Taffy and Dakota Updates

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Jewels Taffy Kandy and Royale Dakota Moon are four and a half months old now! Some of these videos are when they are three and a half months old, but they are growing so fast, what does it matter, right?

Manes and Tails

Taffy is gorgeous! Her mane is growing out pale cream, but when she is washed her mane is pure white. She is getting more golden by the week! I know, And after his bath, Dakota’s mane is pure white, with no hint of cream. He’s getting darker and darker!

NEWS FLASH!

Yikes! Just the other day, Kristel brought the mares and foals into stalls in order to get ready for their first set of shots, and the mares needed their teeth floated. So, she put Taffy and Jewels in a far stall, and she put Scarlett and Kody in the big stall. Well, Kody took one look around the stall, saw that his best friend Taffy was nowhere around, and from a stand, he took a flying leap OVER the 4-foot half-stall door (she says 3 and a half in the video but then she remeasured it) and landed in the paddock, perfectly unharmed. From a standstill to a leap. This boy is going to be a jumper! It happened so fast Kristel was shocked to her very toes! No time to video it, but she had plenty to say to Kody when she returned him to his stall.

Sad News that might have a good ending

Not long ago, the foals’ grandsire, Raleigh’s Full Moon, a gorgeous cremello stallion, passed away. He was getting ready to turn 25 years old. He has over 500 progeny, and they are calm with gorgeous conformations. With that in mind, Kristel has decided not to geld Kody, but to train him (Royale Dakota Moon) to stand as a stud (if he continues to be a sweetie pie). A chocolate palomino warmblood, my daughter just sent in his warmblood papers. To be a stud, he will have to be inspected in a couple of years by the Warmblood Association. If he passes in conformation and good personality, Dakota will be granted a 3-year permission paper to stand for stud. With his Doc Bar and Warmblood lines, and his wonderful, calm personality (and of course his chocolate genes), he could be quite a money-maker, especially since his fancy grandsire is no more. Full Moon had “lifetime” stud permission, and if Dakota proves his progeny are great, he may earn that too. But it takes lots of foals to prove him.

Dakota just got his papers! See his pedigree here >>

Fun, Frisky Foal Videos

Enjoy these videos from the Painted Acres Ranch. We love these foals so much. They are amazing, and I could not have planned a better “Taffy” and “Shasta” if I had written out their personalities line by line. Taffy is small and easy for even a little girl to handle (Andi at age 6) and Andi at age 9. Shasta is big but he does everything Kristel (Andi) tells him. Feet, leading, following her like a puppy and wanting to be with her all of the time. Just like Andi tells Macy hat the young horses just want to be played with in the field, and they go out and “play” with them. Totally gentle. Totally trustworthy. Just like a fiction story, but better!) The first video is one and a half minutes.

The second video is the foals getting cooled off in the heat. And then just chillin. I don’t know about you, but I could watch “Taffy” all the time! (just under two minutes.)