Because of Love

Had to share this story with you this Christmas Season. It is a wonderful story! Hope you enjoy and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Because of Love
A brother and sister had made their usual hurried, obligatory pre-Christmas visit to the little farm where dwelt their elderly parents with their small herd of horses. The farm was where they had grown up and had been named Lone Pine Farm because of the huge pine, which topped the hill behind the farm. Through the years the tree had become a talisman to the old man and his wife, and a landmark in the countryside. The young siblings had fond memories of their childhood here, but the city hustle and bustle added more excitement to their lives, and called them away to a different life.
The old folks no longer showed their horses, for the years had taken their toll, and getting out to the barn on those frosty mornings was getting harder, but it gave them a reason to get up in the mornings and a reason to live. They sold a few foals each year, and the horses were their reason for joy in the morning and contentment at day's end.
Angry, as they prepared to leave, the young couple confronted the old folks "Why do you not at least dispose of 'The Old One'. She is no longer of use to you. It's been years since you've had foals from her. You should cut corners and save so you can have more for yourselves. How can this old worn out horse bring you anything but expense and work? Why do you keep her anyway?"
The old man looked down at his worn boots, holes in the toes, scuffed at the barn floor and replied, " Yes, I could use a pair of new boots".
His arm slid defensively about the Old One's neck as he drew her near with gentle caressing he rubbed her softly behind her ears. He replied softly, "We keep her because of love. Nothing else, just love."
Baffled and irritated, the young folks wished the old man and his wife a Merry Christmas and headed back toward the city as darkness stole through the valley.
The old couple shook their heads in sorrow that it had not been a happy visit. A tear fell upon their cheeks. How is it that these young folks do not understand the peace of the love that filled their hearts?
So it was, that because of the unhappy leave-taking, no one noticed the insulation smoldering on the frayed wires in the old barn. None saw the first spark fall. None but the "Old One".
In a matter of minutes, the whole barn was ablaze and the hungry flames were licking at the loft full of hay. With a cry of horror and despair, the old man shouted to his wife to call for help as he raced to the barn to save their beloved horses. But the flames were roaring now, and the blazing heat drove him back. He sank sobbing to the ground, helpless before the fire's fury. His wife back from calling for help cradled him in her arms, clinging to each other, they wept at their loss.
By the time the fire department arrived, only smoking, glowing ruins were left, and the old man and his wife, exhausted from their grief, huddled together before the barn. They were speechless as they rose from the cold snow covered ground. They nodded thanks to the firemen as there was nothing anyone could do now. The old man turned to his wife, resting her white head upon his shoulders as his shaking old hands clumsily dried her tears with a frayed red bandana. Brokenly he whispered, "We have lost much, but God has spared our home on this eve of Christmas. Let us gather strength and climb the hill to the old pine where we have sought comfort in times of despair. We will look down upon our home and give thanks to God that it has been spared and pray for our beloved most precious gifts that have been taken from us.
And so, he took her by the hand and slowly helped her up the snowy hill as he brushed aside his own tears with the back of his old and withered hand.
The journey up the hill was hard for their old bodies in the steep snow. As they stepped over the little knoll at the crest of the hill, they paused to rest, looking up to the top of the hill the old couple gasped and fell to their knees in amazement at the incredible beauty before them.
Seemingly, every glorious, brilliant star in the heavens was caught up in the glittering, snow-frosted branches of their beloved pine, and it was aglow with heavenly candles. And poised on its top most bough, a crystal crescent moon glistened like spun glass. Never had a mere mortal created a Christmas tree such as this. They were breathless as the old man held his wife tighter in his arms.
Suddenly, the old man gave a cry of wonder and incredible joy. Amazed and mystified, he took his wife by the hand and pulled her forward. There, beneath the tree, in resplendent glory, a mist hovering over and glowing in the darkness was their Christmas gift. Shadows glistening in the night light.
Bedded down about the "Old one" close to the trunk of the tree, was the entire herd, safe.
At the first hint of smoke, she had pushed the door ajar with her muzzle and had led the horses through it. Slowly and with great dignity, never looking back, she had led them up the hill, stepping cautiously through the snow. The foals were frightened and dashed about. The skittish yearlings looked back at the crackling, hungry flames, and tucked their tails under them as they licked their lips and hopped like rabbits. The mares that were in foal with a new years crop of babies, pressed uneasily against the "Old One" as she moved calmly up the hill and to safety beneath the pine. And now she lay among them and gazed at the faces of the old man and his wife.
Those she loved she had not disappointed. Her body was brittle with years, tired from the climb, but the golden eyes were filled with devotion as she offered her gift--
Because of love. Only Because of love.
Tears flowed as the old couple shouted their praise and joy... And again the peace of love filled their hearts.
This is a true story.
Willy Eagle

ES Stardancer...All These Legs!

Once he got out, he found out he had all these legs to content with. Don't you just love the tail thing!

ES Stardancer Coming Out Party

Well, we just had to share this with you.

With a little help from my neighbor, Dancer, finally took the plunge to the outside world.

New arrive on the Farm....ES Stardancer

Well, Dani Bilal did it again for us.

This time a beautiful Chestnut Colt. He is really a keeper, we plan on keeping him as a replacement for his Grandfather El Rameekh Amir and his sire El Shubann. He is Royally bred...with a unique outcross pedigree. Bringing in the rare bloodlines of *Misk and *Farazdac.

Here he is at 11 days old. First time out of the barn.

Not sure what he thinks about this.....

Blast from the Past

A Blast from the Past

Since I have not blogged in a few months, I decided I needed to get back into it. I think sharing with others is important in this day and age. I received an email from another Arabian Horse breeder that started with

"A Blast from the Past", which triggered memories of why I got into breeding Arabian Horses. So I decided to go through

old magazines that I still have on

Arabian horses and share some of the interesting stories of the past with you.

So lets start with the real history of the Arabian Horse and where they originally came from. This except was taken from the Arabian Horse Express, May 1982, but felt it was worth sharing with you Arabian Horse Lovers.

The Arabian Horse: An Introduction (by Beckie Brenn)

Arabian. The word alone conjures up romantic images. Clusters of tents under a merciless sun. A camel caravan winding slowly across brill ant white sand dunes. Sun browned, bearded sheiks and veiled, dark-eyed women.

Oil wells pumping up black gold.

And horses. Arabian horses, with flaring nostrils and flashing eyes. They pound over the desert, graceful necks arched, long manes and gaily-held tails streaming in a wind of their own creation. They appear to fly without sings, slender legs carrying their weight effortlessly, dancing hooves skimming over the earth

without seeming to touch it.

Surely the writer had the Arabian horse in mind when he penned these verses:

"Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?...The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword....He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage....He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha...." (Job 39:19-25).

The Arabian Horse, ancestor of all light horse breeds, is the most ancient of today's modern breeds. There is evidence that the Near East contained horses of Arabian type as early as the 17th and 16th centuries B.C. Arabians were the war horses of all the nations and city-states in that area. Early Egyptian art pictures horses with the same familiar, distinctly Arabian tail carriage and head style as

found in Arabian horses today.

Horses were apparently not considered necessary by the ancient desert Arabs until they began getting caught by warring Assyrian horsemen. These cavalry units were unable to catch the camels ridden by the Arabs in a long-distance run, but they could catch up fast in a close race; which they did with monotonous regularity and disastrous consequences to the hapless camel-rider. The horses were quicker, more maneuverable, and more effective in hand-to-hand fighting. Consequently, the Bedouins soon became skilled horsemen themselves.

With the advent of heavy armor in Europe and the de-emphasis on quickness and agility, the Arabian horse was gradually replaced by the ponderous, heavy boned draft-type horses. Little was required of the horses except the ability to carry several hundred pounds of rider and armor and to run in relatively straight line at the enemy, in order for the rider to pierce said enemy with his long lance.

It was really no wonder that the Godolphin Arabian, a small bay stallion, was a laughingstock when he was first received in the royal court of Britain. It was not until much later that he was given the recognition due him as a sire of great influence.

In the desert, a male horse was rarely gelded, which resulted in the practice of only mares being used on raids, since silence was mandatory and stallions had a habit of being noisy and too easily distracted. The importance of mares gave rise for the matriarchal system of record-keeping in the Arabian breed. The strain name is passed on only by the tail-female line, from dam to daughter.

At first, there were no written pedigrees; instead, the record of ancestry was kept by memory alone. Today, however, there is a detailed stud book and voluminous literature on the subject. Anyone, who has studied Arabian pedigrees will affirm that the system is quite complicated, including strains, sub-strains, and family names.

Fortunately, the ability to understand and recite pedigrees is not a requisite to appreciating Arabian horses. The Arabian can be appreciated by all horsemen, regardless of which breed they may fancy, for its ancestral influence.

Each of today's light horse has borrowed characteristics from its Arabian forefathers, developing these characteristics to a degree where they have, in many cases, become specialized trademarks of that breed.

For example, the Thoroughbred traces its endurance and heart to the three foundation sires of that breed, the Godolphin Arabian, the Darley Arabian, and the Byerly Turk. Through its foundation sire, Janus, the Quarter Horse inherits its quickness and agility from the Arabian. Saddle bred horses may thank the Arabian for their proud and elegant style. The Morgan horse has many similarities in conformation to the Arabian and possesses the same strength in a deceptively refined appearance.

The Arabian did not appear on the show scene until after most other breeds had been firmly established as show horses. Consequently, at first there were no classes open to Arabians, forcing them to compete in their own shows.

Now showing that is another complicated subject........so to be continued.

The Halter

Well, Rose has her first halter.

At first, it was to big, but she didn't seem to mind.

Now, I was able to adjust it for her.

Has never seemed to bother her. I think she thinks a piece of jewelry for her to show off in.

Love that attitude.

Communicating

Have you ever thought about if people could be more like horses?

When you meet someone you could just softly blow into their nose to see if they are
friends. That's what horses do when they want to see if the other is a friend or someone they should be afraid of. I thought I would bring it up, since Rose was having me do that and then she was fellowing me everywhere because she established that I was her friend.

I find it very interesting watching and learning about the different behaviors and how they communicate to each other. Now the key here is to establish that I am the Alpha Person, so they won't bite or kick me.

You will see foals when they feel threaten doing a mouthy thing (moving their month, like they are saying, don't hurt me I am little). It's like when a puppy feels threaten how they expose their belly.

Another thought is how they seem to send telepathic pictures to each other when they are communicating. I have watched them do this. Now wouldn't that be a better way to communicate then us talking, and trying to see if the person is receiving what we are trying to tell them?

They do use a lot of body language. For instance, A mare just has to flick an ear in warning to one of the others and they back off. Or how a mare will move her foal around the pen. Nipping it if it does something she doesn't like.

I remember having this colt race up to his mother, who was eating peacefully, he thought he would be cute and climb up on her, she never lifted her head, but took her back leg and shoved him about ten feet. He got up, shook his head and never tried that again.

So, I sometimes wonder if our way of communicating is so great?

Butt Scratching

Well, every since Rose was a few days old we have scratched her rear. Now it is an everyday thing that requires a few moments of time to Love on her and scratch her butt.

She thinks this is the way it is.

Rose at Twenty Days old

Here is Rose at twenty days old and growning. Her Dam (Mother) Dani takes her outside everyday for the sun and fresh air.
The other night we had a surprise storm, that really came upon us in a hurry. Dani and Rose made the run for the barn
and I got struck out in it......soaked in a minute. That was fun! Lucky for me it was warm out.