Nighttide
The update on little Surf – NIGHTTIDE – is that she’s now just shy of nine months old (born April 12) and is a full-fledged weanling. She lives in a pasture with four other warmblood girls about 20 miles or so from my house. She handled weaning very well…once she realized that she was a horse and not a human! She had never seen other babies before, and so acted as if she didn’t belong with them…and as a result tried to climb the fence in order to get back with her people. After just a few “explanations” she got it, and now she’s just growing up. I (and other members of her fan club) visit her once or twice a week, depending on schedules.
Here’s a bit about her.
Surf’s personality remains absolutely stellar: She loves people and prefers to be with them. To quote what the German judge repeatedly said about her at the Oldenburg GOV inspection, “She’s so sweet!” Complete strangers go on and on about her because of her personality. She is also amazingly non-spooky. Nothing seems to faze her. A few weeks ago we walked her all over a flapping grey tarp held down by tires in blustery conditions, and she didn’t bat an eye. Incredible!
Physically, she’s growing well. She’s getting taller, but she still looks “immature” in the sense that she’s still all legs. So…hopefully that’s a sign that I won’t be dealing with joint issues! She can take all the time she wants to grow…I’m in no hurry.
As far as her movement goes, she seems to prefer to travel like a hunter without much knee-bend. I find that curious since Raven doesn’t move like that, and Lingh certainly doesn’t, either. On the other hand, she is tremendously limber, with a shoulder range if you pick up a leg that is much more characteristic of Lingh. However, Holly Simensen of the Oldenburg GOV said to me more than once after Surf was inspected that Lingh babies tend to take time to develop motion, and she said that Lingh, himself, did, too. Again, I’m in no hurry whatsoever. Besides, I’m getting the distinct impression that she may want to be a jumper (which began when she jumped out of a turn-out at age of two weeks!), which happens to dovetail with something else that was commented upon after the inspection–when Surf was 3-1/2 months old. The person said that the woman assisting her was very interested in Surf as a hunter if I didn’t want her (which, of course, isn’t the case!) No clue if she was just being nice or what, but it was an interesting comment nonetheless. Whatever Surf ends up wanting to do is fine, and watching her grow and develop is half the fun!
I’ve attached a few pictures of the Munchkin. The first shows a friend of mine holding her. My friend is not very tall…those boots she’s wearing are kids’ boots!…so it’s not as if Surf is 20 hands tall. The next two illustrate the typical situation with Surf: All the kids come out and mess with her, and she’s always gentle and obviously loves the attention. The last picture is a cute head shot. Please don’t mention the halter…the kids insist that she wear that ugly thing because it belonged to another horse in their “group”! …but Surf doesn’t mind, as long as she’s getting petted, fooled with, and fed peppermints and cookies.
Happy New Year, thanks for asking how she is doing.
Tall legs !
Many hands on "Surf"
