Monday, November 28, 2016

Monday Horse Blogging: Tuffy, 1983-2016

Tuffy Running - Marin County  2009

The American Paint Horse is a breed of horse that combines both the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors. Developed from a base of spotted horses with Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) breed registry is now one of the largest in North America.

The American Paint Horse shares a common ancestry with the American Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred. A registered Paint horse should conform to the same "stock horse" body type desired in Quarter Horses: a muscular animal that is heavy but not too tall, with a low center of gravity for maneuverability, and powerful hindquarters suitable for rapid acceleration and sprinting.


Tuffy (more formally, Ultratuff) was a paint. And, once he got a ribbon! (See tomorrow's post.) He and Hali mainly participated in trail riding, usually in Marin County but also elsewhere in California.

He had a bad case of horse colic last June, but seemed to recover from it. As a result we were obliged to put him on a no-hay diet. The colic reoccured, in a much more severe form last October, when we were in Osaka. We were kept up to date through iMessages from Sarah. Later in the day we found out that a vet who was at the stable at the time attempted to treat Tuffy, but after consulting with Tuffy's vet the decision was made to put him down. For the best, as we didn't want him to suffer.

The next several posts will be an "All-Tuffy" week at the mikereport.

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