If this fucking pony gets one drop of oil spilled on it, I'm going to be royally pissed

[taterguy]

Welcome to the world Paloma, recently born on the Outer Banks of NC.

Hope the rest of us don't screw things up for you.

[tosh]

1. What a cutie pie!

Beautiful mom, too. Hope they'll both be safe for long years ahead.

[Tailormyst]

2. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

omg so so so sooooooooo cute

[taterguy]

3. Just reminding people what the stakes are

[Tailormyst]

7. I agree Mr. Potato, I agree

[sharesunited]

4. Fucking should modify drop of oil, not pony.

[taterguy]

5. Dude, I was riffing on a meme

And no, I don't know exactly what a meme is.

[salguine]

14. I'm still trying to figure out what "Fucking should modify drop of oil, not pony" means.

[roguevalley]

16. I think it means don't drill, end oil not ponies. :)

[sharesunited]

17. It's grammar. He's using "fucking" as an adjective of derision.

But what he intends to deride isn't the pony (or more correctly, colt).

What he intends to deride is the oil drilling off the North Carolina coast which might in any way contaminate the habitat in which the colt lives.

So he should be applying his derisive adjective to that noun which he intends to deride.

Namely, the oil which he would argue puts the colt at risk of contamination.

Don't call the baby horse bad names, call oil drilling bad names.

[Kalyke]

20. Correction... if I may...

(or more correctly, colt).

Not sure if that's a male... colt. Or a female... filly. That would be a foal.

:hi:

[sharesunited]

24. dictionary dot com confirms that you are correct!

Foal is baby horse regardless of gender.

Correcting the corrector is a beautiful moment.

[taterguy]

29. Is this Grammar Underground?

Sigh

[era veteran]

42. Excuse me, you are being hypocritical Dr. Contraction

[taterguy]

43. That's spelling, not grammar

:eyes:

[ChiciB1]

6. I HEAR YA!! Beautiful Animals!! I Live In Florida And Am REALLY, REALLY

upset about this situation! While I'm upset with much, this one has really put me over the edge! Not that many other issues aren't extremely important, but as an avid "animal/nature" person who has 2 chocolate labs and two cats... I'm just sooooooooo P.O.ed!!

I also feed my squirrels everyday, along with many birds who come around as I sit under my big pine tree and keep an eye out for invading animals or prey until they finish eating and playing! Where I live it's been said we have the WHITEST beaches in the world, but they already messed that up by dumping some darker sand on it because of erosion!

I wonder WHAT will be next!!!

[divvy]

8. I hear the little ones are good with mashed potato's and toast

[taterguy]

9. I'll take that under advisement

:eyes:

[HereSince1628]

10. Is it me, or do the foals hind feet look foundered?

Do they just look like that as babies?

[taterguy]

11. I don't know nothing bout no foal feet

[HereSince1628]

12. Well,

To me the hindfeet have the typical toe-turned-up look of a foundered hoof.
But, I admit I don't have much experience around baby horses.
Founder is usually a consequence of rapid hoof growth following too much feed. I don't know if that's possible for a foal, but the picture sure seems to present that posture of the hind feet.

[Ms. Toad]

13. I think it's more an awkward carriage issue,

or uneven ground. Just looks to me like the foal isn't used to standing yet and doesn't quite have the hang of it.

[Kalyke]

22. Looks like a newborn in a muddy haddock.

But, you're correct. They do look a tad foundered.

Hard to tell from that shot, though.

[riderinthestorm]

34. Tendons are just "loose"

Some foals are born like that. They should "tighten up" within a day or two. If not, then THAT'S a problem but for now, if this is a newborn, it's all fine.

Cutie! Reminds me of my daughter's pony who's a pretty paint. Unfortunately her foal that she had last year looks like a baby bison... ugliest little thang ever.

[roguevalley]

15. horses and dogs, friends to man. what a lovely baby.

[Silent3]

18. Hey, is this the pony so many people have been expecting?

So now that we have the pony, what's next?

[taterguy]

28. At this point, we don't know

[Kalyke]

19. Awwww,,,, looks like Stormy... Misty of Chincoteague's baby

Her filly...





If that doesn't work, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mistysheaven/Stormy?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbBj9-h5pmz3AE&feat=directlink#

[OnyxCollie]

21. Awww.

[Kalyke]

23. The foal is ador-ad-able, but check out the mare's mane and tail!

Women in this country pay good money to have hair so beautiful and colorful.

What a beautiful horse!

[cliffordu]

25. Just beautiful.

[TexasObserver]

26. Mama looks Arabian. Is the sire likewise?

[Kalyke]

27. She could be... but she looks mixed.

Just like all animals of multi-culture, she has flawless beauty... she's small and muscular like her Arabian counterparts, but refined like the tobiano pinto ponies of Virginia.

Hell... I just described my children. :)


She's a Quarter Horse, no doubt, though.

[TexasObserver]

32. The mare has an Arabian head, mane, tail, coloration and hind quarters.

The foal appears to be a mix, which means the sire is probably a quarter horse. He doesn't look like an Arabian foal, so he's probably a half Arab half quarter horse mix.

There doesn't appear to be any quarter horse in the mare, however. Quarter horses don't have the fancy head, the coloration, or the same rear end as an Arab.

[Kalyke]

35. My mother had a Quarter horse with her coloration.

Probably mixed way down the line somewhere, but Smoky was a fine Quarter horse.

Still... I think we're actually both wrong.

If this mare was an island horse brought in from the wild, she may have all kinds of horse types in her mix. A lot of the horses on the islands off the coast of North Carolina are descendants of Spanish mustangs called Banker ponies (which is probably why I had the gut reaction of comparing the foal to Misty and Stormy of Assateague - also descendants of Spanish horses).


Edited to add: Yep... she's a full-blooded Banker.

http://blog.outerbanksvacations.com/2010/03/24/new-pony-arrives-on-the-outer-banks/

http://www.ocracokeisland.com/pony_pasture.htm

[TexasObserver]

36. Very interesting piece of history. Thanks.

I've owned and bred at least a dozen Arab mares, most of them silver or grey. I got out of it years ago, but enjoyed breeding them. They sure throw a pretty foal.

There is a line of Arabs that are of Spanish lineage. As I recall, they were brought there by the Moors. I wonder if any of the horses that started the Ocracoke herd were of that lineage. Arabs are endurance horses. They're not good for short races, but they're excellent for distance. Because of their size, which is typically smaller, they might have been well suited for the colonial efforts of the Spanish who brought the Ocracoke horses to that island.

I've always favored Arabs and Saddlebreds. I like the front end action driving off the rear end, and the way they hold their head in a trot. I like the Arab's fancy head. I like the Saddlebred's long legs and height.

Few things in life are more enjoyable that seeing a mare with a foal by her side in pasture in early spring.

[Kalyke]

39. The only thing better than seeing the mare with her foal is feeling

the velvet snuggle of their soft noses as that snurfle sugar or apples out of your palm while you rub under their manes.

One of my favorite sensations in life. :loveya:

On edit... I also love Arabians. Their gate is only bettered by humanely-trained Tennessee Walkers. I helped care for a rescued Walker - Mona - at a friend's farm. I'm a small woman - even smaller back in those days (I should have been a jockey, but then I got a chest. LOL) - so my weight was light and I could train. When my friend's family rescued Mona, I was about 17. She'd let others ride, but she "pouted." I'd get on her and get her out to a full gallop. She became so confident that I used to use her to shepherd the Brahma bulls - she was at least three hands higher than them.

I used to ride an Arabian in shows. Charlie (which is now one of my dogs' names) would lay his neck over mine to hug me.

My family never lived on a farm, so the horses were never "mine," but my mother, being a former barrel racer, would take me to the stables and the horses and ponies knew I was a "friend." Ergo... I've never bred horses... just ridden them a lot in barrel races, shows, to train and, mostly for enjoyment.

My first ocean trip was to Assateague. My father and grandfather fished off the coast while I sat on the beach feeding wild horses kelp. LOL. I was 6 years old. :)

[TexasObserver]

40. Lovely personal story.

I could never afford to own a horse until I became an adult, so I was always riding someone else's horse, using their tack, making do. I traded groom duties (cleaning you know what, etc.) for riding opportunities. My first horse (when I was in my 20s) was a big chestnut mare with an attitude. She was about 16 and half hands. By the time a horse is that old, they know whether their rider knows what he or she is doing. They will ignore a weak rider and do what they want. Hell, most horses will do that, but older ones really know where the barn is and how to get back there in a hurry.

Balance is the key to good riding. You have to be up in the stirrups and leaning forward. In my view, a whip should never be used on a horse (with the exception of the round ring, where the popping sound, not hitting, is the function of the whip). A riding crop is ok for riding English, because it's really just a light tap to a horse, no pain involved. But a horse should only require minimal cues, including the slight nudge in the sides to giddy up. I always used sound cues to accompany physical cues.

FYI my pet peeve about movies involving horses is the fiction of how a horse is broken to ride. As if all it takes is one good, loving owner to jump on it and subdue it that one time. Training starts in a round ring and it's a while before putting a saddle on the horse is advisable. The horse is born to buck and run when anything "jumps" on its back, because in nature, that's a deadly predator. The key to breaking a horse is trust, not domination. Trust is built in small steps, as the horse comes to learn it can trust you.

My back can't take the concussion of riding any more, so I don't, but it's a great way to spend a spring afternoon.

[Vinca]

30. What a beautiful baby!

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Baby is cute, and mama is gorgeous!! Is she a strawberry roan?

[yurbud]

33. I thought you were talking about the metaphorical pony DLCers accuse us of wanting...

[taterguy]

37. Well, I was in a way. I like threads that work on multiple levels

[era veteran]

44. There should be a period after levels.

[taterguy]

45. Pot, meet kettle . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8107372&mesg_id=8118994

[era veteran]

46. See how stupid sniping is Spud?

See you later.

[babyblonde]

38. i love her

very much:loveya:

[LWolf]

41. I'm a little concerned about her back feet. nt