The little brown pony.

It is hard to believe that the little brown pony i took for a ride down our road today, once ran wild. Its also hard to believe that when he arrived he looked as if the wind could blow him over. Now he gleams with vitality as well as having that little bit of extra presence, that being a stallion brings. Yet he is still the sweetest, sensible, and affectionate little horse around. The Wild stallion is not so wild.

With the constant mud, that sucks at your feet as soon as you step out the door, and tries to pull your boots from your feet if you venture into a paddock or gateway, being on the farm and trying to ride horses at the moment is extremely depressing and unpleasant work. The horses feel it too, they sulk under trees, or any bit of raised ground, the foals curl in tight balls on top of the hay piles to sleep. Even coming to the barn for feeding, fails to excite them, the horses that usually gallop up the drive now plod along head down.There is a general air of lethargy around the place. Not so with Matai The little brown stallion still bounces up and down the hill all day, greets you with a huge nicker and runs to the gate to receive his feed. he watches from his paddock above the barn, all the coming and goings, and happily talks to any of the horses who happen to look his way. I guess in the scheme of things, even the crappiest weather we get here on the farm, beats being starving in the snow and at the bottom of the pecking order like he would have been in the wild last winter.

I look back at the above photo's, and look at the horse in the paddock & its hard to believe they are one in the same. Matai was the most underwhelming horse to lay eyes on, when he first walked off that truck, you had the huge sense of pity for the small,timid and skeletal creature standing in front of you. he was sooo tiny, thin, with course and dull brown coat, showing through yellow in places from malnutrition, ribs and hip bones jutting out, he only looked to be a yearling maybe two years old at best. it really did look like the wind would knock him off his feet Things have changed.

But the change wasn't overnight it took months......

Just look how far this little fellow he came, this isn't all the way either. These photos are taken over a couple of months. Yet they could be over a couple of years. I looked at his teeth when he first arrived, sure enough, they showed him to be about 2years old.....eight months later his mouth had completely changed & he had a set of 4-5 year old teeth, he aged two years in 8months. Or more likely with having good nutrition his body was able to catch up and develop to his actual age.

December 2010

the Christmas ponies!!

The first ride....in the paddock, bareback in a halter

Our all day along the beach, the little stallion from the wild, happy with mare for company, again just bareback in a halter....
Show day....

There are about a hundred other photos i want to put on this post but these will have to do for now. The little stallion can now be ridden, saddled or bare back, you can lead him off another horse (including mares), today he happily went down the road for a ride, even sticking his head in the neighbors car window when she stopped for a chat. he knows his place and all the time hes handled behaves like a docile gelding. Anyone can brush, touch, and handle him, and i frequently go wrap my arms around his big thick neck and mane for big horse hugs in the paddock. He may just be a little brown pony, but this little brown pony has come a long way, i am so proud of him & i love him dearly.