Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Spotted!

Why am I so excited?


Well, how could an Appaloosa-lovin' Ranch Girl not be after she noticed a new set of spots in the field when she pulled up to the ranch last Saturday?



I immediately had to check him out up close. The sorrel leopard color is my new favorite, a color I'd love to have on my next Appaloosa.

Of course, this spotted beauty was nearly too busy devouring his pasture dinner to give me the time of day, so I picked a handful of the green stuff to guarantee a pet.



This gelding, named Tigger, is blind in his left eye. He has moon blindness. This has always been a bit of a fear for me, being an Appy owner.


I love how this little gelding has loud color and a handsome face and expression! He seems like a character and I'm curious to get to know him more and observe how a horse with reduced eye sight manages life. Already he has found a buddy that seems to help him on his "blind" side (the bay in the photos.)



Just a reminder about my Mystery Foal Contest! Go HERE to enter if you haven't already. The contest will be running until Ruby foals, which is unknown but will be in the next month. Thank you to all of my old friends who have stopped by to say hello, and welcome to new friends, too. I am happy to get to know you!



Ranch Girl

14 comments:

Mikey said...

He's gorgeous! I love leopard apps like that, Wade can't stand them. It's our big difference in opinion, lol. But I think they're beautiful.

Ranch Girl Diaries said...

Mikey~ So true, with people (and Apps in general) it seems to be love/hate! Have you ever seen a picture of the leopard mare Paint Girl owned when she was a teen? That was the loudest leopard I've ever seen~ HUGE black and white spots!
~RG

Anonymous said...

Wouldnt it be amazing and fun if Ruby's foal had appaloosa spots!

SquirrelGurl said...

Great looking appy! He's a leopard pattern that I like, I like it best when the leopards have roaning on them. I'm not terribly fond of those with the massive splotches and no roaning.

But like you said about people, they all have their different tastes!

Enjoy having the new guy around, should be fun!

Amber said...

Lol, when I first started reading this...before my eye followed over to the pictures...I thought you were saying you had a little spotted foal! But I guess not quite yet :). He looks like a handsome boy. I'm not the biggest fan of appys, but I he has a nice pattern. Hopefully the blindness doesn't end up being a problem, I had a friend who had their app go blind in one eye and then about a year later lost it in the other eye too, and apparently some horses are ok blind, but he had lots of trouble . Sad to see, but they had to put him down and he was such a sweet horse, she used him as a therapy horse for her son.

Sherry Sikstrom said...

He is a cutie! I had a mare that went blind in both eyes from moon blindness, she did fine , they are amazing creatures

Mama H said...

Ah, people either love or hate Appies! Sometimes they can be so ugly… But this guy is pretty good looking, as is your boy!

My Maria has episodes of moon blindness in her left eye. Its a result of trauma she had in that eye a few years back. So far, every time it has flared up, it has resolved without permanent damage, but requires a lot of care until it gets under control.

P.S. I rode a completely blind pony when I was younger. She was amazing! I ran gymkhana on her and she was one of the fastest ponies out there. I even have photos of me jumping her!

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

All those polka dots remind me of chocolate chips....now I'm hungry. hehe!

In your old blog, you used to always somehow shield your face. I love seeing pics of you. Makes you less mysterious and more 'approachable'. Is this the new you with this blog? I hope so :)

Thanks for stopping by to let me know you're back. I'm on a summer blog-cation so I didn't realize you were back in the blog world again. I'm very happy that you are :)

~Lisa

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Nice to see you back!

Crystal said...

Where I ride in the winters she had a sorrel leapard appy mare, she was such a nice horse and pretty too.

cdncowgirl said...

Have to say its nice to see your beautiful smiling face :) You always hid it on your old blog... I can understand that though.

I love leopard appys! Blindness is on my mind with Applejack too. He is somewhat night blind.

Girl Tornado said...

He's a beauty for sure. So glad to have you back in the bloggy world. I can't guarantee my presence on a regular basis since I've been working two jobs (sigh) but sometimes I'm a lurker, just reading real quick snippets when I can.

Oh, and by the way, re: the design of your blog, yes, yes, just pay someone to design it for you, you won't regret it. :) Not that you haven't done a bang-up job yourself, but it's so much fun to have someone do something for you. I would love to have someone redesign my blog -- maybe next year when I scale back to one job.

Fantastyk Voyager said...

I love spots! Leopards are even better.

Michelle said...

Well, you KNOW I'm an App fan! Love the spots and love the new site. It's so good to see you back around here!
Michelle
http://www.fromthehorsesback.com