Baaaaaby Cooooolt!

[dancinghorse]

This week has been lost in Baby Brain--getting us all used to the shift in routine, and teaching babymonster (who has a name but I should clear it with the other half of the ownership pool before making public--she's away for the long weekend) all about scrrrrrritchies. I had worried that he would take a long time to civilize, but after arriving on Tuesday, by Wednesday evening he was allowing me to scritch his butt through the fence. By Friday I was allowed to be in the same space while rubbing him all over. Since then he's been coming up to me and being more or less a normal in-your-face DHF babymonster.

His mom came into heat shortly after arrival. Pooka tried to do something about it Friday, mare said NO!, so Saturday they spent a lot of time interacting over the fence. Today I put them out together--watching carefully to be sure the baby would be OK. We have video here and here. Note how mom keeps a weather eye on the proceedings.

For those who haven't seen stallions in a herd situation, this can be fairly boggling. This is what a stallion is supposed to be like. Amazing, isn't it?

I grabbed some stills off the video, too (still haven't figured out how to get the higher-res version).

So much for the Fierce Aggressive Stallion Who Will Go After His Offspring And Eat It:




In case you thought the first one was a fluke:





Boy play while mom makes sure nobody gets fresh:




A very muddy Pooka swaps war stories with the kid after a good hard roll (we'd had a short downpour a few minutes before):



And as a bonus: Post-roll, Pooka throws in a little extravagance. Even covered with mud, the Platonic archetype of the My Little Pony rules.

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Babymonster looks *very* *tall*. Is he, or do I just not know anything about baby horse sizes?

*falls right over at that last picture of Pooka*

[rethought.livejournal.com]

Cute is the wrong word, and gorgeous doesn't cover all of it. They're just...just... *gives up*

:)

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Lovely boys! I love Pooka running up ahead of the mare and foal to get their attention again after they walk away. ME! no, ME! Look at me!!!!

I knew one stallion whose stall I would happily lie down and sleep in. His half-brother tried to kill me once. (And did succeed in cracking the pelvis of another stable hand.)

It happens in the best of families.

[wrathchylde.livejournal.com]

Aw. Just .... aw.

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

The boggling part is that the mare is *in heat* and Pooka is I'm sure extremely aware of it.. and he's playing gently with a baby.

Aw... I melt. Human males would not be so nice.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Did Baby bite da Pook on the butt?

I laugh!

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

Great photos. Glad you are getting some rain: we've had two good downpours in the past wekk.

[windtear.livejournal.com]

The Pooklet is so sweet... so beautiful. What do The Girlz think of him?

I love the images of Pooka playing with the baby. That's paternal if ever I've seen it. I have no idea of what stallions are normally like around their foals, but I'm glad Pooka is this gentle. I only hope that next time he gets ridden he doesn't decide that he must now show off for Baby - or, if he must, that 'showing off' consists of being perfect.

[casacorona.livejournal.com]

Baby is tall. Lipizzan mass with Arabian leg length. He's going to be a very nice-sized dressage horse for someone.

[dancingwriter.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful!

There is a family up the road from us who have Percherons, and one of the mares had a baby this spring. I love driving by and seeing how it's growing.

(Excuse my icon's irrelevance; it's the only thing horsey I've got!)

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

Friends of mine live next door to a farm with minis. They have mama, daddy, and a teeny little baby in a field next to the road. I die of the cuteness every time I drive over there.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Ayup. He's a typical Pooklet. Hawkeye out of 15.2hh Ember is pretty much the same size. They'll be over 15 hands, no question.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

:)

The little guy in person is beyond gorgeous. Perfectly shaped, lots of pizzazz. Coat like black velvet.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I hope the killer stallion was gelded muy pronto.

Pooka gets to keep the optional equipment not just because he's stone gorgeous and an international-caliber mover. The temperament is the deciding factor. AND he passes on the whole package. Our motto: "You See One Pooklet, You've Seen Them All."

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Pooka is very laid back in a pasture-breeding situation. He's a kamikaze bomber for the AI phantom, and breeding in hand can be exciting, but turn him out with a mare and he's the soul of discretion.

What most fascinated me was seeing how extremely careful he was to treat the baby the way the mare wanted him to. If she angled an ear, he backed off. She was teaching the baby how to play boy games, using Pooka as a study aid--and he wasn't allowed to put a foot out of line.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

You would hope. But no, the stable kept him as breeding stock and sold the sweet boy. (The sweet boy was black, not bay, and slightly over-height for a Morgan. :-P)

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Yes he did. Several times. And there was a tiny muddy hoofprint on Pooka's back before he rolled--kid was climbing all over him.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

It is much needed. We're glad to have it.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

The Girlz are fascinated. They love babies.

Stallions are supposed to be like this with foals. This is how they are in the wild. As for riding him, I longed him yesterday morning before I let mom and baby out, and he was perfectly behaved. Breeding makes his back tight so I didn't ride him today; I'll see how he is tomorrow.

Supposedly the best thing you can do for a stallion after you breed him is ride him--and I mean immediately afterwards. He's all relaxed and his back is pumped and he's lovely, they say. I haven't tried it yet.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I love your icon. :)

[plutosonium.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw that. She let baby boy know once or twice that he should play a little nicer, too. I was as impressed with her as I was with Pooka. Very careful mother, but not over-reacting.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

That was nuts. But I've seen it before.

Maybe nasty boy produced a sweet temperament? That can happen. There's a Warmblood line that alternates killer hippos with complete pussycats. Your mare may rip your arm off, but her kids will be totally sweet. They keep the nastygrams for breeding stock because the next generation will be wonderful.

Tia's dad is the result of a smarter system. All his full brothers are some degree of nutbar, but he's as sweet as the day is long. They're all geldings. He's the lone stallion. And he passes it on. Tia has the most wonderful temperament--even with being so alpha, she's yay sweet.

[simplystars.livejournal.com]

Hee. I love Pook's yawn at the end. And the Pooklet is a little firecracker, isn't he? Nibbling and quick to scoot his foreleg out of reach... smart mama, too. :)

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

I love the video. Pooka is such a Prince, and the baby is gorgeous. Love those long legs!

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

She's a wonderful mother. S calls her a "ditz" because she weaves when she feels trapped or wants something, but she's very intelligent and not flighty at all. A mare like this is a real partner in baby-raising--both with the stallion and the human.

Funny thing. At S's she wouldn't let him associate with the Arab babies at all. He was only allowed to play with his 2yo Arab half-sister and his Grandma Carrma. Here, he can play with everybody. She wants him to grow up Lipizzan.