Or Sammy #2
Or Sammy #3?
I think it's number 3 for me but what do I know. Keep in mind he was not bathed yet just brushed up so his socks are not as clean as they could/will be. But close your eyes and picture him all braided up. He is butt high right now and a bit ribby but.....I think he looks pretty good.
And before you know it I'm surrounded by them all. Sammy is explaining to Masquerade that I am his and she should not try to share in the attentions. But Masquerade and Sammy have come to an understanding and I see them hanging out together almost as much as he and Vantage. The boys are about to catch up to Masquerade in the height department.....well, Vantage has her height, Sammy has her weight! She doesn't really stand a chance with both boys together.
We measured him today and he is just a smidge over 14 hands at the withers but a good 14'2 at the rear. His measurement from the middle of his knee to the coronet band (in a straight line) is 16 inches exactly so now we wait to see if the test runs true.
It's been a great year and I'm looking forward to playing in the Hunter Breeding world a little. It has given me some guidelines and goals on how to bring him along this year. He stands very well in the crossties for grooming. He lets most people pick out his feet without any trouble. He will let me clip his whiskers and we're working on the ear thing. He knows the words back, stand, ho, and trot and this has to be a good thing when he is started under saddle. Right? I don't know if all this would have been accomplished if I didn't have a show on the horizon. But, even if we embarrass ourselves and I trip and fall or something else equally embarrassing, it will have been worth it just to say we did it. And every experience is a learning experience.....or so they say. Wish us luck.
And it was a good lesson for him to learn because now, he's this size instead of the little bitty size and we're thankful he learned early....no jumping on the people.
Ok - so he still had a thing about jumping. His mother let him get away with this. Who would have guessed she'd be so tolerant and lenient. She is the herd boss except when it comes to Sammy.
So now, the others have to pay the price. Really, they were both running towards the gate and had a minor crash but as you can see, Sammy has no qualms about jumping on his fellow herd mates.
This carrying things around in his mouth started early. And he also showed us he could sit back on his haunches like his Quarter Horse side.
And he still shows us that. He's actually playing with Allison and teasing her. He's trying to go slow for her. (This doesn't really count as putting her picture up here does it?) He just dinked along going slow for the poor child with only 2 legs.
So I guess the thing to remember, no matter how big he gets, what we saw as a baby is continuing on. Wonder if we'll still be saying that when he's 10?
Sammy will be exactly 1 year old on Thursday, April 3rd. But on a Monday night, the night of the NCAA Basketball tournament Allison was in Ft Myers watching the Gators win the Championship while I was in Vicki and Bruce's RV watching Lily cam. She was keeping me updated on the game and I was keeping her updated on Lily and the figure eights she was pacing.Then a little after 1 am Linda and I saw Lily's water break and we were there.
Sammy wasn't fully delivered yet before Lily was reaching for him and nickering hello. That is the best sound in the entire universe. It's guaranteed to melt any heart.
And now look at them nose to nose. What a difference a year makes. Aren't we glad human children don't grow this fast!
Sammy learned early on that butt scratches were a very good thing. Allison was home the first weekend after he was born and that was all it took. He's been addicted ever since.
You would think he's getting a little big for this but he will back himself right up so you can reach that cute tush of his. That is Allison's hand reaching in for the scratches but she made me promise to cut her out of the picture... and I'm sticking to my word. (email me if you want the full size version :-) )
Lily with her bad stifle did a very good job of keeping up with the little speed demon. She got over the need to chase after him pretty quickly though.
But every once in a while, from adjoining pastures, they have a go at it again. And look at them now!!!! What a difference the year has made. I'll try to post more tomorrow.
This is Sammy's game face. His personality is growing in leaps and bounds and the other kids had better watch out. No longer is he the odd man out....he's the ringleader. He enjoys acting tough and picking on the others, but as evidenced by the missing patches of hair, they get their licks in when they can. We are so lucky that they have a each other to play with and grow up together. It is going a long way towards building strong bodies and minds. Ok, maybe we could do without Sammy's mind getting too strong.
Saturday the little boys left the farm. We took them and some of their older barn mates to the North Florida Arabian club's open show. Everyone loaded up very easily Saturday afternoon and we trailered them over to the Equestrian Center so they could settle in and get a look around. Once everything was unpacked and organized we all went for a walk. Sammy was happy and well behaved as long as Vantage was there with him. He was definitely more excitable when we were by ourselves. But no limbs were lost and once he settled back down, he got to go back to his stall and eat dinner. (A big deal in Sammy's world) Unfortunately, the indoor arena was not open yet for schooling so we didn't get to take them into the arena. We did take them into the warm up area though. On Sunday morning, we took them up to the arena thinking our class would be any minute. Not so. We had to wait probably around 20 to 30 minutes so I was entertaining him as best I could. Playing tug of war with the crop seemed to work pretty well and it kept him from grabbing the reins in his mouth.
I think both little boys were very well behaved considering how crowded the area was and that they hadn't really been in there except for a few minutes the night before. Then it was time for our class. This is how it works in the Arab world. One at a time, you walk them a few steps into the arena then ask them to trot then you line them up. So neither of the boys had ever been inside the arena before and then all of a sudden we were asking them to trot. Vantage was very good even though he did not want to trot. He at least was comfortable walking and stood very nicely like a little gentleman. Then it was Sammy's turn. He was so good. He trotted just like I asked him to and except for a couple of side ways movements to look at the strange stuff, he trotted around with me like a champ. And then he wanted to canter, but didn't get to, so then he had a little excess energy to burn ...and up he went. And let me tell you he can get VERY tall. Here is the photographers website as proof.
He doesn't know it or understand it fully but his job is to keep me entertained. And so far he is doing a fabulous job. His latest was an effort to get me to fully understand HIS priorities. Ok, I get it now. I was leading him back to turn him out and he tripped a little and went down on one knee. I just waited for him to get up but instead, he just bent the other leg, and knelt down so he could graze. The grass was much closer that way. He has his priorities.
He finds a way to entertain me when I'm actually in the other field watching Allison ride Noah. He loves to zoom around with the other kids.
And I caught him rolling. This is the opposite of the other day with his back end down instead of the front end.
He loves Noah. He thought he was a big boy walking beside him.....in step. Who cares that there is that old fence in the way? I didn't get a good picture of him as he was cantering with Noah the other way....but he followed him all along the fence line and was a little peeved when he had to turn the opposite way.....even gave us a little Sammy buck.
