The Ultimate Bum came to us very early in 2005. He was very calm and laid back. He liked people and was very easy to handle. He had come to Slush Creek Walkers and Montana from Michigan so the Montana climate was a change for him but didn't seem to bother him at all.

In the beginning of the 2005 breeding season we had a number of mares come into his court. Because these were all visiting, maiden mares, we decided we would hand breed this stallion. This turned out to be an extremely simple process. He was so easy to handle that it really was not much different than handling a gelding. We would breed one mare, put Buck back in his pen, get things all ready for the next mare and repeat the whole process over again. He was very kind to the mares and paid the foals little attention.

He settled all the visiting mares first time around and after they left, he was rewarded with a few of his own mares out in a small pasture near the house where we could keep an eye on things. He also settled all of those mares fairly quickly. The next spring he was put out to pasture in a large (400+ acre) pasture. Here, also, he did very well. He managed his herd, the wide open spaces and the freedom like he had been born to it. We would drive out to the pasture to check on them just about every day. He would see the pickup from 2 hilltops away and start driving his band toward us so they could all get their cookies and we could get our look at them all. After they all got their treats they would slowly began grazing away again.

All in all, the process ofintroducing The Ultimate Bum was a piece of cake. He was not scared to death of snow or calves; he was never off his feed; he was easy to handle and kind to the mares and foals. All introductions to range life and Montana should be so easy!