Ladder needed :-)

So, I had to wait until I got Anatolian's hooves trimmed before riding him. He came with a western saddle, and I already own a western saddle. Both of them are too wide for him though, I believe. He has a couple white spots on his withers and I would bet they were caused by being ridden in the western saddle, as a saddle that is too wide will press on the withers. Thoroughbreds are usually much narrower in proportion than the Quarter Horses that western saddles are designed for. Fortunately, he doesn't have huge "shark" withers like a lot of TBs, so I don't think he'll be too hard to fit. Until I get a saddle that fits him well, though, I plan to just ride him in the bareback pad. I adore that thing anyway, it's SOO comfortable and secure! A lady I know is going to loan me her English saddle so I can see if it fits him. I continue to be amazed and grateful at how helpful so many horse people are. It's so cool :-)

Anyway, we tacked him up with the bareback pad today, putting my snaffle bit on him. Then I led him over to the "mounting block" that I always used with Mira, and surprise, surprise! I can't quite reach! He's just a bit too tall for me to climb on. (I cannot just put my foot in the stirrup to get on when using the bareback pad, as it would slide too much even though I use a breastcollar. I have to start out high enough to slide on.) So, I settled for just getting him used to me leaning over him and talking to him and petting him from up there. As usual, he was a good boy. Tomorrow I'll have someone give me a hand up, and while I'm out there tomorrow I plan to measure and see exactly how many hands high he is. I'm guessing just under 16 HH, so we'll see how accurate I am!

Oh! I also found a record of one particular race he ran in at Del Mar on August 9th last year! He didn't win, but oh well. :-) The people I bought him from did not have his registration papers, but I do know the name of the people they got him from, so I am looking online to try to find a way to contact them. No hurry, but it would be nice if I could get them eventually...

That's it for tonight! Please do vote for your favorite name on this thread. Thanks!


L

Nickname Ideas

OK, I have been considering a "barn name" for Anatolian, as his full name is just a bit too much of a mouthful. So, I would like you to help me pick a good name from this list of possibilities! I want a name that is original, classy, and just "sounds right." Yes, I'm picky about names! But anyway, if you have an idea for another name altogether, do let me know!

Anatolia is an area in Turkey. There are a lot of Kurdish people in Turkey, so my relative who lived in Iraq gave me some Kurdish words I can use - I have put the meanings after the word.

Current favorite:
Andoly - variant of Anatolia


Others:
Sur - red
Esip (pronounce "uh-sip") - horse
Agir - fire
Rumelia - name of area in that region
Andolu - alternate variant of Anatolia


Please give me your input in the comments! :-)


L

Settling In Together

I let Anatolian out with Mira in the large pasture on Saturday morning, and everything was quite boring all day, which is great!!! There was some squealing during the day, but mostly they both just wanted to eat the hay I had put out. It was funny, until Anatolian arrived I hadn't quite realized just how small and cute Mira is. She is small, but she's put together pretty well so she looks like an elegant little doll, especially with that cute head. :-D

Both the horses were wormed on Thursday, and had baths on Friday. On Saturday I finished the baths (neck areas that I hadn't been able to finish before) and groomed them both again thoroughly.

Today I worked some more on washing, conditioning, and trying to detangle his tail. He has a big knot in the middle, but I'm hoping to be able to get it all untangled rather than cut any off.

Both of the horses have gone up the road with me and my sister for walks. We will take one ahead of the other, stop them, and walk the other past, and then repeat, to get them used to the idea that they are with the person holding the lead rope, not the other horse! Anatolian is cool with it, but Mira, though perfectly respectful of the lead, gets kind of anxious. One of the things I decided first thing was to immediately start taking one horse at a time out of the pasture and doing stuff with it every day, so that neither horse (hopefully) gets herdbound at all. I want them to realize that will be the routine!

I have discovered an interesting quirk of Anatolian's: He doesn't really know what treats are! He will sniff your hand if you are holding an apple, banana, or carrot, but he won't eat it! Even if you put it on the ground he usually ignores it - the only thing he will eat out of your hand is Mira's Equine Sr. pellets, and he inhales those!

Another thing about him: I have already seen him make the flehmen face a bunch of times, sometimes just when being petted. He also loves to roll buckets around and investigate everything with his nose... So I am being careful to gently discourage him from nosing people! But, it seems he is a mouth-oriented horse, so when I start teaching him tricks (which I plan to do for fun, after regular riding sessions) I should probably start with tricks that involve the mouth. Hmmm.....


Hey, I just realized this is my 101st post!!! Cool!


L

Introducing... Anatolian Star!!!

Anatolian is a chestnut 6-year-old TB (thoroughbred) gelding. He is a little under 16 hands high, was raced at one time, and has been used as a trail horse for the last year or so. So far he has been super calm and sweet, and I almost find it difficult to believe he is an OTTB (off track thoroughbred) due to his being so laidback - but he has the lip tattoo, so he was raced! I am SOOO excited to have him, and he and Mira are settling VERY well so far (through the fence)!

The Story:
Earlier this summer I actually visited TBfriends to get acquainted with Joe & Cathy, as I was planning to adopt a horse from them this fall. My goal was a tallish gelding between 5 and 8 years old, sound, athletic conformation.... overall, a horse with plenty of potential that would enjoy lots of riding.

Well, Friday before last, I was thinking about borrowing (on a feed lease) a retired broodmare from a fabulous farm near me, (a farm I had no clue was so close by!) as they were advertising that they wanted to give her away and I figured they might not mind leasing her. Then, a lady I know who is attempting to help some neighbors give away their horse, gave me her neighbors' # and told me to call them. Shortly after that, I was at my local feed store, and one of the girls there, who knows I've been keeping my eyes open for another feed burner (LOL), said "Hey, do you want to buy a horse?" I said "Well, it depends on the horse and the price!" She proceeded to tell me about a horse for sale, cheap due to owner moving away. He came with tack included.

Mind you, all this happened on the same day! I figured, it wouldn't hurt to at least check out this horse for sale, so I went to see him the same day. To my eyes, he looked sound and in great health, and was friendly and quiet. He stood still while the owner jumped on bareback and rode him around. Overall, he was almost exactly what I'd been looking for :-)

I had a local trainer check him for soundness, and evaluate his conformation/possible ability to make sure I wasn't crazy for considering him, got a definite green light, and decided to go ahead and buy him! We did have some trouble with the trailer, (long story, I'll have to post it later) and though we planned to bring him home on Monday, he did not get here until Wednesday! 8-o At least he made it here safe and sound. Phew!

It was so cute watching Mira when we unloaded him from the trailer! Her eyes just bugged out and you could almost hear her going "Yay! Finally another horse!!!" She was a good girl and didn't pull on the lead though, just stood there by my sis while I led Anatolian down the hill to the round pen that he is temporarily inhabiting. He was quite interested in her also, but not as nervous as she seemed to be. We fed & watered him, and then let Mira loose to wander around the edge of his pen so they could sniff each other. Instead, she kept following me and walking in circles around me, like "Whoa! This is so cool, but I'm WAY too excited... Help!" Everyone was "fizzing" - including the trainer who brought him over, who by the way is a really cool gal. :-)

Of course, since he arrived, I haven't been inside nearly as much as usual, thus the delay in getting my GREAT news to you guys! I promise to get a BUNCH of pics as soon as I can borrow the camera again. I seriously need to buy one soon...

Mira spent most of the first afternoon squealing and kicking toward Anatolian - true to form, she was determined to make SURE he knew right away that she is the boss! It wasn't a very convincing act, though, I'm afraid, because her squeals often sounded more like nickers :-D And from the first Anatolian has been nothing but submissive, friendly, and sweet, never squealing or kicking back, so quickly Mira settled down and just spent all her time hanging out next to his pen. Anatolian was also an "only horse" at his last home, and you can just tell they are both so thrilled to have a buddy again! Tomorrow I don't have to go to work, so I will be able to put them together - I'll keep y'all updated over the weekend, as well as doing my best to catch up with everyone else's blogs.

Talk to you soon!


L
(who admits to being a little excited)

Photo

Tee hee, this is why the rest of the family calls Mira "bucket-head." :-D Peacefully eating her 4th meal of the day...

Well, it looks like I am going to have to choose between TWO cheap/free horses (good quality ones, too!) in the next couple days! Sheesh, poor me! I mean, what a difficult choice! I won't say anything more right now, but I am DEFINITELY looking forward to having a rideable horse again, not to mention a companion for Mira! I always feel so guilty watching her watch the neighbor horses. I actually spent all summer trying to arrange a feed lease for a pony, and the owners then decided to give it to the grandchildren, which is cool for them, but disapointing for me. I actually had 2 other situations like that this summer, so I was getting pretty discouraged! I'll keep y'all updated on how this turns out :-D


L

It never rains but it pours

Funny, things keep happening in threes lately! I hope to be able to tell you guys about it soon :-D

I've got the borrowed camera right now, so tomorrow I will try to clean Mira up and take some photos quick before she rolls again! (Anytime she finds mud, she rolls in it!) Also, I really have to put up some pictures of the kitten!

Anyway, here are a couple links I found interesting recently:
Big Family Survival (How true, how like life)

Wild Hooves (Cool!)

You know you're an MK when... (Totally hilarious! But don't worry if you don't get it)

FHOTD (Too much bad language, and serious topics. But quite informative.)


Good night for now. It's the weekend!


L

Vacation

Well, I had a mini vacation the last couple days, which I was sorely in need of, and now I am back and eager to start posting more often again! Life is good, although things have been extremely hectic lately. We have had lots of rain, (which I hope continues!) and I am already seeing some new grass coming up :-)

We have a new kitten - she showed up a couple weeks ago. When I can get a photo to post here, I will formally introduce her by name! She is VERY friendly and confident, and has definitely succeeded in her determination to make slaves of us...

Mira seems to really like rain and colder weather. Her coat is growing super fast, also. Even though it is much harder to keep clean (due to length), I love how shiny and brilliant her winter coat is.

Well, that's it for random news tonight. Over and out.


L

It wants to get you

This post is about a monster. The monster is lurking somewhere nearby, and it's waiting to get you. It will hypnotize you and suck the life from you, until you are a zombie and cannot think clearly...

Forewarned is forearmed! Beware of the monster, and click here to find out what it is!







(Yes, this is a very tongue-in-cheek post, but I honestly do hate how much human potential goes down the drain every day due to "the monster." I keep thinking about it today, so here are my thoughts...)


L

William Tell Overture "Mom Song!"

This is hysterically funny - and it is more understandable to the "non-horse savvy people" here, (N!) so enjoy!

Click to watch the "Mom Song." :-D


L

Dreaming about mares...

The last few days I did something I don't get to do often enough! I window-shopped on equine.com & dreamhorse.com for a while. I always love looking for horses, pretending I have a nice big fat budget. It is funny how the horses I really like almost always seem to have a 20, 30, or $40,000 price tag when I look at the details! :-D I was focussing especially on reining mares during this "binge of imagination," and found a list of quite a few good ones. (The palomino in the picture actually isn't for sale, but I liked her too.) Some of my favorite modern cutting/reining sires are Colonels Smoking Gun, Powder River Playboy, Like A Diamond, and I really liked the gelding by Reminic that I once had the privilege of riding!

If I could pick any mare to start with it would probably be a bay tobiano daughter of Colonels Smoking Gun that I really, really liked - I don't know where she is now, but I still remember her photo & ad. That is just to start with, of course!

My reason for buying her would be that not only did she look like a great producer (and had the pedigree to back it up) but I knew I would have fun riding her. And you know how some horses just fit your mental image in your head, and you go "aaahhhh," ? Well, she was that for me.


1. What about you? If you could pick any living mare, who would it be? Or if you know she's probably out there, but haven't actually seen her, what bloodlines etc. would she have?

2. What is ONE point of conformation that you always look for in a horse? For me it is the hocks and knees - I don't just want them to be level, I want them to be low! The level of the hocks has such a big influence on how well the horse can collect itself, yet in performance Paints & AQHA's that seems to be one of the most overlooked aspects.

3. What purpose(s) would you be buying this mare for, and why does she make you go "aaahhhh," ?


Please let me know your wishlists and feel free to post pictures/links of the ideal mare you would love to own! Have a little fun window-shopping!


L

That's Bologna! Or wait, it's Turkey!

Look what went on a picnic through our yard yesterday! Turkeys are quite common higher up in the mountains, but this is the first time I have ever seen them in my own neighborhood. There must have been 30 or 40 all told, and they were not shy at all. We were outside watching them and talking pretty loudly, and the group just kept pecking their way steadily along. I like wildlife, as long as they don't damage anything, so it was fun.

I have now seen foxes, bears, turkeys, raccoons, deer, 'possums, coyotes, herons, and various birds and "varmints" in my backyard. Now if I can just catch a glimpse of the cougar - safely, of course!
I will try to stick to regular photos of Mira for now. She seems to be quite grumpy whenever I try to train and have someone take photos, (plus I cannot focus on her totally when doing that) so for now I am not going to try. She is learning to hold her foot up for a second or two at a time, but this part is definitely slower going than simply picking her foot up briefly. Now she actually has to work! *gasp* Thus, it takes more attention from me.

It rained recently, so the grass is starting to sprout! Yay! This means it is time for me to do some more work on my projects now. Ciao for today... :-)



L