Thursday, April 29, 2010

Dudie & Brownie weekly photos & update

Ok, here is a picture of Brownie (ignore the date, my camera reset and I forgot to change the date). We have had him a full week now. I did get a couple pictures today in between the snow showers. Such strange weather! At one point we had over an inch of snow sticking on the ground!
The angles are not that great and the lighting is not great either. Can you tell any difference? I think I can see a difference in both of them. They don't seem to have such jagged bones sticking out, they seem to be a bit more fleshy looking. I am sure it will take several weeks to really compare pics and see bigger changes.

We were a little busy with our La Mancha goat that was giving birth today. She had 1 beautiful little doeling!

Below is the picture of Dudie. Wishing I had been able to get better pictures. Oh well, another day. It is so cold and the weather is horrible!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Dudie & Brownie weekly update

This is day one of our journey with 2 sweet new horses!
This is a picture of Dudie. He is a a 25 year old AQHA gelding, who participated for many years in the Pony Express re-ride in California carrying over 1000 letters in a mochilla that were sent all over the world. He was dearly loved by his family for 23 years. His calm and gentle nature was perfect for beginning riders and he actually was the first horse for three generations in this family. As Dudie loved his job of nurturing beginning riders, he was offered to a therapeutic riding facility not far from his home when there were no longer any children to ride him. Unfortunately, the facility had some economic woes and did not properly care for Dudie. When the original owner went to check on him she found him and his brother, Brownie, in deplorable condition and so she brought him home. Within a week, this family had some life changing events take place and we offered to bring Dudie and his brother to Colorado to regain their health and become loving members of our family. We are hopeful that Dudie will recover enough to once again be the wonderful “first horse” for our children.


Brownie, who is a 21 year old quarterhorse gelding and a half-brother to Dudie as they share the same sire. He was purchased by Dudie’s family when he was approximately six years old. At the time, he was a rather wild stallion with little training. His owner’s had him gelded and sent him to a trainer where he was a quick learner. Soon, he was back at home with his family where he lived for fifteen years and was used extensively as a trail horse in some very rugged terrain. When the youngest daughter left for college, Brownie went into semi-retirement with Dudie at the same therapeutic riding facility. Although Brownie was in slightly better condition, his time at the facility took its toll. We are confident that Brownie will be ready to participate in 4H with our sons in a few months. We will keep you posted on his progress.


First impressions, I was wondering if Brownie would be easy or not because he was hard to handle the first day or two and would hardly let us catch him....I found out that he is a love and I so enjoyed brushing him today! Dudie on the other hand, I thought would be really easy, but he seems to have it in for me....I have to watch my backside around him or he tries to nip me......we go in the pen with a training stick to fend him off. He may just be cranky and hungry....I am hoping he will get used to us and we can relax around him. I brushed him today too, but when I would get near the front 1/2 of him, I had to be really wary and hold his halter to avoid him nipping. He has not actually nipped me yet, but he has tried and narrowly missed my behind the other day as I walked by so I have to watch out for him LOL. He always puts his ears back when we are near his face. I am praying that he will get to like us....I am trying to befriend him. I am guessing that he is just REALLY hungry and protective of his food. I am feeding them each a 4 way grain with molasses (gradually increasing the amount by 1/2 lb each feeding up to a max of 3 lbs) and adding corn oil. They get 2 flakes of alfalfa and 2 flakes of grass hay each feeding as well.