This is a picture of Tootie. He is a 7 year old breedingstock paint gelding. His registered name is El Pastor, but I haven't ever shown him... I got him when he was a yearling.
I had a mare named Rosie when I was 12; she was abused when I bought her and it took me a month before I could even touch her. To make a long story short, she ended up becoming one of the most awesome horses I have ever ridden. I would ride her for hours, and she would do anything I asked of her. We would go swimming in rivers, I could run her on a draped rein and she would never try to take off, and we would play hide and seek... haha. I would hide in her pen (there was lots of space and trees) and she would run around looking for me until she found me. It was cute. She didn't like anyone else and would shake when anyone else tried to pet her. When I was 16 (she was 6), I went down to the barn to go ride her and saw her lying down. I put a halter on her and tried to get her to get up, but I could tell it was very painful for her. She was colicing (which is a term that simply means stomach problems). I thought maybe if I walked her I could help her get better (which is the first thing you do when they colic), so I gave her a shot of Banamine and walked her for a long time. She kept trying to lay down, so my parents and I took her to a vet. Turned out she had an impacted cecum (part of the intestine) and it was back where the vet couldn't get to it to operate. He had to put her down. I couldn't go down to the barn for at least a month and I wasn't sure if I even wanted a horse again.
A good friend of mine had Tootie and offered to let me have him if I wanted him. I reluctantly agreed and started working with him. My friend put the first ride on him as a two year old... I am so glad it wasn't me... lol. Before I tell you about that let me just say when Tootie was weaned he was so mad he just stuck his head in the feeder for three straight days and wouldn't move. So anyway my friend put the first ride on Tootie. He rode him in our round pen which is about 5 feet high. Tootie got mad that he was being ridden and literally jumped out of the round pen with the guy still on him. Tootie is really tall for a Quarter/Paint horse, but still! The guy took him back into the round pen and kept riding him. Then he tried to turn Tootie, and Tootie got mad again so he threw himself down on the ground.... just having a tantrum... lol. So pretty much my point is Tootie is stubborn... But I love him for that, most of the time. I have ridden him in the middle of town and through a Sonic, right next to rattlesnakes (stupid), and up the "Cliff of Doom" in the Palo Duro Canyon (stupid again...haha). That horse has been so amazing, he has done everything I asked, even if it was really dumb on my part. So yeah, I love Tootie.... He probably has one of the most offbeat personalities I have ever seen in a horse. He is a huge horse, but he is the biggest chicken around other horses. Horses can pick on him and he'll just take it... He is the best horse to pony another horse off of. The other horse can just be bucking and freaking out and he'll just calmly walk or trot them around without a care in the world. He loves to put things in his mouth, he is like a vacuum. I'll have him tied up and I will look over and he will have the lead rope in his mouth... not chewing on it or anything... just holding it all crammed in his mouth looking totally content. He loves to chase our dog Clutch. I will be riding him and Clutch will run up behind him and bite and pull his tail. Most horses will kick or freak out, but not Tootie. To him it is a game... He and I wheel around and take off after Clutch. Clutch loves it and runs while we track him, like a cow. He will run right ahead of Tootie and be looking back at us while he runs, tounge flopped out and everything. I keep waiting for him to run smack into something. I must have a knack for aquiring goofy animals.
Anyway, I love Tootie. He is an awesome horse.
Tootie is a great horse. And so sweet!
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