Howdy all,
I haven't mentioned Cloud Catcher, my little bay colt, much for a while, and I thought I'd update you all on him. He's not so little anymore, of course. He comes in around 730 pounds, and he is fit as a fiddle. Well, I don't know for sure about that. I actually took him out for a jaunt the other day and climbed two steep, high hills (or mountains, as Debbie calls them) and one shorter one, and I actually left him far behind me on the two larger ones. I guess he's still getting his horse legs under him! haha. I am not disappointed him, though. Not to brag, but I've been hitting the mountains pretty hard for a long time, and he hasn't done much of it lately. I think a month or so of religiously climbing those same hills would have him leaving me behind instead of the other way around.
Anyway, Cloud's biting problem seems to be totally gone now, although I won't completely trust him again for some time to come. It took assuming the dominant role and putting him on the ground, then sitting on him for half an hour before he decided he was not the boss after all. Since then he's been a loveable gentleman. Before that I have to admit I was tempted more than once to sell him. But the last time he bit me in the back (just before I threw him down and sat on him) I swore I was going to be the ONLY one to break this horse. I don't like to use the word "break," an old bronc buster term, but the more fitting term "make," or train. But in essence breaking still applies, since I'll be breaking him of the urge to bite and other bad habits that horses adopt, particularly when they are left as studs. I won't be leaving Cloud as such for long, however. I just want to wait until the hot spell is over to get him cut, kind of give the cold nights a chance to freeze a lot of the flies to death before I open any wounds on my buddy.
Cloud is about as beautiful a little guy as you can imagine, as far as conformation goes. He has a perfect head, and all of his body seems to have been put together by the gods. Of course, if you prefer what some call "color," (which in this case is the opposite of color--white), he is nothing special at all. The only white he has is a teardrop shape star on his forehead. But to a serious horse owner who wants mostly to use his horse, not show it, that is ideal. The hooves, owing to his black legs, are dark gray, almost black, so they will be strong and resistant to breaking and splitting. And his body, being bay, is the perfect horse color for NOT fading or sunburning. In short, I ended up with an ideal little baby, and although his curly mane and tail are going to be a headache to keep brushed out, they are going to make him into one pisturesque animal.
There's my update on Cloud. I think Kenny has once again become too busy to do any updates on the website, or I would have him upload some photos for you to see. I will be looking for a fulltime webmaster who can devote their time to it, but in the meantime, if you would like to see what Cloud looks like these days, drop me a line at kirby@kirbyjonas.com and I'll try to send photos. I'm having some problems with my email at home right now, but I'll hopefully be getting that fixed soon.
Talk to you all on the next round!
Kirby
|