Altamiro came to me as a yearling, and is the first stallion I have ever shared my life with. This autumn, I am seeing definite changes in him, now that he is a 3 1/2 year old with three foals to his credit. His formerly scrawny ewe neck has come up out of his withers now with an impressive arching of testosterone-swelled muscling. He is beginning to move with a lot of arrogant presence. I can tell he likes his more mature physical form and he enjoys expressing himself through movement. I wonder if he is aware how much I enjoy watching him show off? He sure seems to be doing a lot of animated exhibitions lately, much to my pleasure!
Here are two scenes from an earlier video when Mistral was suggesting to Altamiro that even a young stallion must "hop-to" when the Emperor God gestures he should move off--"right now and how!"
What magnificent athletes these boys are! The still photos allow us to see the amazing collection and lateral reach they are capable of. The other day I shared a video clip of Altamiro and Mistral engaged in some friendly big boy sparring. Today, I'm sharing a handful of still images I've gleaned from that moving footage. Notice how one of the foals watches this sparring game with rapt attention.
I'm so thankful that I am able to get fairly decent still scenes from the moving footage my camera takes. I'd like to be able to get these action shots while in photo mode, but I haven't had much luck with it. There is a feature that you can select for rapid succession action shots, but I haven't been able to get any better quality of image than what I can extract from the digital videos. (That's why I'm the novice, and Leslie is the pro!)
I have several still images from various moving clips I took of Altamiro, which I'd like to share, simply because I am so captivated by the form of this young Sorraia stallion.
I may put in another journal entry later today, because I have a surprising, and impressive scene involving Zeus, Altamiro and Zorita to share. For now, before you leave the blog, look one more time at these handsome fellows. I'm so fortunate to be able to be a part of their lives!
1 comment:
I think you do a wonderful job extracting photo’s from the video’s Lynne. These photo’s show perfectly how healthy and beautiful your horses are. Altamiro is such a handsome looking boy, no wonder the ladies adore him.
I know you don’t like to speak in terms of hierarchy. Machteld, our Ethology teacher always says it does not really exist, that it is a human interpretation. For me, I think it is interesting how the group dynamics work. Like you say the “hierarchy” often depends on the situation, and for me it is a challenge to find out how. It would seem to me that the group somehow “knows” each other’s strengths and weaknesses perfectly well and they adjust their behavior accordingly. We humans could learn a lot from these group dynamics I think.
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