Introducing Ricco!

 

 

This is Ricco. He is an andalusian stallion and just about the sweetest stallion you could ever hope to meet. In fact, unless you looked, you would probably assume when meeting him that he was a gelding. He is that docile and gentle. But don't let that sweet attitude fool you, he can be quite the handful if he wants to be!

Isn't he beautiful? His Poppa is an award winning stud, and Ricco doesn't want you to forget it! While he is very sweet and gentle, he just radiates attitude. "Look at ME!" would be his favorite phrase if he could talk. Probably followed very closely by, "Got any Food?" He is a real Mooch.

The little scamp slipped out of his fenced off area the other day. It is just an area fenced off by hot wire so he can spend his days outside since he has to be turned out alone... (the whole stallion thing!) He slipped under one of the strands of hot wire  and went out into the yard to look around and visit with the other horses in the regular pastures... and probably look for food LOL!. I looked up and saw him loose, and quickly walked outside to make sure he wasn't getting into any trouble. A "Hey You!" and a "Come Here, Ricco" was all it took to have him come trotting over to me. I looped my finger in his forelock and led him back to his area and put him back in, tightening up the piece of fence that had stretched out and allowed him to slip out. I swear he looked at me with a "Who Me?" look on his face when I was telling him what a little rascal he was. This is why he gets put back in his stall at night! The picture above was taken under the tree that he likes to hang out under in the afternoon.

Andalusians are usually born dark and then gray out (i.e. turn white) as they age. Occasionally you will also see other colors, but gray is the dominant color. Ricco will slowly lose his dapples as he ages, but will probably maintain the black on his legs for many years. The full body shot of him at the bottom of the entry shows what I mean about his legs being darker. That shot was taken in one of the big pastures this last summer.

Here are a couple of links if you are interested in learning more about these beautiful horses. There is one from Wikipedia, another from The International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Assoc, one from Lipizzaner.com (the Andalusian was a major influence in the beginnings of the Lippizzaner breed), and finally one from the Dept of Animal Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Ricco as much as I enjoy having him around!