Deborah Foster found our site when she was looking for a youngster to bring home to her beautiful horse farm in Northern California. She had fallen in love with one of our grade babies, a colt I had named Tanner. Looking for a baby to bring up her way, she started corresponding with me and I instantly knew that she would be a special home for a special horse, but was it going to be Tanner? Based on a photo it was hard to tell. It is often difficult to photograph a black horse and it was especially difficult to photograph Tanner. We had a great baby photo of Tanner posted on the site, but because of the overwhelming numbers of little ones in the baby pasture, a close up and personal shot of Tanner was just not to be taken! For several months we watched Tanner grow from a fuzzy brown baby into a handsome black colt and all we could do to explain his new beauty to our web site readers, was to describe him in words. Beautiful, black beauty, handsome...
Tanner was the herd leader from the moment he arrived. He was great at leading the other babies from his group straight to us. He was never one to come to the fence to greet us as he always keep a watchful eye on things from a far. This was his way of protecting himself! In other words Tanner was aloof but more than that I believe that Tanner was scared!
It was Deborah's desire to meet him in person and she was planning a trip to come visit him along with her sister. In the meantime we kept in touch over the internet and I would give Deborah updates on Tanner. "Is my baby still available?" Deborah would ask weekly. She could not seem to get here soon enough.
Deborah arrived early one morning with her sister and we all drove down to the baby pasture. She picked him out from the herd immediately. Then as if he knew that she had come for him, Tanner worked his way to the fence and greeted Deborah. I was shocked - Tanner never stepped forward for people, not for anyone.
I left Deborah and Tanner alone. I said nothing, as I watched his curiosity grow, something magical was happening and I was without words. Tanner was going to be Deborah's colt, they had something brewing and it all started because of that baby picture.
"Can I give you a check and sign all the paperwork before I leave?" Deborah asked. I never rush adoptions and always want everyone to be absolutely certain about selecting their future horses, but knowing that it would be several weeks before Tanner was able to be shipped to his future home, I accepted. There would be time for us to work one on one with Tanner, now that he had found his human, we would be sure to keep Deborah in the loop to his daily progress.
Not at all alarmed by his bashfulness, Deborah made arrangements to transport her new addition first class and to prepare her trainer for his newest project. All was well.
Tanner was slowly moved into a stall here at Canyon Creek and he made the adjustment amazingly well. Just as with the other babies, time was on his side and he soon had his head over the stall door looking to find out just what goes on in the barn. Finally I managed to snap a few photos and before too long we were in the stall petting and scratching Mr. Tanner.
It was up to Deborah if she wanted us to keep him longer and work with the haltering and leading, but she being assured that her trainer was ready, could wait no longer. The van arrived and backed up to the barn I opened the stall door and Tanner went straight to the trailer and walked in. It was perfect and he was on his way to grass pastures, trees new friends and family and a beautiful new beginning.
Tanner arrived that evening to his new home and I was told he was just as calm in his new surroundings. He is a survivor and a very smart horse. His new mom was so happy. Not long afterwards I had passed along to Deborah some information as to his sire and the farm that he had been saved from in Canada. I had not had any luck locating the stallion, I was told that the farm was shut down, but Deborah, the research demon that she is found his photo and lineage days later. I understood that the herd was well bred but now it was clear, Tanner has 3 lines back to Three Bars, as well as King, Poco Bueno, and Impressive. The best part is that Tanner, now named Max looks exactly like his sire, a beautiful black stallion with the same star and snip. It only goes to show that a picture can be worth a thousand words!
A picture is often worth a thousand words!
