Go Nosey! Yes, she does look like a yearling but wow—she has such substance and well put together. Banjo sends his love and a fist-bump for surviving. Now on to thriving!
We’re into full triple antibiotic ointment or vaseline for his scrapes. He got beat up somehow—don’t know how he was hauled to Bowie or if these came from there, but he has a bunch. He’s gotten over the colic of Friday-Saturday. Much better Sunday and I let him into a large connected pasture so he can run around and he has run along the fence to see Bounce a lot. His bloodwork came back normal. Fecal count indicates “moderate” worminess so Quest Plus is on his diet this evening and we’ll finish a course of 6 gastrogards. He and Bounce are WAY too attached this fast! Bounce hangs out next to his paddock with him several times a day for lengthening amounts of time. When I bring Bounce up first to hang in the barn in the late afternoon (94+ temps) he cries until I get Banjo up there. It’s just ridiculous!
Today Banjo got a rinse bath and groomed and all his cuts medicated and I finally went nuclear with 13% permethryn wiped on for the flies. He’s scared of anything that sounds like a spray—velcro, sprayer, hose—so we just go slow and wipe stuff on. Not surprised. None of my OTTBs have liked sprays right off the bat. Banjo also has no sense of personal space! He just wants to be leaning on you or cuddling in your chest. He is a baby horse for a 4-year old. A baby that’s been through way more than he should have. That’s OK! I used a rope halter with nose knots to bring him up this afternoon and made him stop, back up, and keep pace with me several times. He’s super smart and caught on halfway between the paddock and barn. I was poking him hard with a finger to stay off me yesterday and he stopped and looked at me like…WHAT??? After dinner tonight, I tied him in the aisle and he fell asleep, lower lip hanging down while I combed out his mane again, brushed him, picked his feet, and wiped him down with fly spray. I want to try clippers on him but I think that will be a major deal and not going to put him through that right now.
Just for sport horse people—I emailed the current owner of his sire, Jack Milton, (the horse not the owner!), just trying to get a sense of whether Banjo will grow more and if this is really his temperament or just because he wasn’t feeling well, and got this reply: “Jack is 15.3 and weighs 1225 lbs. Best disposition i have ever had in a stallion. good boy We have only had him a couple of years, but i think they make very good sport horses. we have shipped semen back to kentucky for polo and sport horse breeders who are riding some of his 5,6 and seven year olds. i think that speaks for itself.”
So it IS his temperament and his elegant movement isn’t a fluke and at 15.3 he probably won’t grow any, or much taller. He also seems to have really good feet so far. We’ll tackle the farrier next week to pull the two left racing plates and go with 2 fronts. He probably won’t need hinds and I haven’t needed to show any of my OTTBs here behind.
THings are on the upswing and he is already such a blessing. What a sweetheart.