more thoroughly. We haven’t had one this young at the ranch since the boys were very small. Gus was born in June 2020. Since he is so young and has had ZERO handling at all, it was going to be interesting getting him into the round pen (a first for him in his young life).
It was going well until he saw it clearly, then he said NOPE and turned around to run!
He ended up in the tack room (oops!) but came out very quickly. Then he was wandering in the hall/aisle/alleyway...
He stopped to meet Bella (who wasn’t too impressed, really). And Jo fully pinned her ears back against him when he stopped at her stall!!
It’s working!
Once Gus was in the round pen, Bella about flipped out! So Jackson got her out of there quickly, leaving Gus in there alone.
He wasn’t real happy about that and did a lot of running around - but he never went crazy (which is a good sign).
He eventually got himself quieter and began paying attention to Jackson and his surroundings (another good sign!).
He is definitely paying attention to Jackson... Jackson just moved around the pen quietly letting Gus get used to him in there.
It’s going well.
Gus spots Jackson kneeling down across the pen.
He was really getting tuned in to Jackson and his movements.
So Gus’s first ‘workout’ in the round pen went really well!
You can see an entire album of photos at this link...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/williscreekranch/albums/72157717192498423
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for your comment. I appreciate hearing from you!