I do not have good news...I introduced the grullo to the herd this morning, after he had been stalled next to them all night. It did not go well. He started running the mare immediately, took several of her kicks to his chest, bit the paso fino gelding, and reared to fight Woody while they both reared and pawed at each other. All this in about 10 minutes. I got him locked away in the back paddock after that, but they were still trying to fight across the fence.
I returned this afternoon to find the grullo limping in the back paddock. I found no cuts, no joint swelling. I only hope he's just bruised up. He'll be staying in the back paddock until further time has passed.
I did pick all 4 hooves. Better today.
I officially measured his height, and he's 14.1HH. Shorter than what I wanted and what was described, but I'll have to live with it. If he's an agile horse, I'll live with it. And maybe he'll put on a little more still; he's only 4.
He is definitely short backed. I tried on every saddle I own, including my gaited saddle with the shortest skirt and the round skirt. That one fit him the best, but still had some issues. He is not going to ride well in a standard saddle. He will need to have his shoulders and hips free, and a short, rounded skirt is the only way to do that. Unfortunately, I'm all out of extra money to fit this horse at this time. Plus, I was hoping to one day rope on him, so he's going to need a short, round skirt in a roping saddle. Good luck on that.
I left the grullo tied and rode the paso fino today while James rode Lola. She is doing very well, by the way.
Frustrating day. New horse is too injured to ride after fights that were all his doing, shorter than advertised, and hard to saddle fit. I hope he makes up for it all when he's working cows.
5 comments:
My new gelding came into the herd the same way - very aggressive, but things settled down pretty quickly and no one was injured - we were lucky and our mares are in a separate herd. There's a testosterone test your vet can run to see if there's a possibility he's a cryptorchid, or maybe his adrenals are overactive - that can be treated.
Good luck and hope all comes right.
Based on smokey, I wouldn't buy a saddle until he's five. They do grow a bit.
Sorry he got hurt in the fight. Did the guy say where he ranked in his herd?
The seller said he was a middle of the herd kind of horse. Not top dog, but not a push over. Honestly, I like that. I haven't had much luck with bottom of herd horses-they lack confidence. This little guy seems very relaxed and confident. I'm sure the herd will sort itself out, I'm just upset he got hurt in the process.
I've seriously been considering cutting the mare out and putting her in a separate pasture. Her presence causes a lot of problems with new horses.
I've often heard never to put mares and geldings together as a herd, although I have 3 girls and a gelding who do well together. Hopefully, they will all sort it out and be friends.
I hope his lameness is just bruising and he heals up quickly.
I don't always have the luxury of enough pasture to separate mares from geldings. But after this latest disaster, I may have to.
The two geldings I had before this grullo have been running fine with this mare. No fights, no bites. As you said, hopefully it all sort out.
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