Little Creek

The Center has a revolving door. Just as soon at two horses leave, another one appears! I brought Little Creek, my three year old Choctaw colt home today. He's been at Joanne's house since May keeping Gavilan company. Many thanks to Joanne and Andy for watching after him, I know he brought a lot of joy to their lives.

LC is stunning! He's grown up a lot over the summer and the resemblance to his sire Iktinike is remarkable. He has the same quiet demeanor and like and dislikes as his sire too. It's pretty amazing actually to see how similar they are. Pictures to follow on Facebook soon!

For those of you reading this who don't know LC's history, he was one of the offspring from the Choctaw Indian Pony Conservation Program I managed at Red Road Farm. He is 100% full Choctaw pony. Eliza and I watched LC be brought into this world. His dam is Red Creek, a lovely bay mare and his sire is Iktinike, owned by world reknowned equine geneticist Dr. Philip Sponenberg who spearheaded the Choctaw Program. The herd of Choctaws I cared for and trained hold a special place in my heart. They now live at Return to Freedom in California.

Minko comes from the same herd and he and Little Creek were born 32 days apart. Today was the first time they've seen each other since they were weanlings. Minko sure made a big fuss about that! All 12.2 hands of him puffed up and he was going to take Little Creek on from over the fence. LC stands about 13.2 but has a very big presense about him, as does Minko but LC finally turned away from him, after some squealing and striking. Interesting dynamics and I'm not sure now that they are going to be pasture mates until they work it out over the fence. I don't need any accidents or broken fences. So for now LC and Thunder, who is a distant cousin, will be roomies beginning tomorrow.

What amazes me most about LC is his coloring. He appears white, or grey, but you can see the tobiano pattern he boldly displayed as a foal by his grey skin when he's wet. He was a dark brown and white tobiano when he was born. He's now a varnished roan tobiano with sabino markings on his legs. Pretty amazing. And his ears are very darkly roaned, plus his one blue eye and mottling around his eyes and lips makes for a real visual treat!

He's our homegrown boy and I look forward to spending more time with him now.