Confessions

Its my birthday & i have a confession to make. I have been keeping a secret for about eight months, well not really a secret, but more not telling my whole opinion. But now i am just going to come out and say it, get it off my chest.here it goes...





Sonny is ugly.....



I know i shouldn't be so shallow, beauty is on the inside, blah blah blah. But my wild foal is not easy on the eye. I do feel bad saying it, and its not that i don't love him just as much, but he is not good looking.



All this time i have been trying to take flattering photographs, and put nice comments about him on this blog. but every time i look at him in the paddock, i just think to myself 'what happened?' his mother Fern, is gorgeous, all visitors to the farm exclaim and gush over the beautiful wild horse. Matai has own cuteness about him too. So when fern was pregnant, even though we tried not to, we anticipated something to match her, or at least something like Matai. But Sonny stunned us, not with his super star appearance, but with his bad looks.





He was born in the middle of the night at my feet, story here, and when he first took his wobbly steps the thought that went through my head when i saw his profile in the moonlight was "good god was there a donkey loose on the ranges?" he looked like a little mule. A Big hammer shaped head, stocky legs and a solid dumpy body, he looks just like what a horse built to survive on a mountain should. Strong, tough, and able to withstand anything nature throws at him. he is not something you would find prancing around in the show rings of Europe.



All weanling's are ugly, its just that stage of life, but with his winter coat, Sonny looks like a woolly kumara (kumara are a long lumpy type of sweet potato). This big head now sports a beard that runs along his bottom jaw, wiht a white pointed muzzle that only empaises his big head. his legs are covered in long pale brown/ whitish hair, making them even stockier, and his growth rate has sent his butt about inch higher than his shoulder, so his body looks like he slightly tilted forward at all times.Thank god he cant understand what we say as his self confidence would be shattered. Especially compared to the other two foals which hit the ground looking like supermodels, he has been lovingly referred to as mule baby, ugly duckling, donkey, & all other sorts of names because well his looks aren't his best feature.











But for all that, he has been the sweetest little guy. In his mother eyes I'm sure to, that he is the most handsome thing to walk the earth. But to us, he all the more lovable because well he is the ugly little duckling, that everyone who visits jokes about. He is such a considerate boy to, now that he runs with the stallion, he has grown into a sensible cotl, and when hes being caught or handled always has this expression that he trying to be mature and responsible. He is not the cheeky energetic imps that gallop around causing chaos like the other two hooligans. He stands sensibly and quietly almost concerned to do the wrong thing, with what i call his thinker pose on.











He may not be a beauty queen, or a graceful moving dancer,but he does have other skills that will hopefully help him in life. that quiet stoic nature means he will be able to cope in many different situation, those strong sturdy legs less likely to break or damage, and with his great metabolism he will never be an expensive horse to have around. He can jump too, no gorse bush branch or tuft of grass gets in his way, he always take the straightest route from A to B, and if something is in his way, he happily soars over it, with perfectly tucked knees, and that big butts gives him plenty of power to lift high above any obstacle. So hopefully there will be a place in the world for him when he gets older.











But before anyone thinks I'm mean and horrible about my little wild foal, i do love him dearly. Out of the three babies born this year, its Sonny not the specially bred warm bloods, that's parading around the paddock in a brand new hunter green cover. with the wet weather the babies coats are just not keeping them dry, and wet cold foals, are not healthy horses. so keeping them dry is always worth the investment, as it means less money spent on feeding, and less health problems. So while the warm blood babies are wearing the hand me downs of every other foal we've ever bred, Sonny gets the best in a completely waterproof, thick, warm sparkly new winter rug. So despite his appearance sonny will always be well cared for and loved with us.