Owyhee Gold

Sunday November 23 2008

Next-door nighbors Rick and Carol Brand, Lost Juniper Ranch, struck gold in their back yard.

Not the nugget kind, or the bullion kind, but the 4-legged kind.

LJ Owyhee Moonstone - Stoney - the Brands' cremello Quarab stallion (the one that Quickie fell in love with in October) dropped his first foals this spring: a light palomino filly (LJ Owyhee Sandstone), a palomino colt (LH Owyhee Calcite), and a buckskin filly (LJ Owyhee Mica). They are fuzzy and they shine in the autumn sun. Every week I have a different favorite one. (Today it was the buckskin.) Stoney, by the way, loves to babysit his kids. He's very protective of them.

Carol had been handling them since they were born, and once she started teaching them to lead, they picked it up quickly and were leading pretty well after 4 days. They got a little 'vacation' in the summer, and when Carol picked up the lessons again, they were a little rusty - and opinionated, and Big.

She put the halter and long lead ropes on them, and they got used to dragging the ropes around, feeling their weight on the ropes when they stepped on them. They remembered their leading lessons quickly, and Carol works with them a little bit every day. They lead, (if they balk, a tug on the butt rope assists them in moving forward), back up, turn, and pick up their four feet. Every week one of the babies takes turns being Naughty, but in the end, they come around and see the wisdom of giving to pressure.

They're all 5/8 Arabian, 3/8 Quarter horse. The palominos have quarter horse butts, and the buckskin - the slightly smaller one, but the total BOSS - has an Arabian butt. All of them look like they're going to have a bit of size to them. They're very curious - they knew I was a new person in their pen, and whoever wasn't having their leading lesson came up to investigate me. I couldn't keep my hands off their thick gold fuzzy coats.

Just come have a look and try to not fall in love with these gorgeous babies. I dare ya.