Objectionable White Stuff

For those of you on facebook, Dario has his own page, and his fan club is growing fast and furious! We'd hoped for 500 fans in the first week, but we're just 100 away from that goal in the first 24 hours! If you're on facebook, please visit his page and 'like' Legendario!

Around here? Snow, snow, snow! Just doesn't want to stop. Objectionable White Stuff, as many of you know I call it. The only thing around here that I like in white are Dario and Darling's pretty dresses. And maybe my truck. But the ground? Nope. It can leave anytime now, thank you!

A Winter's Day

"Mom? You wanna take some pictures?"

Uh, sure! Yes! Absolutely! Of course it took her 30 minutes to get that red lipstick on just right. And her hair to curl under the way she wanted it (it didn't happen, she'll say.) But we did manage to get out there before it was dark. Dim, it was. But it was not dark.

Only thing that would have improved things out there would be if Dario was ready to pose with her!

The Great Chicken...

....Trainers

I'm not sure who the bigger chicken is, to be honest. All have feathers, but some are braver than other. Not others. Just one other. The four legged gray other. Jumpy, at first, and at second and third. Legendario isn't sure of his life here just yet. But chicken trainers...I couldn't survive without them.

For instance, when you're thinking about getting close to those stout, faster than lightening hind legs, it may be best to send a chicken in first. They'll spot a speck and jump up to peck at it, expecting a tasty insect. This gives you the opportunity to see what your wild horse's reaction will be. Will he simply startle with a mild jump? Or will he kick your chicken like a football across the goal line? Better the chicken than your head...and of course you can have chicken dinner if it's the hen (obviously not, if it's your head!) Lucky for the chicken, Dario merely startled...meaning I had tacos for dinner.

Legendario is getting over his fears, thanks to my hens. They roost in his stall with him. Soon, I'm sure, they'll offer to take the first ride, just as they have with Impulse. This, I'm certain, will set the new adopter's mind at ease. I can tell him his horse has been ridden bareback...and by a real chicken. He may be confused, thinking I'm talking about a fearful person, but I can't be worried about that. It's his responsibility, after all, to read my blog and learn of my training techniques.

Hmmm...you know, this may not be a good deal, telling y'all my training secrets. Next thing you know, we'll be seeing chickens on RFD with Clinton, Chris and Craig!

It's MOVIE Time!

Legendario, still in the stallion pen at the BLM in Oregon.






South Steens Excursion!

Ditto and Jingles (the old mare, now 28), and Juniper make their way across the desert. The bachelors...or are they former bachelors?...way out in the distance, include Dibs, Little Brother, Red Vogue and Yellow Boy. This spring you may recall Red Vogue actively pursuing a mare I dubbed Fruit Loop (Lupe is her official name.) Here, he seems hardly his virile self, which has us concerned. Yellow Boy (last clip) has two mares and a yearling colt with him now. These mares were with McCloud just 10 days earlier. We are left wondering what has happened that McCloud would lose all of his mares (a coming 2 year old is also now with another stallion) in the past couple of weeks.

McCloud, photographed in May, 2011

The Legend is Here

The weather went from snow to 40 plus degrees on Tuesday. Crazy, bi-polar, Harney County weather. I must say the drive home on Wednesday was less than ideal. Two solid hours of heavy fog in 12 degrees does not make for carefree driving. Thankfully, it was sitting just high enough above the road for us to have good visibility...but we sure were happy once we were over the hill and away from it!

We arrived on Monday afternoon in plenty of time to stop and take a visit at the corrals. Plenty of lovelies waiting to be adopted, including these yearling fillies. Don't you just want to bring a dozen home?

We'd wandered two thirds of the way around before we came to a pen full of recently gelded stallions. It took me a while to realize that Dario was among them. Why it took me so long, I do not know, as he stood out like a sore thumb in that pen of dark horses!

Our goal had been to make it up to the South Steens by sunset. Alas, we were running late, and by the time we unloaded our belongings into our rented cabin, the darkness had settled around us. With a nearly full moon, however, we decided to hit the trail into mustang country just the same.

In the dark, everything looks different. Spotting horses can by tricky enough in the daylight, but in the shadows of the sage, it would be nearly impossible. Or so I thought, until Deb hollered out, "There! See it? I see a horse like shadow."

We carefully picked our way across the desert floor towards the shadow, which for some reason wasn't moving any more than the sage around us. But there was no mistaking the outline of a horse...so just who was this mustang before us?

A few more yards and we could make out Holly, the coming two year old daughter of Noelle. She was sleeping contentedly until we had stumbled upon her. Never one to have been very fearful of us, Holly continued to stand, relaxed, as we photographed her in the dark. This truly is a lovely young mare. If she is gathered off the range next fall (which is the next scheduled gather), she will make someone a very nice horse.

Wednesday morning had us up early, ready to load up and head home. Legendario was waiting. I snapped a few photos, and sent one to his future adopter via my cell phone while I was at it (don't you love cell phones and what they can do?!)

Aside from the fog, the drive was smooth sailing. It's a 12 hour drive from my place to the corrals, and by the time we arrived back here, Dario was exhausted. I can't even imagine what must go through the mind of a mustang in the months between gather and becoming gentled. Thankfully, they are a very forgiving and adaptable creature. Let's hope Legendario makes the transition smoothly!

Call of the Wild

I am a little fish
with great big Dreams
Sometimes my dreams are so big
I feel my head may EXPLODE

My dreams lift me high
like a hot air Balloon
Where I float and soar
in my Fantasy World

Until someone comes along with a pin
and POP!
my dreams are deflated...
and I wonder, shall I'll dream no more?

***************



Allow me to introduce you to Legendario

Dario was eight years old when gathered last August from Riddle Mountain in Oregon. He is one of the famous Kiger Mustangs...though not in the preferred (and usual) color. Dario is, obviously, gray! This made him less sought after than the other Kigers, and during the adoption in October, he (along with most other aged stallions) was passed by.

All Kigers who were not adopted in person while we were there last fall were placed on the online internet adoption a month later. All horses, including Legendario, received bids. Except that something happened...and we soon heard that the bidder on horse number 1230 was not taking him. My guess is, they bid on a couple of horses, and they won the bid on more than one, so took their favorite and backed out of the other...being this gray stallion.

Now, I just happen to know someone who'd looking for a nice, stout horse. A mustang, of course. And he's been wanting me to locate such a horse and gentle it for him. I'd found a couple of nice two year olds and we'd planned on picking one up at the first of the year (when they are officially three and eligible for the trainer incentive program), but they ended up being shipped east to another facility, so that was a no-go.

But when no one took the gray, I asked the BLM if they'd consider placing him as a TIP horse. Normally, a gray horse isn't eligible (people tend to leave bays, blacks, sorrels and browns behind, while fancy colors get selected for adoption), but due to his age, they opted to allow it.

And so the gray stallion was gelded the beginning of the year, and today...this afternoon...I will head south to pick up this living legend, this Kiger of a different color. His would be adopter hadn't come up with a name for him, so I did it for him. It's fitting, I think.

Legendario


photo by Matt Clark