Echo and Phoenix

[countrygirl]

It was almost 1 year ago (Jan 13th 2006) that I brought home Echo and Starbuck. Starbuck was only with me for about 6 weeks before going on to his new temporary home with Sheri. I had Echo for 10 months. During that time, she learned to trust humans (to a point), received a bit of training, and learned to enjoy being loved on and brushed. She also gave us a beautiful little colt which I named Phoenix. Here are a few pictures of our journey together.

The day Echo and STarbuck arrived


The First touch


10 days before giving birth (still covered with the icky lot mud)


Mom and baby pictures





Phoenix at 5 months


In October Pheonix was weaned. Echo is now living at her forever home with Sheri and Phoenix is with me. He has been gelded and is as loveable as they come. He has a girlfriend that he adores and a couple of older geldings to teach him about life. When he was younger I thought he would be a tall, handsome, big boy. NOw I think he will be a Cute, Stout, Little guy. He is growing wider by the day but has lost his tall genes somewhere. Any of you draft lovers have a guess of what his mix might be??





Here are a couple of pictures of Echo last October

Lounging through the creek


PIcking up her feet


Learning to stand tied to a post



Getting to know her new mom

[lorsadoon]

Oh, thank you for sharing those. I was hoping you would give us an update. Echo looks so good and has come so far. I am so jealous !!! That gives me so much hope for Teddie though.
You never know about Nick. I think the babies are in their gangly state. He may suprise you and start sprouting up in the spring. I see he still has his crescent moon on his forehead. Dancers is still there too, but very small.

[Tockita]

lorsadoon said:

I see he still has his crescent moon on his forehead. Dancers is still there too, but very small.

Wasn't it strange how many of the babies had a crescent moon last year?

Destinys baby did,

and I think Kermits did too and a bunch of others as well.

[mkgbuegel]

Great pictures! So glad they are doing well. Two very lucky horses to have found you.

[ljbrooks]

Probably just the coloring, and his big, fuzzy butt, but he reminds me a bit of a Belgian cross foal I had last year. I have since found him a wonderful forever home!

Anyway, love what you've done with these lovely horses!

[countrygirl]

Loorsadoon, you have every reason to be very hopefull. As you know these guys aren't mean at all - just frightened. All they need is some basic training and lots and lots of attention.

It will be fun to see how Phoenix turns out. He is always changing. I can't wait till he sheads out in the spring. Maybe your right, he will sprout new legs eventually. I kind of think he will end up the a similar build to Echo.

Ljbrooks: I thought a belgian mix too at first but his legs are really pretty short compared to his body. Don't Belgians have a much longer leg?

[ljbrooks]

Hi countrygirl. Yes, my "little" boy was quite leggy, but was forever changing. I had him until he was about a year and a half and he went through all sorts of changes in that time. When he left as a yearling, he was very leggy, but was quite stocky as a weanling. His mom was a Belgian/Canadian draft cross and sire was a Belgian. So, he looked very "Belgian-y", but had some stocky draft in him too. I'll look for a picture...

[ljbrooks]

Not quite one; just after castration by a few days.


This past summer as a yearling

I couldn't find the one that reminded me so much of Phoenix. Darn it. I have one with amazing similarities.

[countrygirl]

Thanks for sharing your pictures ljbrooks! Your right, the upper pictures shows a similar body type as Phoenix has right now. The yearling picture looks like he grew taller a bit. Your guy definitely has a bit more belgian in him. He was the coloring with blonde legs etc. Phoenix has his underside and inner upper legs blonde. It will be fun to see.

Your guy is a real cutie!

[mkgbuegel]

He looks kind of drafty to me as well. Hes going to be a strong boy.

[HorseTrouble]

countrygirl said:

I think this is my all-time favorite pic of Echo. I just love that girl!

[countrygirl]

HorseTrouble, I like that picture too. Echo looks so pretty there. It was interesting to see how much her coloring changed over the year. From dark to very light. I think Phoenix is one of the only babies that didn't completely change colors after birth. He darkened up and lost his blonde legs, but thats it. The other babies seemed to completely change colors. It would be fun to get updated yearling pictures of all the babies we had last year.

Tockita do you know where Destiny is now? Any way to get updated pictures of she and her baby? We would love to see!!

[kidholly]

Countrygirl asked: In October Pheonix was weaned. Echo is now living at her forever home with Sheri and Phoenix is with me. He has been gelded and is as loveable as they come. He has a girlfriend that he adores and a couple of older geldings to teach him about life. When he was younger I thought he would be a tall, handsome, big boy. NOw I think he will be a Cute, Stout, Little guy. He is growing wider by the day but has lost his tall genes somewhere. Any of you draft lovers have a guess of what his mix might be??

He reminds me of a Suffolk.....they are a small draft, usually with no white except maybe a star, are chestnut, short-legged, and very strong looking. Their body types are round, and they are fairly short coupled. The few I have known had very friendly dispositions, but were not "sleepy" types. There was plenty of life there!

[countrygirl]

I took this picture today. My boy has grown. ;D He's 13.2hh now.

[lorsadoon]

Wow, he is sure growing into a big boy. He could keep growing for another year. Just not as fast as the first year. We will have to put up some Happy Birthday pictures when our kids turn one.