I have a horse! A mare!

Can you believe it? I cannot.

She's prettier than I remember. Of course, all Arabians are prettier when nervous. And there's a chance of applying for a DNA test to get her parenthood! Wonderful. If you're a breed enthusiast, you'd go crazy not knowing.

First when she arrived, the owner told me she had known a donkey in her past, so it should be no big deal. And it wasn't! I consider this a miracle because almost all horses have issues with donkeys, but she saw Bellis as just another unknown horse.

Bellis amazed me. She saw that the mare was insecure in this new place, so she stood still as a statue, a very long time, like 20 minutes. Bellis stood there ears pricked to her, sending out waves of emotion, "I am here for you." Exactly what I bought Bellis for, the horse-whispering donkey.

They grazed a bit in our little paddock behind the house. The owner was here observing with a friend, someone who rode the mare a lot and cares deeply about her - later when we went inside to do the paperwork, this lady just sat in our grass and took photos of the mare and gave her treats, and kept telling us, "Oh, she's doing fine, just great, she is such a good mare, she's so cuddly, you'll love her."

Up to this point I had never done anything at all with the mare except ride her. I'd never led her or anything. I'd picked up her feet. I wonder how they could evaluate me with only that, when the owner said I was exactly what she was looking for, a patient adult who understands Arabians.

I told the owner, as she marvelled at our field, that this is the last time the mare would have to be acclimated to pasture in her life. She'll live on pasture year round, so when Spring arrives, there is nothing different. (Of course we limit grazing because of our hay season, but our grazing strips are adequate in Summer.)

I could only allow the two equines a couple hours on our little paddock cuz the mare had not had grass since 2012. When Bellis came in to the stall area, the mare did not, our path up the hill is so narrow she was frightenend of it. Also, she wanted to be able to move around and there's not much room up there. So I waited 30 minutes, feeding Bellis, as the mare crept closer, but still didn't trust herself.

Finally  I just went and got a lead rope, clipped it on, and said, "Alright let's go." She hesitated a moment, and then went up with me.
Poor Bellis has to stay the night in a stall tonight, how awful for her! But I can see the mare needs that. She's actually trembling right now, but since it's not cold out, and she's not skinny, I'm not going to worry about it. Mac used to tremble on horse trailers, poor thing, and I don't think I can do anything about it, except to just give her time.

Bellis is being totally good, no braying, just hanging her head over the wall at her and eating her hay.

The first thing I want to establish with the mare is exactly what I did with Ezra, and it worked so well. I'm the leader here, and you'll get out of my way. I enter her area, raise my arm and walk right through her, so she has to back up. I won't do anything else with her until she's calmer in her new surroundings, but I will insist she get out of my way when I enter. I'd love to spoil her with carrots, but carrots don't comfort a horse, and I'm still a stranger to her. Bellis is the key, my obvious leadership here, and time.

She is a dream come true. It looks so odd, through my window, to see a chestnut, and not a grey horse.

I cannot get over it. It's almost wrong, but also right.

Those of you who looked at the calendar/clock and thought, "Lytha will get a horse soon" - you are the best.

I woke up like it was Christmas today, and lovingly prepared a stall. I kept seeing Baasha in my mind's eye. That is my mental conditioning, that any horse of mine is Baasha. So it was almost like his essence, his spirit, was here today and yesterday, out of the corner of my eye. A  horse for me, it must be him. I cannot explain it. I've dreamt of him so often lately.  I don't believe he would actually ever appear to me in this life again, it's just my mind and my entire past saying, "1-horse, +2-yours, =3-Baasha - keine andere antwort - nothing else."

If you've ever gone through 25 years with only one horse, and finally you get another, you'll certainly know what I mean.

My man just told me "I fed them some carrots while you were on the phone." I said, "Good, you be the carrot dispenser for now. I need to take on another role for the time being."

I think Ezra taught me something. I was afraid of what he'd do to me when he first arrived. So I learned to deflect him. And since that, he never gave me cause to worry.  He would come galloping full blast at me, but never plow me down. "I adore you, but you're in charge" he seemed to say.

Just now I walked to the window and was again surprised to see a red horse in the stall. I'm glad she's finally in there, before she was scared of it. (Baasha was too at first, cuz I think he knew we built it ourselves. :)) But it just seems so wrong to see a strange horse standing where he always stood.

It's his stall, his brushes, his blanket, his saddle. We built the fence, the barn, for him. I got her her own halter, that's it so far.

It will take a while before she fits here, in my consciousness. Before that happens, she will feel welcome here with all our efforts.

I thank God for this gift, a girl, so different, yet not without the presence Arabians have.
Here are two youtube vids, I cannot seem to embed them at fullsize for some reason. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYUF1rC-PXs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVXEHLVM2Q&feature=youtu.be

Yah, that's a Toyota RAV4 that pulled a trailer. Tami, can you believe it?