Fly-By Danny Boy

I know I'm more than a little bit biased but Danny gets more beautiful each day. He's growing so fast and he's becoming more graceful, losing the baby's clumsiness. Last night, he came to greet me and made a running stop on the other side of the fence from me. His head and ears were held high, his tail raised and flaring out behind him and I my heart leaped into my throat as I caught a glimpse of how magnificent he is going to look as a stallion. And then he took off at amazing speed as he circled around the copse of trees where the old cabin once stood and met his brother, Django, at the gate that opens into the upper pasture. He is mine but I can't deny that he is heartbreakingly lovely.

His fate, as far as gelding goes, is still up in the air. I was all for gelding him because I know that the life of a stallion is usually one of isolation and confinement. But both Steve and Huston still think he will make a great stallion. Steve is convinced that he can build the fences needed to keep him in and Huston tells me to just wait and see if he gets his father's easy going attitude. His sire doesn't act at all like a stallion and can be used for any task without complaint or objection. He does have the sweetest personality as does Danny's dam, my precious Mousie. Mouse however is a diva and strong willed so let's hope that Danny gets more of his dad's personality, lol. If I do say so myself ;-), he is so well bred and developing into such a gorgeous and well formed little horse that I think it would be a shame to geld him as well. I just hope that inexperienced Steve and I are up to the task of keeping a stallion!

If we do keep him as a stallion, we are hoping to keep him with the geldings until breeding season. They are already attempting to keep him in line with little success so I think he's starting to establish himself as alpha male. He is submissive to Riley but big brother, Django, has a more difficult time with him....or maybe is just far more patient than the older horse. Occasionally, as you can see in the photo above, he pushes even Django too far. :D