The Tale of Two Grumpy, Old Geldings: Buddy & JD

Our "Tale of Two Grumpy, Old Geldings" begins just a few short weeks ago when JD said good bye to Lola as she was hauled away in Connolly's trailer. When the sad news came that Lola would not be returning to the "Kotz Hotel" it was important that we found JD a new pasture mate. My first thought was to put in Daisy, a four year old paint mare owned by Danyn Maroney. I discussed this with Danyn and we were both on the same wave length that she would be a good fit for a few reasons:

1. She is already low horse on the totem pole with the other horses.
2. She is not a very aggressive horse and would not push JD out of his feed.
3. She would benefit from being fed individually rather than in a group.
4. She is a very easy going horse and would make switching a breeze.

Well, we were wrong. When we put Daisy in with JD she seemed to always be looking over the fence, wanting to be with the other horses. Plus, JD stood his ground once with her and after that she was almost too scared to go near him...this made feeding time difficult with the side by side feeding stalls. To top it off we also noticed that she wasn't drinking! The water that she was drinking from was exactly the same because our trough is split but the side of the fence that she was now on had a smaller opening that came up at an angle rather than straight on. We moved her back within two days.

That brings us to the beginning of our tale....As I was thinking who our next best option would be I scanned our horses....

• Hank - No way! No one gets in the way of him and his Purina horse feed. This is a good thing that he likes his Purina so much but bad because he is an easy keeper and the amount of feed he receives daily compared to JD is much less. He would probably push JD out of the way and then JD wouldn't get the necessary amount of Equine Senior!

• Radar - Umm...he has seem to take a strong liking to Daisy and Dixie, especially when the two come in heat. Plus he kind of a push over and JD would be too aggressive for him.

• Dixie - Negative, Danyn tells me she can be a little "moody" towards geldings and it wouldn't be a good fit with just her and JD. So scratch that idea. Plus don't you see that her and Radar obviously have a "connection".

• Mickey- Could be a good idea but again he is too much of a push over. We need a horse that will stand some ground! We could run into the same situation that we did with Daisy

• Buddy - DING DING, I think we have a winner. First off, Buddy will stand his ground. He loves his Purina too but I know that if he tries to take JD's feed, JD will push him out and Buddy will obey. Plus, we have been having some occasional stool issues with Buddy and I've been wanting to feed him special anyways...PERFECT!
  

JD was alone for less than 24 hours before his new roommate was introduced. Really it wasn't a big issue putting the two geldings together because they have been pasture mates for at least 10 years; expect for the few months that JD spent at the Moore "Green Acres Retirement Pasture". When I opened the gate and let Buddy into JD's pen there were no fireworks...the two stiffed each other by touching noises and that was that. It was like they said, "Oh, it's you....ok." We fed them that night and Buddy tried going into JD's feeding station but JD kicked him out real quick, so he tried the next one and eureka....we have found our place!!

Before we continue on in our story I'd like to give you all a little background on our two geldings. Let's start with JD....

JD came to us when my family was looking for a new horse for me to upgrade to. One that had a little more get up and go but was still docile enough that I could continue to build my confidence and riding skills. We found JD in Sherrill, Iowa and purchased him from Ron Herbst. To be honest I can't remember the year we purchased him or at what age but what I can tell you is that his teeth age him around 30 years old. We brought JD home and I fell in love with him! I rode him on trail rides and in horse shows; we attempted western pleasure but if you know JD his head likes to stay up and in a western pleasure class that is not the most desired look. We also attempted barrels and poles at the shows but trust me, we were by no means the fastest team. However, there was one event that we excelled at...Egg N' Spoon. That's right, you are reading about the Dubuque County 4H Champion Egg N' Spoon horse three years running...then I graduated so that was the end of our streak! We have three trophy's sitting at home for that event and have also done extremely well at local fun shows. I used JD as my main horse for many years but soon it was time to upgrade...Now JD is used as a "merri-go-round" for when people want to come over and ride. Mainly we just let children ride him and he treats them pretty well...sometimes he can get a lil' grumpy and may make a beeline to the fence to get unsaddled but all in all he is pretty easy going.

Buddy is a 1989 (so he is 21 this year) quarter horse that came to us in the summer of 1997 when another one of our horses had passed away and my best friend Kelsey (her and I rode constantly together) needed another horse to ride. Well, our good friend Kenny Bergfeld (who you may remember as our 'John Wayne' from the Lola Construction Story) told us that he had the perfect horse for us to use until we found another horse for Kelsey. Well, there was a small fact I left out, Buddy was also for sale and if we liked him we could just buy him from Kenny. As you guessed it, Buddy came to our house and never left. Now, at first I was not a fan of Buddy, I always told my parents we should just sell him but I am very thankful they never listened to me! One summer Kelsey and I decided to trade horses at a horse show, she would ride Rocky in barrels and I would ride Buddy....When I entered the ring with Buddy my mother, who was announcing, asked "What are you doing on Kelsey's horse!" Here are the famous last words..."Don't worry Mom it will be fine!" I broke my arm....that's right, I ran my pattern, the saddle broke, the fence post and I had a conversation and that was that...You'd think I'd dislike Buddy even more after that accident but I almost grew a stronger bond with him. The next summer I began competing more on Buddy. We went team penning on Friday nights and ran speed events at local shows on the weekends. We also went in a few parades while I was in highschool and I also used him as a flag horse at a couple rodeo's while I was Miss ISU Rodeo. He has been a fantastic horse for our family and now he has the honor of teaching other people how to ride. Like JD he is used as a "merri-go-ground" but he is also now teaching my cousin Lauren barrels and poles as well as my friend Danyn and her daughters! Oh, I should also let you know that Buddy has another name that he goes by...Fabio...because of his long, flowing flaxen mane and because of his debonair personality...every girl seems to fall in love with him!

After reading the description of these two horses you are probably wondering why the blog is titled "The Tale of Two GRUMPY, Old Geldings." To put it simple...as these two horses have aged I can assure you that their patience has diminished and trust me, they have become pretty grumpy in their old age....

And that is where we will end today, stay tuned as you take a journey in the life of these two Grumpy Old Geldings....both are senior horses but you will see that both are very different in their lifestyles!