Monday, May 4, 2009

visitor


Meet Rusty.  He is an Appaloosa gelding belonging to my husband's sister's family.  He's visiting us for a few days because they wanted to ride out to look at a farm they are considering purchasing, which is just a few fields over from us.



He's a very pretty, dainty, quiet horse.  His mane is just so lovely and straight.  Poor guy, though.  He's being ostracized by our crew of horses.  They take turns either intimidating him, or standing around in a pack and giving him the evil eye.  If looks could kill....

Eat up, Rusty, soon you'll be bossed away from that hay pile.  I think he'll be glad to get home to his own barn.   Herd dynamics are so complicated, and involve hierarchies and associations.  Rusty's a lover, not a fighter, so he just does his best to stay out of the other horses' way.  I think our guys will be glad when he leaves, too.  You can almost feel the tension.

The thing is, his next visit will probably be a lot easier.  It's very interesting to observe, and things went pretty well over all.  If my sister-in-law does buy that farm, the horses will have 'met' and be used to each other on trail rides.  We shall see.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying just looking at him.  He classes up the joint (sorry Sadie, Joe, and Ollie!).

9 comments:

Maria said...

Ahhh, love an Appaloosa, he looks like a sweety. I cringe when they are establishing order, every ounce of my being wants to stick up for the underdog, but that just makes it worse.

LadyFi said...

Poor Rusty! Sounds like my dog, who is also a lover, not a fighter.

He's just gorgeous, isn't he?

Far Side of Fifty said...

He is very handsome! He looks like he has kind eyes..funny how animals have to work out the pecking order, I hope it all works out for your sister! :)

C-ingspots said...

Rusty is just beautiful. I think he has a very kind eye too. You've probably aptly described him as a lover...many appaloosas have that tendency. He looks a lot like PonyGirl's appy gelding she calls My Boy.

Pony Girl said...

He does remind me a lot of My Boy! Except I have major envy of Rusty's LONG mane! Geesh! Beautiful! What is Rusty's breeding, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe he and my spotted pill are related.
I hope Rusty moves nearby so you can go riding together! ;)

hayseed said...

Pony Girl, I don't even think he has any 'papers'-so we don't know much about his breeding-but you never know, maybe they are somehow distantly related-and that mane-I wish my own hair looked half as good!

P. said...

Oh, he's so gentle and pretty. I think I love him.

b&g girl said...

caramel washed in milk, he is so handsome. even ponding buying a farm how exciting. i toy with the idea all the time...amazing.

Unknown said...

Aww! He is so cute. I have one of those too! My Arial is a lover not a fighter and gets pushed around a lot!