New Kid On The Block

He's here! He's here! The new guy has arrived!

On Sunday, The Desert Rose and two other friends hauled out from the desert to ride with us. They also made a special delivery.

This would be the outlaw, Crow, or better yet, Dirty Chicken, as he is registered. Those of you who follow The Desert Rose may have heard of him. Born and broke in South Dakota, AQHA registered and heavily foundation-bred, he is one heck of a horse. If you can ride him.

While continually bucking people off during his training, it was discovered that he could work and track a cow like no other. In an effort to wear the horse down enough to be ridden, they roped 60-70 head off him a day. He still holds a little grudge towards humans for that.

Cowboy H even dressed up for the occasion.

He was eventually brought to California, and became the top roping horse for Cowboy H's old boss. Occasionally he was used as a guide horse for the stables' trail rides, which is how Cowboy H got to know him. Cowboy H actually rode him quite a bit, and has always loved him. Even after the ankle-breaking incident, he still loves him.

But, Cowboy H also knows that he can never be fully trusted. As he puts it, "Crow is a rattlesnake." Everyone who has ridden him (except me!) has not only been bucked off, but had a bone broken in the process. (In everyone else's defense, I only rode him once, and the trail we rode was so rough that there was never an opportunity to screw around. So, I kinda cheated. ;))

After much fussing and picture taking, Cowboy H led Crow out to the big pasture where he will be living.

We had a big ride to get going on, otherwise we would have spent a little more time with him before turning him out.

Plus the poor guy was a little freaked out by all the commotion. For as wicked as this horse can be to a rider, he is really just a big wienie. While leading him to the pasture, Cowboy H mentioned "I have a feeling poor old Crow's going to be at the bottom of the food chain".

Sure enough, when we returned from our ride, there he was all alone, crying out for Cowboy H.

Now, you may (or should) be asking yourself, "Why would you want such a horse?". First, he was free. Secondly, sometimes the pull a horse has on a man cannot be explained. Third, Cowboy H's feet will no longer hang below his horse's belly.

Cowboy H put his first ride (in 4 years) on him yesterday. I will have the pictures up in the next few days.

So, what do you think of our new guy? Would you have taken him??