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WooHoo Winter! Brrrr :o)
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A member of the Moo Crew and Shadow's Right-Hand Man...
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Meet Champ...
Affectionately known as, "The Big Red Moo" his favorite thing to do (as his nickname suggests) is eat. He is 16.2 hands high and weighs about 1,200 lbs. He's a Tennessee Walking Horse, but we think he might have a Clydesdale hiding somewhere in his family tree. One of his shoulders is twisted, giving him poor conformation and making him unsuitable for showing. You can see in his first picture, he is splay footed. If you ask him, he will tell you that he has a person named Cassandra and he got her for a birthday (or something like that, anyway :o)
His second favorite things to do is play with the water hose. He loves to get a bath (it's a bit like washing a wiggly truck), and we have to keep an eye on him at bath time because if we're not careful he'll steal the hose for a drink. We don't do it very often because it's so dry, but when we do he has a mighty good time!
Would you like to know his favorite thing to eat? Believe it or not, it's worm paste (eeeeeeeew!) The appeal completely escapes me, but Champ insists it's an acquired taste. I think I'll just take his word for it...
What has he taught us?
Affectionately known as, "The Big Red Moo" his favorite thing to do (as his nickname suggests) is eat. He is 16.2 hands high and weighs about 1,200 lbs. He's a Tennessee Walking Horse, but we think he might have a Clydesdale hiding somewhere in his family tree. One of his shoulders is twisted, giving him poor conformation and making him unsuitable for showing. You can see in his first picture, he is splay footed. If you ask him, he will tell you that he has a person named Cassandra and he got her for a birthday (or something like that, anyway :o)
His second favorite things to do is play with the water hose. He loves to get a bath (it's a bit like washing a wiggly truck), and we have to keep an eye on him at bath time because if we're not careful he'll steal the hose for a drink. We don't do it very often because it's so dry, but when we do he has a mighty good time!
Would you like to know his favorite thing to eat? Believe it or not, it's worm paste (eeeeeeeew!) The appeal completely escapes me, but Champ insists it's an acquired taste. I think I'll just take his word for it...
What has he taught us?
- That horses definitely have a sense of humor ~ He will shuffle happily around the riding area with his person, and manage to consistently and painlessly "ping" her foot on the same round pen panel to break the monotony of doing laps (thereby teaching her the benny of riding "toes IN"). When she was first learning, if it had rained, he would manage to ever so carefully deposit her in the same mud puddle over and over again (which quickly taught her to balance herself :o)
- That horses often understand more than you think ~ After finishing a ride on Katie one afternoon, I rode back to the outside of the round pen to retrieve her halter (I had left it hanging there). Champ ambled up and managed to put himself between us (Katie and I) and her halter. Frustrated at his refusal to move aside, I held out my hand and sarcastically said, "Fine! If you're not going to move then you can just hand me Katie's halter!" Would you believe he actually did? Happily, another person was riding with me ~ can you say witness?? :o)
- That horses can be attuned to our emotions and understand our efforts ~ I have seen him stand patiently and nuzzle his person when she cried all over him recounting some terrible teenage travesty. He's made her laugh when she was having a bad day, and stoically withstood her early attempts at grooming; including the whisking of dirt from his personal parts with a dandy brush - owie! (I didn't yell NOOOOO fast enough...sorry man - yikes! :o\
Favorite Champ Anecdote
We do things a bit strangely around here; like have worm paste parties in the pasture :o) Champ always lumbers up to the fence wearing a ridiculously hopeful expression the minute he sees us coming with a bag that could, maybe, possibly contain worm paste (see bottom blurb on pictures). He gets his dosage first (yummy), and then is allowed to lick the ends of everyone elses tubes - sort of a gross version of you licking the beaters when your mom makes a cake...
Anyway after giving Champ his dose, my husband Rickey was keeping him occupied with the empty tubes while our daughter and I quickly finished worming everyone else. Suddenly I heard a shout, followed by a number of repentable words. I turn around and there's my husband with his arm in Champ's mouth, practically up to the elbow bellowing, "Give me that back... Dang it...Give it...HeyHeyHEY!" Apparently he got a little relaxed in his grip and Champ just slurped it up tube and all - wow! My husband was, thankfully, able to retrieve the tube (Whew :o)
Pictures: Champ and his person playing with the water hose, strolling across the pasture, greeting an unofficial visitor - kinda short, arent'cha? Hey, what's that? Can I have some? The last 3 pictures on the left belong to this tale: The first is his perpetually hopeful expression at the fence (I was carrying a bag); Champ receiving his dose of yummy-yummy worm paste (blech); and the last photo is him checking to see if that lady was really telling the truth about it being ALL GONE (my poor mom, who was all but crossing her heart while holding up the bag as proof that yes, it really was all gone :o) Sorry man...
We do things a bit strangely around here; like have worm paste parties in the pasture :o) Champ always lumbers up to the fence wearing a ridiculously hopeful expression the minute he sees us coming with a bag that could, maybe, possibly contain worm paste (see bottom blurb on pictures). He gets his dosage first (yummy), and then is allowed to lick the ends of everyone elses tubes - sort of a gross version of you licking the beaters when your mom makes a cake...
Anyway after giving Champ his dose, my husband Rickey was keeping him occupied with the empty tubes while our daughter and I quickly finished worming everyone else. Suddenly I heard a shout, followed by a number of repentable words. I turn around and there's my husband with his arm in Champ's mouth, practically up to the elbow bellowing, "Give me that back... Dang it...Give it...HeyHeyHEY!" Apparently he got a little relaxed in his grip and Champ just slurped it up tube and all - wow! My husband was, thankfully, able to retrieve the tube (Whew :o)
Pictures: Champ and his person playing with the water hose, strolling across the pasture, greeting an unofficial visitor - kinda short, arent'cha? Hey, what's that? Can I have some? The last 3 pictures on the left belong to this tale: The first is his perpetually hopeful expression at the fence (I was carrying a bag); Champ receiving his dose of yummy-yummy worm paste (blech); and the last photo is him checking to see if that lady was really telling the truth about it being ALL GONE (my poor mom, who was all but crossing her heart while holding up the bag as proof that yes, it really was all gone :o) Sorry man...
