A profusion of Spots

A friend of mine read my post about maybe being ready to add a new riding animal to my herd since Tessa is officially out of commission.  She sent me an email last week asking if I would like to have a big, young gelding that she had raised, sold and bought back because he wasn't being treated right.  I rode this horse in a big group ride a couple of months ago so I knew that he is sweet natured, kind, willing and level-headed.  We talked about it and, well here he is... 

He even came complete with a red ribbon and bows in his mane.  Now that's what I call a Christmas present!

He had to spend his first night in the round pen because I wanted to make sure everybody would be safe and see how they might get along.  (By the way, he may not have the long ears I was thinking of but, he does have these endearingly cute, mismatched ears.  If you look close you can see that the one on the right is short and round while the one on the left has a nicely curved point.  And no, the short ear wasn't damaged or cut off he was born that way.) 

After he had settled in for a while and there were no signs of aggression from either side, I let him and Tessa out together for a while.  I made Emma stay in the round pen during this introduction for her own safety and boy was she MAD about it.  Safe though, so I told her she was just going to have to cope.  He and Tessa ran around like loons for a few minutes but there was no kicking or fighting (and, of course, my camera choose that moment to freeze up!)....

within a few minutes, they had calmed down and started practicing to be bookends.  It's funny that until I bought Tessa, I had never owned a paint.  In fact, I have always preferred solid colored horses and now I find myself with two super flashy paints whose markings are remarkably similar.  Go figure.

Since they all seemed to be happy together, I let the girls hang out with him so they could all get further acquainted...

This morning, after no signs of fighting, squealing, kicking or other obnoxious behavior, I let them all out together.  My biggest concern was for Emma.  Some horses are mean to donkeys but he has been very nice to her and Tessa is very protective of her.  Emma is very intrigued by him but also wants to stay close to Momma Tess.

Within half an hour, they were all sharing the same food and water and getting along amazingly well.  How many noses can fit at one time?  All three actually...

 They spent the rest of the day doing what horses do, peacefully and happily....

My friend Bill (who was visiting for the weekend) and I, spent the day doing what humans who own horses do....