Is He Ugly Enough to Join the Misfit Acres!?!

 Having horses makes you part of a community that you don’t even realize you are part of until you run into another horse owner. Before you know it, you’re getting roped into transporting horses halfway across the state to new farmers. Or at least that’s what happens to Tall Paul, and the start of how we ended up with our newest horse on the farm. Our friend Rick is very involved in breeding and raising Missouri Fox Trotters and when a local breeder became too sick to manage his stock anymore, Rick and his wife helped them self their animals off. Some of the horses needed to be rounded up from the pasture and transported about five hours further south of where they were located.

When they were loading up all the colts and mares who had been to make the trip, Paul found an ugly as sin little stud colt that wouldn’t have lived much longer in the pasture with the stud horse. He was thought to be about 18 months old and was covered from mane to tail in cockleburs. He looked terrible.

I’m sitting at home when I receive this text from Rick’s cell phone of this adorably ugly little horse that is best described as palomino paint, though he looks like he literally found every single mud pile that he could to roll in. With the picture is a text saying, “Is he ugly enough to join the Misfit Acres?” I pick up the phone to call and talk to Paul about the little guy and if we should bring him home.

We are constantly talking about how we do not need any more horses. However, he totally stole his heart by the way he just stood back, curiously watching everyone else get caught and rounded into the pen to load. The deal we made was that if they could catch him, he could come home but would have to be gelded shortly after arrival. We were not having a stud on the farm with two mares who have never fowled and are both about ten years old.

Needless to say, he came home.

He was named before he even made it home paying homage to his spots. Princess P named him Domino. His cockleburs cleaned out, his hair brushed, his feet trimmed, and his training began all within in 36 hours of arrival. He maintains he best disposition and the most human friendly out of all of our horses. He’s now broke to halter, broke to saddles, has been gelded, and we found out he was only a yearling when he came. None of that has stopped him though! He’s had his first bareback rider and he loves to be ponied on trail rides by his favorite mare Princess and his favorite “big brother” Daniel.

If you ever get the chance to stop by, you may just have to feed him is favorite treat- an alfalfa cube!