US Nationals, Moving to the New Farm, Buying Fence

Well since last we wrote - alot has been going on. I went to the US Nationals and shared a room with Liz Salmon. The show was fun in many ways and dissappointing in others. There were a few horses that were beautiful such as the beautiful polish/egyptian mare Emandoria, but here were many plain and some downright ugly horses. What's more there were a few good trainers and many mediocre trainers. I was quite impressed with Trace Moffet and Dan Bergren, but rather unimpressed with some of the others.

Gazal Al Shaqab really has been doing a great job in producing typey babies who can really trot to the moon. I must say I'm very impressed with that stallion. I got a bunch of new halters from an Australian manufacturer and they look really beautiful on Special. Faukners has a great sale on leather leads and they also had these really nice brass chains. I got a great Dale Evans bosal for Reilly too.

I have 2 people coming to look at Special for breeding next year and I'm excited but nervous. Can't wait to see what they think though...

I orders stalls and fence from RAMM and so we are making progress on getting the new farm ready! its going to be really great - I can't wait to have a party there!


Carol

Going at Mach II

Well its been a heck of few weeks since last I posted... I got my RFP out to the State of Oklahoma - quite an effort I must say. I really don't know how I manage getting these responses done - mostly by myself with some help from a few technical folks. But its done and we are not awaiting to see if they are going to move forward with our company.

Reilly is doing well at his job - making his way through the politics and lack of process at his company. I'm just glad he is happy and enjoying his job.

My parents are moving to SC - and its been quite an effort trying to get their house packed up... I can't wait to visit them and see what SC is like. They shipped me my grandmother's furniture and my other grandparents piano. I would love to refinish it and have a music room at the new farm.

Speaking of the new farm - all of that is proceeding along and we are supposed to close on November 15th - I can't wait to move in. But now we have to get the facility set up for our horses - I really have to get on this - need some decent fencing and a better barn! We are going to have a ton of work to do - the driveway being one of the biggest projects... Riding on it now is NOT fun! But it will be incredible once its done. I can't wait to have clinics and a full service equine repro, training and marketing facility.

I drove down to Houston this week and met with the Pitney Bowes folks there. I felt really bad - had a terrible headache but made it to Houston and had some GREAT meetings. Looks like they have some really good prospects for us with counties.

I left the office in Houston at 5 and headed to Magnolia to photograph for Sumerlan Egyptian Arabians. I didn't arrive until we had full shade and I was not optimistic about getting great photos due to the light and frankly - my own exhaustion. Amazinging - we did get some great photos and Susan was pleased - what a relief! Its the fastest photo shoot I have ever done, and we did 5 horses in 2 hours!!! Wow! In fact here is the note I got today from Susan:

"Carol:

I am so incredibly happy with this photoshoot! There are so many that I like and I've only looked once at everything! Head shots galore ... body shots galore ... we need to be relaxed like this and just go for it every time ... wasn't alot of work or time ... great results!"

I think I should put that on my "References Page". I would like everyone to be that happy all the time.

Here is a photo of Susan's newest edition - a filly by Farid Nile Moon:

In other photo news I got this great email from fellow photographer Lisa Brady who I hold in high esteem. I was thrilled to get this! Check it out!

From: Brady Farm
Date: October 10, 2007 4:58:29 PM CDT
To: Carol Maginn , Diana Cantey
Subject: Congratulations Carol!!!

Just got my September Arabian Horse Times (two big issues), and your photo of Mishaal is on the BACK COVER of the first section!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderful!!!!!!!! Looks GREAT!!!

Lisa

BRADY FARM - www.bradyfarm.com
Home of Genuine+/ (*Bask X *Gawra)
Pure Polish Arabian Stallion
BRADY PHOTOGRAPHY - www.lisabradyphotography.com
Specializing in Equine Photography

Sooooo - I finally have a photo on the COVER (back cover) of a magazine!!!! YAY!!!

Here is the actual photo that appears on the magazine!


The kitties are getting bigger now - I'll have to get some photos for everyone....

The week after next is a trip to Arizona for work, and then off to the US Nationals that weekend... I am very excited about that!!! Can't wait!

Carol

Great Photos Taken over at Terrasano!

Well this weekend was totally fun. Marilyn Lang came in from Sealy to help me get some photos of Russ and Chris's horses as well as my two stallions. She make a really great dinner for Reilly and I and we were up till 1am! Then the next morning we went off to Russ and Chris's to get photos and Video. She got some really GREAT photos of the Terrasano horses and I got some amazing photos of Bellisimo.

We also went on Friday to go see some horses for sale that I'm going to be photographing this week. A Ruminaja Ali daugher and a Padron Psyche daughter. There was also a PVA Kariim daughter.

I am so unbelievably proud of Bellisimo - I emailed the World to let them know that I want to take out a 2 page ad to advertise him and Special...

I have to say that I am just so proud of Marilyn. She didn't want to get a digital camera and now she is getting some really incredible photos. Here are a few samples of the photos that she took this weekend. There are many more but we have not had time to go through them all:
















And here are the Bellisimo Photos I love so much!

Halter Training, House Update, Stallions at Home...

Well it has been an interesting week. Last Friday I closed a $700K deal with the State of Texas - it was exciting to finally bring it it... Yea!!! Of course as soon as that deal was in - management wants to know when another one will come in. Well - I guess that is the life of a sales person. I would so like to just run a training and breeding facility...full tims - as my job... OR - I'd like for a Big Trainer to hire me as an assistant trainer.

After closing my deal on Friday - I drove to Sealy to help Marilyn get some photos of her fillies. I got there at 11pm and couldn't sleep till 2am. I was up at 6am and Marilyn and I got to sit down and have some coffee together - something I would like to do more often.

We had our photo shoot and got some great photos. Then we headed over to Michael Byatts farm. I really enjoy going there. All the horses are just so pretty. I fell in love with a bay Gazal Al Shaqab filly. I don't dare ask the price but I'd love to have her. Very cute filly. After seeing the horses and getting some fun farm photos - I got to take a halter lesson. It was sooooo fun. This gelding was so smart that he made me look good! That was fun. I was really tired after this and headed back to Marilyn's to download and review the photos. And then I headed back to Austin - totally exhausted. I did stop by Chili's to get Reilly his baby back ribs in hope of getting him to forgive me for being so darn late!

On Sunday we went farm shopping again and Russ found us a house on 57 acres with a stream and several ponds! We are thrilled and will close on 11/15. The house is newer so I think it will pass inspection easier. So I am imagining all the fun things we can do on the farm. There is also a huge metal building that we are going to convert into a covered arena or an indoor arena. This will be great for horse functions - rain or shine.

This was a very busy week again - I completed an RF{ response for the State of Oklahoma. I hope we win that bid! Today I went and got Special and brought him to our farm. He seemed to enjoy it alot. I enjoy him having some privacy. I had a person show up to see him today with no notice, and it was really not cool. Special was not brushed, clipped or washed, and he is not yet in good "show" condition. I had to send her away because I just feel that you never get a second chance to make a first impresson.

I clipped Mo and Special this evening - getting ready for the big Photo Shoots on Saturday... Its nice having them both home.

Carol

If It is Meant to be it will be - into Gods hands goes my Life

Well - alot has happened since last I wrote... The dream farm ended up having a foundation issue with the house. The seller wouldn't pay initially for fix, and as we had time to consider further we decided this house was too large and the horse facilities were inadequate. So although it was an incredibly beautiful piece of land - we need less house (with a better foundation), and more barn (or A barn at all). So we are going out again on Sunday to find a place - again.

I had decided to put all this in Gods hands as to decide what we should do so that I wouldn't have to be concerned about it. It seems that is helpful.

I've had lots of people inquireing about breeding to Special which is very encouraging and I think I'm going to put an Ad in the Pyramid Stallion Guide.

Pitney sent me to Wisconsin last week. I had hoped to visit with Heidi and Kent, but I was sent home early because the Trade Show was a bust and I really needed to get back to Texas to close a $700K deal with the State. Hopefully the deal will close tomorrow. I'm so tired from flying, stressing and reviewing spreadsheets.

This is a busy month - they are flying Reilly and I to corporate HQ in Conneticuit so I can receive the PB1 award - given to a team of cross divisional members for bringing in a large deal. Last Q4 we brought in a deal for $30 Million in the State of Texas and so we receive an award for this and some stock. So it will be a nice way for Reilly and I to spend our 10 year Anniversary of marriage. PB is treating us to dinner, a lunch cruise around NY Harbor and a show in the Theatre District.

I am going to go visit with Special tomorrow and then head over to Marilyn Lang's for a photo shoot. We are going to hang out and visit with good friends in New Ulm and then I will take some more photos on Saturday morning and then head back to Austin...

Then next weekend I think I'm going to head up to Matt Bergrens for more photos, and then I just have a few more shoots to catch up on before the US Nationals...

Wedding, Babies and a New Farm!

Well it has just been a very busy time lately.... Last weekend I was at Michael Byatt Arabians photographing David and Amanda wedding. It was extremely beautiful and a total blast. They are just such wonderful people. I felt like I knew them all my life. Judy Guess was my guest and actually helped me photograph the wedding. I had a problem with my flash and borrowed Judy's camera. Thank God she saved the day (or night as it would be!). I just love Judy Guess. She is a really stellar person. In order to prevent disaster from strking again - I bought a Canon D30 as a backup... Also went to Precision and had my camera recalibrated. My feet are feeling better so I should be good to go. I need to take care of a number of photo shoots that are backed up. There was one casualty at the wedding and that was that my cell phone slipped down an air vent in my car - lost forever... So since the iPhone came down $200 I went ahead and bought one and I just LOVE it!!! Its so fun!

My lunging halter, surcingle and english saddle pad arrived from Schneiders and Dover. Tomorrow I'm going to use them on Special for the first time! I can't wait to ride him! Marilyn Lang came down and we went over to see Special... She was here when we found out the big news that Nikki is in foal to Special!!! What an awesome baby this should be!!! So we will have 2 babies next year!!! Both will be Ali bred! Maaria was not PG - and today was day 15 and Dr. Garza checked her. I'm sending her up to Kehilan so she has fresh semen from Makhnificent.

Bella was not pg, and so we are going to just breeder her next year. I'm wondering who I'm going to use the *Shahir EBC on....??? And I'd like to breed Brenna to Solstice - we shall see.

The big news today is that we put a contract on a new farm... Its 30 acres and just beautiful... So Assuming that things go well with our financing - we are going to be moving to Bastrop!!! I'm so excited - this has been a dream for many years!!! I can't wait for the first "Open House". Here is a link to the "Virtual Home Tour" http://www.tourfactory.com/373447

The pastures are just incredible at this place and in fact the lady who lives there now - actually bales hay off her land...

So our closing date is 10/19 - right before US Nationals!! I LOVE Reilly for going for this dream of mine!!

Good night!

Me

Kitty Photos and More!

Here are some photos of momma cat and her babies... Sooooo cute...

We looked at another property today -was really nice. Going to go see another tomorrow. I spoke with Steve Diamond today and he was telling me about a mare that Rita McNair has that would cross well with Special. I'll have to check that mare out!

Reilly and I went to Kohls and got some new bed sheets, comforters and a bedding set - and towels!!! What fun!

Going to go finish cleaning stalls and go grocery shopping.

Kitties!

Well - Reilly said that cat wanted to come and and I TOLD him she was pregnant. I I did take her in and she has had 4 of the cutest kittens in the closet ever. I hope he isn't too mad once I tell him, but at least now they will not be feral kitties and I will get that cat fixed. So now I just need to find some homes for the adorable little sweeties.

I'll get some photos later but it seems that there are 4 black and 2 grey kitties and they are completely solid in color - either all black or all grey. They are so tiny right now they can't even open their eyes. They are sort of flopping around in the closet. It makes me really happy they got to be born in a nice comfy closet and not a dirty tack room - where someone might get them. Now I can take care of them and make sure they are safe!!!

Want a Kitten???? :-)

In other news I had some really great converstations with people yesterday. I got a nice congratulations note from Karen Henwood who was commenting on how much she likes a particular horse in Special's pedigree. Here is an excerpt of what she said with the personal stuff taken out:

FROM KAREN HENWOOD

Carol,

Yes, I am really happy for you. I don't know the horse personally but did see photos of his Mom years ago.
*Ibn Hafiz is in her pedigree and my first s.e. mare was Bint Ibn Hafiza. So that blood means a lot to me. I respect it very much. My Bint Farid is the only dtr. that Bint Ibn Hafiza had. Fortunately, by Anaza El Farid. I am looking forward to seeing photos of your boy asap.

Falling in love with and having a stallion that you own is a very special thing. They can teach us so much. "

Karen is so right - I'm learning alot about the communication between a horse and a human. Stallions do communicate more it seems.

My work life was challenging yesterday but I got everything accomplished so that was good. I'll write more in my "personal" blog later today.

I brought all the girls home from the clinic and they were so happy to be home. Maaria looks amazing trotting around that pasture - Mohammad will be so thrilled when she arrives in Saudi Arabia -she is unique and exotic and the best trotting SE I've seen in many years. Its hard to sell your very best horses, but on the other hand it helps in building the future of the breed and of our new farm whenever we find a place!!!

On the "finding a place" front - we are just going to take our time with this. ITs a good time to buy, but a bad time to sell right now. So I think we will just keep looking. And also evaluate how Reilly job goes. But I sure am not going to move to Houston and then have Reilly's job not work out. So I'm just going to try and get closer to Houston eventually.

I bought all this new tack from Schneiders for Special and it should arrive in a few days. I got him a nice Victor leather surcingle, a lunging caveson, long lines, and so on. I just can't wait for them to arrive!!!

More later!

Carol

Good News!

Well today was exciting - Dr. Fling called and told me that Nikki Ovulated on Tuesday after being bred on Monday - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! That should be a really nice foal! I've put both Nikki's photo and Special's photo up so you can see them side by side.












I'm very excited about all the positive inquiries and feedback on Special. Even Robert Cass called today to congratulate me and let me know what a nice horse Special is. I considered that high praise as I know that Robert is not one to blow smoke if you know what I mean! I also hear more from Arlene about Special. Here is what she said:

FROM ARLENE MAGID:

Carol-

I very much like the look of your new boy, and I love his color-roan is so distinctive and typical of his lines. You've done well to acquire him and the headshot of the filly is splendid.

Arlene

This is just so exciting!

Bella was also bred to Special today - she has two large follicles so hopefully one of them will take. We just have to be careful that we don't get both of them!

Maaria had a 44 follicle today and so Kehilan shipped more semen to us - so we are praying for ovulation for Mohammad.... I do hope she is bred soon. This is a difficult time of the year, but we are working hard to get the job done!

I added the "Clip Clop" blog from Robin in Michican to this Blog so she could share her experiences with training. Hope you all enjoy that too!

Carol

Tuesday Update

Bella, Nikki and Maaria are at the Vet Clinic. Maaria was bred to Makhnificent yesterday and she had a 37 follicle. We actually flew the semen in and it was at 65% progressive motility. Today she didn't ovulate and was bred with the 2nd dose from Makhnifient KA. Dr. Fling will call me tomorrow at 9am and let me know if Maaria has indeed ovulated or not and if not we may have to order semen again.

Dr. Fling will check in and sonogram Bella and Nikki tomorrow and see if they have ovulated. If they have we are finished. If they have not - we will collect Special again and re-breed them.

Special is doing great at the clinic - so that is good.

I spoke with Heidi P. today and she sent me this photo of Special's lovely filly out of a Safeen daughter. I also heard from Steve Diamond and Arlene Magid about Special's pedigree and here is what they said below:

FROM STEVE DIAMOND

Dear Carol,

I glanced at his pedigree for you. He is a Saqlawi Jidran tracing to El Samraa of Omar Abd El Hafiz in 1924. She in turn is out of Bint el Sheikh. So he is a Saqlawi from the Bint El Sheikh line. In fact MAHRDEE GRAS's Sire MAHRDAN is also from the Bint El Sheikh Line through *Lebleba (Gassir X Sameera {Inshas}) also. Making her pure in the Strain (for Practical measure) Hindia the Dam to *Bint Hindia is also a full sister to *Sammara (The Dam to 1970 US National Champion Futurity Colt Al Mettrabi ++(By *Morafic) and Canadian Breeders Reserve National Champion El Hadiyi (By *Ansata Ibn Halima). Aspecial Ali's Dam line is the same family as Sameh. There is a chapter on the Bint El Sheikh line for more research in Judi's "Gold" Book" as I call it or Authentic Arabian II.

*Bint Hindia's sire ASHOUR is an Anter son out of the Nazeer daughter Ayda. Ayda is a full sister to SF Ibn Nazeer (A National Champion Dancing Horse of Egypt) and the sire of US Top Ten Mare Imperial Tiamo. SF Ibn Nazeer was owned by Hansi Heck Melynek. She was also a full sister to Lamiaa who was imported by Gleannloch Farms in 1970 but unfortunately did not produce and dies in 1973.

Another interest of note is that Sameera is by Mahfouz by Ezzat and out of Mahfouza. Mahfouza is also the dam of Hafiza (Dam of *Ibn Hafiza) and of Maysa (Dam of *Magidaa) thus Making Aspecial Ali go four times to this Abbayan Mare.

I hope this helps some!

Steve


FROM ARLENE MAGID

Ah dear lady, but YOU have horses I lust after . Have been to your website before.

You will find there is a lot of good on your new boy's dam side. Sad that the horses therein were not heavily publicised. I am a huge Imdal fan and the combination of his strengths with those of Ali are pretty amazing to contemplate. Could you send me a photo of your stallion please? Am very curious to see what he is like. I did a writeup on Mahrdan for his then owner back in the 1980s,believe it or not!

This is going to be a very fun project for me.

Arlene

I'm working on breeding incentives for "approved mares" who are known to produce. I may offer to pay for half of the Special baby futurity nomination as well as a early booking discount. So this is all fun. Summer sent me some new breeding contracts to day to use..

On a personal note I did have my heels injected today with cortizone and am hoping to recover from my plantar facia issue in 8 weeks which is the earliest I can recover. I'm going for physical therapy on Friday.

This is August 26th news..

Today was Sunday and there was not a whole lot of news because I had to do other work today. But Dr. Fling did call to tell me that Maaria's follicle was very soft and he expected ovulation soon and that he gave her an hcg shot the day before the semen arrived.... So that was a good sign.

Bella was still holding with her follicle so thank goodness for Special having that semen that lasts so long. Nikki was not yet bred since she is not ready - but should be soon.

Other than that I've been scoping out larger farms so we can expand our facility - with the help of Russ Taylor. We are thinking we may just move half way between Austin and Houston (but closer to Austin) - perhaps Bastrop will be the place for us.

Tomorrow will be a long day - I have an 8am meeting with Deloitte, then a 9am meeting, and lots of work to do for my trip to Missouri next week. I should also have some more news about the farm the Reilly and I saw and liked...

And I'm going to call the doctor and get a second opinion as to how to remove my bone spurs so my feet don't hurt so much... Its really starting to get a bit old limping around like I'm 80!


On the photography front - Arabians LTD put a multi page ad in the Arabian Horse World Magazine and I had the first page which featured a really stunning photo of Mishaal so that was very very exciting. Also Leslie Nord took out a 2 page ad also in this month's World and the large photo (full page) is mine. AND I had some very very exciting news that I now have the honor of being one of the "contributors" in the Arabian Magazine.

I thought it might be appropriate to thank God for his blessings and say a prayer - so here goes:

Dear God - thank you for getting us through the bad things over the past few years, and bringing us some wonderful times. Forgive me for all the things I need to be better at. I will work on my shortcommings... sorry for the really silly things I focus on that I know are not that important in the big scheme of life.

And please pray for my family - in particular my parents as they make a big life transition. Thank you for giving me such great parents and friends. Please help all of the people out there who need your guidance, support and love.

Thanks again - and Amen.

Carol

Making Special Babies!!!

Well today was an exciting day! I was up really early and headed over to the clinic to check on my girl's and My Maaria who now belongs to my friend Mohammad who lives in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. I had to look in on Bella as she had a bad reaction to a banamine injection and we were planning on inseminating her today with semen from Special. Dr. Fling gave Bella penicillin and DMSO, and it dramatically reduced the swelling of the injection site and she seemed about normal. So with that we agreed to go ahead with the insemination....

So I drove to go get Special over at Terrasano - a beautiful farm in Driftwood. I went into his stall and gave him his peppermints and told him we were going to go make special babies. He looked excited about this. Again - I think he speaks english! So I brushed him all up and sprayed him. And I got to brush out his beautiful black mane which I had just washed and conditioned last night - so it was nice and shiny and soft today.

He loaded right up into the trailer in 2 seconds flat and appeared to be smiling! No kidding - the horse knew something good was going to happen. Off we drove around the corner to Dr. Garza's. When we were ready we led Special up to Bella for some good old fashioned teasing - and Special was not excited!!! Poor Bella. I guess she was not his type! Or maybe it was that she kept pinning her ears back at him - and it was a "buzz kill".

So... we figured - we have another mare in heat - Maaria who was there to be bred to Makhnificent KA for her new owner - Mohammad. Special didn't get turned on to Maaria either! I'll tell you - we were really surprised that we had two mare's both in raging heat - and they couldn't tease him. Maaria kept spinning around instead of focusing on Special, and he liked to really deal with a mare who will touch him and make him feel "special".

So... Dr. Garza brought out Bonnie - and old Thoroughbred mare who was not even in heat, but who was safe and "easy". And who focused on special. Bonnie apparently new all the right moves and made things very easy for Special. In a few minutes - Special was excited enough to turn around and jump on the dummy and gave us a good collection of highly concentrated semen. Even with 25ml we had enough for 5 doses! It was only 25ml because it took a few times to get a hold of special's you know what and get it into the AV. But once in - he was good to go and a happy camper! Of course the vets were also relieved too. :-)

We got Bella inseminated and I walked her for a while so she wouldn't push anything out. So that was all good.

Then the Fedex man arrived with an equitainer for Maaria and we inseminated her as well - did some walking and she was all done as well. Maaria had a 44 follicle and was very hot and ready to go. So keep your fingers crossed for her!

I took Special home and he was very happy and content - and we all felt like we had a good day and are hoping for a Special baby and a Makhnifient baby for Maaria...

Can't wait to find out if either mare took!!! More soon!

Attached are photos of My Maaria, Bella and Special...

Carol

Kathy S. Comes to Visit!

Kathy Starutska came over to visit today and we lounged Special and let him into the large arena for the first time. Had a great time. We also gave Special a really good bath today!! All these photos were taken by Kathy! Didn't she do a GREAT job??? I would recommend her highly if you need a photo shoot of your horses!!!

Carol

Day Three - God I love this horse

Boy did we have fun today. Special is really starting to move on out and drive from behind. I can see him blooming and I tried to get a shot of him in the round pen (attached). We started off today walking down the center aisle - a big deal since there was a mare in the wash rack. We got that accomplished and then did about 15 minutes of exercise in the round pen. Then we went for a long walk all around the property. Special got to see lots of deer, horses and exciting bugs (this is Texas after all). Then we had another nice bath, got a nice braid done, and went to bed. I'm keeing this short tonight since Reilly is getting ready to come home with dinner... But here are some photos from today. The ones with me in them were taken by Chris...

Carol

Day 2 - Great accomplishments!

Today I was so impressed with Special. I have not been able to do enough with Bellisimo because of time today. I was up till 2am last night with Bella who coliced. Thank the lord for banamine and for giving me the nerve to give my horses shots. It really is a miracle drug. I make sure all the horses got their electrolytes and that all the water was clean and full. I had to get 4 new tires today, get the vehicles registered and have a meeting with EDS... So it was really busy.. I even looked at a 30 acre piece of land - but I am not sure its right for us.

So back to Special - I finally got out to the barn at 9pm and wouldn't you know we got a rain shower! But it did help cool things off a bit. I gave Special and oatmeal cookie which he was not to hot on! He just didn't know what it was. I have got to get him those peppermints that Summer mentioned.

So today instead of putting the chain over his nose - I just put it below. Marilyn Lang told me I could hurt the delicate skin on his nose so I will never do that again! And Chris told me he has seen horses get a scar because of that chain over the nose. I'm so grateful that people will tell me when I do something dumb. Its really helpful to get people to review what I did and look for mistakes or ways to improve....

I took Special to the round pen and again he trotted around like a champ. He was not paying attention to trotting enough for a little while - he just wanted to sniff the dirt in the round pen. He was trotting around and sniffing the dirt at the same time so he looked like he was doing a dressage neck stretch! Well then he tripped and it woke him up a little. It seemed like that made him realize he had better pay attention or he was going to trip. I only exercised him for about 15 or 20 minutes and he worked up a pretty good sweat. I can't imagine working a horse during the daytime. And I don't think the humidity was helping.

Tonight's exciting accomplishment was - a bath for Special. I was a bit nervous once again - just because he is new and I don't know what to expect of him. I never trust any new horse even if someone tells me the horse is bomb proof. I once had someone tell me a stallion was really sweet - and he then charged at me when I tried to lunge him. So now I don't listend to anyone - I treat all horses as if they don't know anything - and so I then figure out what they really know. As it turns out - Summer clearly did a good job with Special in his bath skills. He loved getting sprayed with the water sprayer - just loved it. In particular - he loved getting his forehead sprayed - which I hardly have a single horse who will tolerate that much less enjoy it. He is a very appreciative horse who loves attention and having you do anything for him. Even the smallest little thing seems to make him happy.

I had to get him to move away from me, and I pushed him with my hand on his side - and he woudn't move away. In fact he leaned in to my hand. I finally had to turn his head toward me and then continue to apply pressure where your stirrup would be and as soon as he moved away I told him how smart he was and then praised him profusely. That seems to work well with him - he will do anything to make me happy it seems. Making me happy - seems to make him proud. He reminds me alot of my husband Reilly.

So after his bath we used the scraper on him and I kissed him and hugged him and told him I loved him alot. He seems to trust me and sort of depend on me a little when he is unsure of something. He kind of looks at me to see if its okay do do whatever it is he is supposed to do. And if I give him a look of confidence and support him mentally - then he will follow through. Its seems we can communicate without words. There are some words which clearly Summer must have taught him. He knows his name very well and likes to hear it alot. He also understands "trot" and "Whoa". I was very impressed with that.

Tomorrow I am going to bring Special his mints, give him a bath and braid up his mane. He has hair like my girlfriend from Iran - thick, black, shiny and long. And it looks like he is pretty hot with all that mane. I am also thinking of clipping his bridle path tomorrow.

Special has the most beautiful feet. They are very large and white and so well balanced. They look very big - kind of like the way a puppy has huge looking feet when they are small. I think that once we get some more weight on Special - he will "grow into" his feet. I purchased some Amplify which is supposed to help with weight gain. Mary Ellen Chavez mentioned that she gives Donatello this and it helps a lot.

I think we will also go walking tomorrow. I'll be sure to get my heel cushions for my bond spurs! But it would be nice to take him to see some new things on the property.

I don't know what I'd do without the help of Russ and Chris. Russ was great at getting Special off the trailer and Chris has helped me every night with Special. I feel a little guilty that he is doing so much - but am also very grateful.

I have a secret dream - which isn't that secret. If I could do anything for a living - I'd open a training facility. I'd love to do what I'm doing with Special for other people's horses and get them in top show condition. I'd also like to work with their mental state to make them perform well both in hand and under saddle. And I could offer photography, and marketing services as well. This would really be a dream come true. Somehow working with Special reminds me of some of the dreams I've put aside for my "real job" that pays the bills - but that I really don't like.

I can't wait to see what the future holds...

Our First Day of Training - Special and Carol

Things are really GREAT.... The best thing I have done was to buy that horse - I love him to pieces. Thank God - I didn't chicken out and worry to much about owning a stallion or making Reilly mad. Reilly seems very interested in Special asking me every day how he is doing (Reilly works in Houston all week which is why he has not seen Special yet_). Anyway - Special and I had a great day today and in fact I'm celebrating as I type this with a St. Pauli girl since we seem to be out of cold diet cokes!

Last night I took Special over to my friend's Russ and Chris. They own a farm called Terrasano arabians. Russ is a real estate agent who used to be a horse trainer and in fact he has even seen Ruminaja Ali! I forgot the name of the farm he worked at where he saw Ali... But that was years ago.

So anyway - I bought a bunch of stuff of Special today - a new halter, lead line, stallion chain, long cotton lounge line, fresh bottle of fly spray, a lunge whip, electrolytes and some stuff called Amplify to help him gain some weight.

I got to the barn and went into his stall and I was a little afraid of him since he is a stallion. Each time I tried to go near him he would walk away from me. So finally I just decided I was not going to chase him around and if he wanted to get out of that stall he would have to come get me. I turned my back to him (a little - but still watching him out of the corner of my eye) and eventually he followed me around the stall. So then I gave him a full body scratch and then he seemed to trust me enough to hang with me. So then I put the lead line around his neck and then got his new halter on him. The size medium was too big - so I had to make it smaller. The nose band part is still to big. I guess they made it for a quarter horse.

So I put his chain (new brass chain) around the halter nose band and I took him out. He kind of wanted to really go - as if he had alot of pent up energy. So I told him "NO!!! " really loudly and I jerked on the chain a little - just enough so he would know I was not going to be pushed around just because I was a women. I didn't want to hurt him, but he just needed to know that he was not going to drag me around. So he figured that out really fast and I didn't have to do that again. The next time he was rushing me or pulling me I just told him "NO!" again and said "WALK!" and he slowed down. And then to further instill that we were going to go at my speed - I made him make a circle if he went too fast. I just was not going to let him rush forward. And so he learned VERY quickly. I was soooooo proud. He is almost human - it seems he knows exactly what I am trying to say to him.

When I went to pick him up yesterday at the vet's in Houston - he saw me through his window and I said "Special - I am here to get you! I'm you're person and I'm going to take you home" - that he let out a big Whinnie! It was as if he knew what I said. I thought maybe it was just luck that he whinnied at the right moment - so I told him again "I'm going to take you to your new home and I'm here just for you" and again he let out a big "Whinnie". So I really think he must understand me somehow. Its pretty wierd.

He jumped in the trailer in two seconds and was great all the way home! It was amazing.

Anyway - so back to today - so I walked him into his round pen - this was about at 8pm and the round pen is lighted at night. It was really nice because it was cooler out than in the daytime here. Its terribly hot here now.

So I took his lead line off and let him free lounge (is it lunge or lounge?). Anyway - he went trotting around like gangbusters - even cantered, bucked, reared up, and made some acrobatic moves in the air a few times. It was really funny. His tail stands straight up the whole time - its really amazing! And he has a really nice trot - very upright - like and english horse. That was very surprising. I went to go see what kind of shoes he had on - only to see that he was barefoot. He has really large feet which I like by the way. After about 10 minutes he was pretty tired and then just trotted a little. This round pen is about 15" tall and it has full boards to the ground. I love this facility for a stallion.

So after the round pen exercising I just had Special hang out for a little while and eat grass. And then we went back to the barn. I curry combed him for quite a while and a ton of hair came out - and dirt. Then I fly sprayed him - and he seems extremely happy.

When I went to go lead him down the aisle, there was a mare that I didn't even notice since she was in her stall and there is a mesh wall above the concrete wall. But Special must have X-Ray eyes because he immediately saw the mare and was "ready" to breed. I hand to shank him a little and say "NO!" again because he was kind of prancing and fully ready to breed. I was really surprised at how fast he can get excited! he is like 0 - 80 in 2 seconds flat! Speaking of which - his semen was still 40% at 72 hours!

My friend Chris said that when he got home from work today - that Special was sprawled out in the stall - sleeping! But when Chris came to the stall he got up. It appears he loves his wood shavings and sometimes sleeps during the day. He likes to just sack out sometimes.

So I was getting ready to leave the barn and I could tell that Special wanted me to stay a little longer. He whinnied at me again as if to day "don't go! You are not leaving me are you?" I told him that I'd be back tomorrow and earlier so we could hang out and play some more. So he looked satisfied with that and then went to go eat his hay. I said good night and he was good to go to bed.

So it was a great day since I got to see Special trot so well. He got some good exercise in that round pen. He learned that he could trust me - that I would take good care of him, but that he couldn't stomp on me either. So - it seems to be a good relationship between the two of us so far - it feels like he is my buddy and he seems genuinely interested in learning new things.

He is a great horse - not just on the outside - but on the inside too - he is like an old soul and I think he has a great future to look forward to... I feel extremely blessed to say the least.

First Day of Arabian Horse Training

Well - I just purchased a 9 year old Ruminaja Ali son named Aspecial Ali. He is just gorgeous and in fact I've never seen such a beautiful dry and typey face before. He is a very flashy bay stallion with 4 white socks and huge poppy eyes. He has just moved to his beautiful new surroundings and I have been considing what kind of a job to give him to do - other than simply breeding mares. Tomorrow we are going to get to know each other and just hang out and "discuss" what he would like to do.

I also own a 2 year old Marquis I son. It seems that he would also benefit from getting his mind on training. I'm very impressed with this colt's movement and feel he should make a nice dressage horse. Of course we shall see what he ends up doing best after a few lessons. We will also work on perfecting the halter standup with both stallions.

The purpose of this blog is to share all the fun and excitement an amateur owner can have training her own horses. The first two horses we will begin with will be stallions, and then we will move on to include my yearling filly as well.

Tomorrow I will get started and take some photos of how the day went...

Good night!