It's my pleasure to present...
So the little guy has a name now...I spent a couple of days at Marla's place, watching him and puzzling over what would fit both his personality, and our traditions of picking names that embodied 'noble' traits which the horses could live up to and following the Norse/Germanic traditions. After a couple of hours on Wikipedia (tm) , the answer became clear.
His name is Wiklaf, named after the warrior that accompanied Beowulf to his final battle against a dragon--when Beowulf asked if any warriors were willing to aid him, only Wiklaf stepped forward, and after Beowulf was mortally wounded in the successful battle, Wiklaf carried him from the cave. That name stuck because this little guy is incredibly inquisitive and adventurous, especially for a four-day-old foal!
At an age when his sister...most of his siblings, for that matter...were busy hiding behind Mom, he'll walk right up to you in the paddock, provided you don't make too many sudden moves to startle him (I think only Beowulf, his half-brother, did the same thing, and I'm not sure but I think he (Beo) was a little older before he settled in so well). I had a list of five or six other names I was considering...but none of them seemed to fit.
I hope this temperament holds. His (Wiklaf's) mom is a somewhat contrary creature, who keeps us constantly guessing (even about when she's going to foal!) His dad's about as calm an animal as I've ever seen (I even got a chance to ride him for a few minutes while I was up there...he's BIG...taller at the shoulder than I am, and his head probably weighs half-again what I do...) They're both pretty smart...and it seems like smart, in horses, either means very challenging to work with, or very agreeable. I'm hoping for another 'agreeable'; because Tot's quite enough challenge for me as it is! ;)
But he is a cute little guy--
So the little guy has a name now...I spent a couple of days at Marla's place, watching him and puzzling over what would fit both his personality, and our traditions of picking names that embodied 'noble' traits which the horses could live up to and following the Norse/Germanic traditions. After a couple of hours on Wikipedia (tm) , the answer became clear.
His name is Wiklaf, named after the warrior that accompanied Beowulf to his final battle against a dragon--when Beowulf asked if any warriors were willing to aid him, only Wiklaf stepped forward, and after Beowulf was mortally wounded in the successful battle, Wiklaf carried him from the cave. That name stuck because this little guy is incredibly inquisitive and adventurous, especially for a four-day-old foal!
At an age when his sister...most of his siblings, for that matter...were busy hiding behind Mom, he'll walk right up to you in the paddock, provided you don't make too many sudden moves to startle him (I think only Beowulf, his half-brother, did the same thing, and I'm not sure but I think he (Beo) was a little older before he settled in so well). I had a list of five or six other names I was considering...but none of them seemed to fit.
I hope this temperament holds. His (Wiklaf's) mom is a somewhat contrary creature, who keeps us constantly guessing (even about when she's going to foal!) His dad's about as calm an animal as I've ever seen (I even got a chance to ride him for a few minutes while I was up there...he's BIG...taller at the shoulder than I am, and his head probably weighs half-again what I do...) They're both pretty smart...and it seems like smart, in horses, either means very challenging to work with, or very agreeable. I'm hoping for another 'agreeable'; because Tot's quite enough challenge for me as it is! ;)
But he is a cute little guy--
posted by Curtis at 1:01 AM
5 Comments:
He's very cute! Congratulations on the new "bundle" of joy!
INDEED!
Wow, that mama horse must really know and trust you to let you be around her baby like that.
Years ago I was at a friends ranch in Texas and his horse just had a foal (right?) a few days before so we went to see it. He told us to be careful because the mama would get very agressive if she thought we were too close. I could see the nervousness in her eyes. Even he was super cautious and the baby was terrified when he started to hold her and attempt to calm her. He said he needed to get the baby used to him.
Anyway, that doesn't seem to be a problem for you and your horses.
The only time Tot really seems to get nervous is if she sees (or smells) medicine or a syringe. She is NOT a fan of shots...but she's also much easier to give shots to when I'm there, for some reason (I guess she's convinced that Marla is the source of all pain and discomfort in the world, since she's the one that always gives the shots...and I'm the one she runs to for comfort afterwards.)
She was a little nervous at first when we coralled the foal, but when all we did was stand there and scratch him, she went back to her hay...
HE IS SO CUTE!!!
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