More on Scandalous Storm

There have been a number of foaling seasons here where I have been guilty of falling in love with the very first foal, only to shift my loyalties to the next one to come along. I'm very much "into" what kind of horse each foal is. Fawning all over the one I think is the best.

However, the year that Scandalous Storm was born things were different. I had two foals born that year, both of them colts. Frankly I didn't have a favorite. The colts were very different.There was no way I could chose which one was better. I really appreciated both. That has not changed over the years.

In the beginning Storm was this friendly thing. He'd come running at the sound of a human voice. However, being one of Bey Aana's foals, she quickly taught the colt to run and hide from humans. It was only a matter of three or four days and Storm was fleeing to the point of even climbing the stall walls to keep away from us.

There has always been one exception to this. That would be Lindsay. Bey Aana loves Lindsay as much as Lindsay worships Aana so the mare doesn't teach her foals to run from Lindsay. Lindsay would proudly show off how Storm would come right up to her wanting to be scratched.

Talk about being jealous.........it made Dave and I both crazy. I can't even begin to explain how frustrating it was to have a colt as scrumptious as Storm heading for parts unknown when all we wanted to do was love on him. But those are the facts of life around here with any of Aana's babies.

Most of the time the only way either Dave or I got to love on this colt was by chasing him down and trapping him. Then the poor guy would stand there trembling, frantically crying for his mother like we were trying to kill him.

We can't even begin to reverse those effects until after the foals are weaned. Then it takes a lot of time and effort to overcome those early lessons imprinted by a mare on her foal.

I was hoping to show the horse in the Sweepstakes Yearling Haller class but the scalera around his eyes had not changed completely yet. I thought that people might think he had a human eye when really what he had was pigment that was slow to come in.

Being chestnut, it can take years, I am told, for all of that pigment to come in. And believe me, Storm's has taken its own sweet time filling that color in around his eyes. It's driven me crazy over the years.

With Storm it was at least two full years before I could walk into his stall without him trying to climb the walls to escape me. For Dave, Colleen and Rachel it didn't take nearly that long.......but then I am the enforcer around here and everyone else just loves on the horses and feeds them treats. Storm is no dummy he had his priorities straight.

I am one of those breeders who believes there are too many stallions in this world. I am ruthless in my decisions to "cut" a colt. A colt I was told by a well know trainer to hide behind my barn until he was mature because he could one day be a national champion halter stallion, I cut because I got tired of hearing the colt scream.

The horse's manners were great but it seemed like every time another horse on the farm moved, that colt would scream a shrieking scream. I couldn't stand listening to him anymore so I went ahead and gelded that horse. He is a beautiful gelding.........and quiet too!

One of the ways I make decisions about stallions (and breeding decisions as well) is by having my friend, Jean Kielman (formerly Frieday of Vantage Point who worked with the great stallions, El Hilal and Simeon Shai) evaluate horses. Jean has a great reputation in the industry for knowing a good horse and being a great trainer. I know I can count on her to be brutally honest with me so I can trust her input. She won't tell me a horse is good to protect me from my feelings......she knows that's not what I want to hear. What I want is the truth.

When Storm was nearing two, I had Jean come out and take a look at him.
I was thinking about gelding the horse because he doesn't have as fine a throatlatch as the other Legs' babies. Granted, the Leg's babies have some of the prettiest throat latches that I've ever seen. Not to mention that Storm's mother, Bey Aana, has a throat latch typical of her Bey Shah breeding and Storm's throat latch is much better than his mothers. But still, for me, that was enough reason to geld the horse.

However, Jean saw it much differently. She asked me if the horse's manners were good. When I assured her that they were, she said she would not geld him. She thought his throat latch while not awesome was reasonable and not a good enough reason to geld Storm. Her exact words were "For me, he is the epitome of what an Arabian stallion should look like. He looks like he'll make a beautiful western horse."

Those were pretty strong words from a long time trainer who believed pretty much that all (and I do mean pretty much all) colts should be gelded. It was hard for me to find a good reason to over ride that decision. So I passed on gelding Storm.

I have to admit that Storm has never made me wish I had done differently. He has always been a very good boy......except when he's been cooped up for too long without something to keep his mind occupied.

Then he protests loudly by being a butt and getting lippy. Notice I didn't say "nippy" because mostly the horse doesn't bite but he does grab with his lips at clothes and such, playing his little games. He's also been known to rear a time or two when he's been off work for an extended time.

But I have to admit I feel like those times are my fault. If the horse gets worked properly he acts more like a gelding than any stallion. Even from the beginning when I first started the horse under saddle he has been the perfect gentleman.

(Jean also thought I should have shown him in halter as a yearling despite the fact his scalera had not changed color yet. That will always be one of those things I wish I had done differently......but at least I'm not looking back wishing I hadn't gelded the horse.)

now there's Percy

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