Disappointment in Pasco

The drive was long.

The weather was great.

The turnout was disappointing.

This was the third adoption event held in WA this year and trust me, the amount of horses sent home would have barely covered my gas expenses and came no where near covering what that big old BLM truck must have sucked up in diesel. Odessa only saw 2 horses go to new homes. Spokane ended up with 7. And this weekend in Pasco they're calling it 11...but in reality there were only 9 that brought money and two of them had been pre-adopted...so 7 would be a more accurate number.

This dun was smashingly beautiful, but so scared that he would pose quite the dangerous situation to most adopters.

Darling and I were there for one purpose only; to pick up two horses and bring them home for gentling and then adopt them out at our local fair. I'd gone through the photos from Spokane and had selected two geldings; a yearling and a two year old. When we showed up we found the yearling had been injured in the trailer ride. Not lame, but there appeared to be a bit of swelling in the pastern and a cut that may or may not have become infected. I opted to pass on him since I didn't want my first few weeks with him to be spent doctoring and waiting for him to heal. I felt a bit bad about leaving him, but with a deadline looming for adoption I wanted to take something that was a bit more sure fire.

The yearling fillies were super adorable.

We looked at the yearlings, and I must say I was sorely tempted by a few of the fillies. However, something kept telling me to find another two year old. I was thinking in terms of a horse that someone wouldn't have to wait another year to start light saddle work, figuring potential adopters would be happier with a gentled two year old. But selecting the perfect one seemed to be posing us some problems.

Ruben Villasenor did the gentling demonstrations.

There were a handful of bays and blacks, and in Spokane I'd been interested in a black three year old filly. But in Pasco she was crabby and beating up on the two 2 year old fillies in with her. I didn't want that, so mentally scratched her off the list.

I found myself drawn a sweet bay gelding in with the nervous dun. He didn't really seem to want to make a lot of eye contact, preferring to pretend none of this was happening. He wasn't real strong through the hind quarters, but I did like him. Seems spending time with Sandy has got me looking at those plain brown wrapper horses.

Darling, however, was looking at a sorrel gelding in the same pen, and she was relentless. "He wants to be friendly," she kept telling me. And indeed he did seem to be wanting to make contact, reaching out his nose and stretching his neck. But I told her no, I really preferred the bay.

We spent Saturday evening watching all the horses, and there was no escaping Darling's constant pleas on behalf of the sorrel. I looked at fillies and geldings, chestnuts and bays, and Darling kept harping. I finally asked Tom, one of the wranglers, which of the two he'd take if he were looking for one to adopt out. Without missing a beat, he pointed to Darling's sorrel.

"I, personally, like the looks of the bay for a horse for myself, but if I were looking to turn a horse around, I'd take the sorrel. He's a nice guy."

Darling was busy elbowing me with a triumphant smirk on her face.

No, he's not quite as down hill as he looks; it was the ground (and maybe my camera!)

Darling has named him Dude Lee Dooright. Tom had been calling him Dude as he looked like one of the old horses that had been used at the corrals, so Darling said he needed to keep that name. We hauled him home Sunday afternoon, and Darling went straight to the barn after she got out of school Monday. She was happy (way, way to pleased with herself) to report that Dude had come up and sniffed her.

The other gelding is Cross Eyed Cricket. Why the name? Well, it's our whimsical take on all those fancy registered horse names. Cricket is already 16 hands and once he fills out he's going to be one big boy! And like most mustangs, he's got a stride that won't quit. If you or someone you know is looking for a nice tall boy, his adoption fee is just $125!