By Marty Felix
Last September, I met a man who was camping near the parking lot in Coal Canyon. I stopped and asked him if he had seen any horses. He couldn’t wait to tell me, “YES! Two nights ago, a beautiful blue horse with black knee socks came down the canyon and went up that hill over there!” Black knee socks? I had to stifle a laugh before responding. I asked him if this horse was a male and if it was alone. “Yes” to both questions. I told him he had seen Cole, a 3-year-old blue roan bachelor, going over the saddle to Main Canyon for water.
Cole was born in mid-August of 2015 to the dun mare Shiva and a blue roan stallion named Gideon. He was born black, but he roaned out over time, just like his sire.
I first met Cole when he was a month old. Gideon’s band was in the bottom of Main Canyon, and the bay mare Siesta had given birth a few days earlier to a filly we named Toni. It was one of those “Pull up a chair (rock) and watch the show” kind of days. Happy to have a playmate, Cole was chasing Toni around in the greasewood, and when she stopped, he’d nip her on the neck, bite her tail, sniff her, and do all of the other things foals do when they play. Toni, being younger, ran back to Siesta a few times for a break in the action - and to have a little milk. These babies entertained me for quite a while until they were so tired, they had to lie down for their naps.
I enjoyed watching Cole grow up and mature into a handsome blue roan stallion. From my many observations, I learned that he is curious (especially about people), mellow, and just plain good-natured. He left his family band in August of 2017 when he was a 2-year-old. Sometimes he ran with other young bachelors, sometimes he drifted around alone, and sometimes band stallions let him hang around as long as he kept his distance from their mares.
There’s not much doubt in my mind that Cole, the “beautiful blue horse with black knee socks” will be adopted in the spring. My wish is that he goes to a good forever home.
Gideon, Shiva, Cole & Toni