A sad case of brumby love! (pics)

[Jane]

Indulge me ... I'm suffering from brumby love!

I've had my little lad, a yearling colt, since September. He was brought in from the wild as a youngster in April, passively trapped along with his sire and dam. He was very much an ugly duckling as a foal, but now his better looks are starting to come through.

I've just had him and his companion in the little taped off pen where we do important things, like feeding, hoof trimming, learning to be tied up, not to nip people's bums, etc etc. He decided to lie down and to my amazement, I was able to sit there with him, stroking his head and putting my arms around his neck. Whooo! Then he even lay flat out next to me, completely gone and snoring away, while I grinned stupidly and stroked his front legs and told him what sexy knees he has.

I love this little horse, as he seems so deep and knowing beyond his tender age. Anyway, here are a couple of pics from this morning - hope you like them.

The cute look:




Showing off some great brumby feet!


With 'aunty' Simca, my arab x stockhorse mare

[Casper]

He's gorgeous Jane. I love his face, kind, handsome and intelligent. What a lucky lad to be having such a great upbringing with you. You clearly have an amazing bond if he felt able to lie flat out and snore in your presence! Thanks for posting these lovely pictures.

[Ally S]

Jane he's gorgeous and you're obviously doing really well with him. Lovely to see him. Hope you had a nice Christmas and thanks for posting the photos! x

[greyhorses]

What a gorgeous boy you have there

[jakeandbarneysmum]

He looks lovely - no wonder you're smitten. We got our New Forest as a wild 6 month old, straight off the forest. He was an ugly duckling - pot belly, ewe neck, etc. He has blossomed into the most handsome chap - looks like yours is going the same way!!!

Before:


After:

[rubyroo]

Aww he is gorgeous ;D

[Jane]

Thanks for your comments and I'm glad you're enjoying him. Lovely before and after pics there, of your NF.

I don't know if Colo could help but snore in my presence, he was so far gone. In fact, I took one photo of him but noticed his lip was curled up over his teeth. So I went over, rearranged his lip to cover his teeth and then walked away to take another photo - he didn't even blink in his sleep! And I can't believe that I did that - what an uncaring owner.

Brumbies are not everyone's cup of tea, but I find them fascinating. Some but not many have classic good looks - my boy's head will always be striking rather than beautiful - yet their characters are amazing. Meanwhile they're strong and sturdy. It's down to natural selection in a harsh climate, I think. It thins out the weak ones easily, so you're left with horses with great feet, great legs, surefooted, with fabulous teeth and low disease rates, etc etc. With their intelligence, the speed they learn at is awesome.

And they are resourceful... Colo's best trick is to hop out of the paddock to get at some of the longer, greener grass. The only way I know what he's been up to is that he sometimes snags the electric fence on his way back in. After all, he has to be back in the paddock in time for his evening tea...

I can't resist posting another photo - talk about bum high. He's only about 12.2 at the moment, so I never notice, because I'm usually looking down at him. Should grow to 15hh.

[montana21sky]

Aw he is the prettiest boy! Love the first photo...

[gypsyroselee]

Aww, he's stunning.

Ever since I was a wee girl and read the Silver Brumby books I've had a soft spot for them.

[eeyoreluva]

Aaw he's gorgeus!

[horsey123]

ahh i think hes guna be stunning

[sara]

what a cutie!

[Jane]

Thanks for the kind words. He is just getting better and better. We did it again today, the lying down thing - it's getting to be a regular smooch. It's the biggest high.

I think all of you would have the same experience with one of these youngsters - they are hard-wired to bond fast, as there's not time to fanny around in the wild. So long as you don't do anything wrong, they'll become your strongest friend. If you do get something wrong, it can take a while to undo it, as they learn so fast .

Colo was adopted from Save the Brumbies, a charity opposed to the aerial slaughter of brumbies. I'm lucky enough to now be a committee member and to work with some of the more traumatised individuals - they DO receive trauma in the wild and then the process of entrapment isn't easy, even though it's 'passively' done using food in pens. Colo isn't one of those though. For more info, see:

www.savethebrumbies.org