This post is just for fun because I received these beautiful books from Much Ado About Horses today! I haven’t read them yet of course, but wanted to post a few pictures because I love them so much! Much Ado About Horses is a website that sells hard to find and out of print Arabian horse books. They mailed these to me within a couple of days of ordering them and in excellent condition so I highly recommend them! Check out, muchadoabouthorses.com.
So as I said in an earlier post, I acquired this book along with the sequel, Thunderhead, from my granny, Frances Grimes, many years ago. I loved them as child and decided to read them again during the Covid lockdown last year. They rekindled my love of horse stories, so I became more serious about writing my own. I’m currently plugging away at The Red Filly, one chapter at a time. I actually created a rough outline/beat sheet, so I do know where I’m going with it at least. I joined an awesome writing group during all this Covid mess and they are helping me with edits along the way. This pandemic has been rough on all of us, but I’ve managed to achieve a few positives after I figured out how to restructure my life. I often wonder, if I am forever changed by the last year and a half…but I digress…on to the review!
This is a story of true love between a boy and horse. It’s the kind of bond a young horse loving, apartment dwelling girl like I was growing up, dreamed of. The main character, Ken McLaughlin, unlike me and probably a great many of the kids who have read this book over the years, is growing up on a ranch in Wyoming in the late 1930s surrounded by horses. But, he longs for one of them to be his very own. He’s a day dreamer and because of this causes many mishaps around the ranch and can’t focus on his school work, so his father doesn’t want to reward him with a yearling to raise as his own like his older brother has done.
Mom comes to the rescue though, as she often does in this book and the sequel, Thunderhead. She insists that Ken needs a yearling to raise to help him focus. After a horrific incident during the gelding of the yearling colts, Ken decides he doesn’t want the gruesome procedure carried out on his yearling. He decides he wants a filly to avoid the barbaric practice. But in his father’s eyes he picks the worst filly on the ranch. She’s been running wild with her dam her entire short life and won’t allow anyone near her.
I don’t want to give away the whole story, but you get the idea. Ken is determined, his dad is not happy with him as usual, his mom loves him unconditionally and supports his decision, while a wild filly awaits…
My copy of the book has had a rough life, but it’s managed to survive countless moves over the years.
So, the great debate, sorrel vs. chestnut. In my opinion, Flame is a sorrel horse, however, the Arabian Horse Association doesn’t recognize that color, so he is registered as chestnut.
Wikipedia says that there is no difference between the two colors: “Sorrel is a reddish coat color in a horse lacking any black. It is a term that is usually synonymous with chestnut and one of the most common coat colors in horses. Some regions and breed registries distinguish it from chestnut, defining sorrel as a light, coppery shade, and chestnut as a browner shade. However, in terms of equine coat color genetics there is no known difference between sorrel and chestnut. Solid reddish-brown color is a base color of horses, caused by the recessive e gene.”
If you search Wikipedia for the terms sorrel (horse) or chestnut (horse), the same horse is pictured:
The funny thing is, I would have called this a dun horse or maybe a red dun horse. So confused!
As for my rescue horse, Timmy, I’ve always considered him chestnut, but I’ve heard others refer to him as sorrel. I know that many people consider sorrel, the lighter color and chestnut the darker color, but I’ve always thought the opposite.
The American Haflinger Registry agrees with me:
“The specialty of the Haflinger lies, of course, in its unique golden chestnut coloring with a long, flowing white mane and tail.”
In conclusion, I’ll continue to apply the terms sorrel and chestnut the way I want to, in regard to my own horses anyway! 😀
Wait, how did Patriot get on this post?! He’s not my horse; belongs to The Franch, but he sure is beautiful!
I’m currently reading the 1943 edition of Thunderhead, by Mary O’Hara, which originally belonged to my Granny, Frances Grimes, who passed away in 2014. What’s weird though, is even though she knew how much I love horses, she never mentioned her love for them. She also owned, My Friend Flicka, the first book in this three horse book series. I just finished reading that one and will soon post a review. It had been so long since I had read these books that I forgot the herd stallion, Banner, was half Arabian. And even the wild stallion that they call the Albino is said to have some Arabian blood. It’s amazing to me how Arabians seem to show up everywhere in the horse world, in one way or another!
I titled this entry, Fortitude, because of a passage in this book where, Rob McLaughlin, is talking to his son, Ken, about the boy needing to learn how to handle disappointment in life and he references a quote from a book called, Fortitude: “It’s not life that matters-it’s the courage you bring to it.”.
Even though I’m not a big fan of the character, Rob McLaughlin, because he’s often stubborn and overbearing, I was struck by that passage. It is very difficult to react well when things are going wrong.
I’m currently quarantined because I was in close contact with someone who is now struck down by Covid-19. I’m on the fourth day of said quarantine, and the first three days were not handled well by me at all. The first day was the worst, because I allowed my anxiety to take control of me the whole day, and that night I couldn’t sleep because my heart wouldn’t stop racing. I’ve wasted three days of prime writing time just waiting to get sick. I kind of snapped out of it a little yesterday; did a few household chores and worked out, but no writing…
Well now I’m writing this, so I guess that’s something, even though I’m reaching the end of the fourth day. To quote Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day.”
This post is just for fun because I received these awesome pictures today from Renee Boeshans, the owner of Spirit’s sire, Affirmativ. Here’s a pic of Affirmativ:
Affirmativ’s sire, Andreanov:
Affirmativ’s dam, Cedaridge Folaura:
As followers of this blog may remember, Spirit is the sire of my two Arabian loves: Flame aka NH Fyrecracker and Honey aka Spirits Fyrestorm.
Here’s their mom, Fyrelite:
More Spirit baby pictures:
Spirit’s dam, Raylee Asasi, was owned by Janice Johnson. Affirmativ spent several summers with the lovely mares owned by Mrs. Johnson, who was an ardent admirer of his. Renee spent three weeks with them on the first visit, riding horses and showing them how to hand breed the stallion.
One of the black fillies sired by Affirmativ at the Johnson farm, who was sold to Germany:
AV Midnight Lyric, a full sister to Fantasia, is still owned by Mrs. Johnson and is currently leased out to Belesemo Arabians:
I’m going to wrap this post up with some pictures of Spirit all grown up:
Okay, I lied; here are two more pictures of Affirmativ (Who ever gets tired of looking at pictures of horses, really?):
Not too long ago a fellow horse loving friend loaned me the DVD, “The Legacy of Sheila Varian”. He said, “You’ll love this because it’s all about Arabians,” or something along those lines. I didn’t watch it right away because I figured it was a boring documentary about some rich lady and her horse farm. I finally popped it in a week or two later and found myself drawn in by this woman, who was the quintessential dreamer of dreams!
Sheila Varian did not come from a rich family. She fell in love with Arabians the same way I did, through reading the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. Her parents weren’t horse people but supported her dreams and at the age of eight she started riding her first horse, a Morgan/Percheron mix and because money was tight, learned to ride bareback. She didn’t acquire her first saddle until the age of twelve.
Horses were in Sheila’s blood, heart and soul from the start and while working as a high school physical education teacher, she worked toward her dream. Farlotta was her first Arabian and most beloved of all. When Farlotta passed on to the rainbow bridge at the young age of seven due to health problems, Sheila was holding her cherished mare’s head in her arms.
Sheila later acquired the mare Ronteza, who would set Sheila on her way toward creating her legacy. In 1961 Sheila and Ronteza won the Open Reined Cow Horse Championship at The Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. She was the first amateur, the first woman and had the first Arabian to take the title.
Through acquiring mares from Poland and careful breeding over the years, Sheila Varian created the dynasty that is now known as Varian Arabians. Her is a link for the video that tells the story of this great lady and her legacy:
At one point in the documentary Sheila talked about following your dreams. I can’t remember the exact quote, but what she said really made an impression on me. This woman was not rich, or beautiful (in the traditional sense), but she was driven. I’m sure she encountered pain and roadblocks along the way, but she didn’t let that stop her. She lived the life she wanted and that is inspiring!
The Marwari is a rare and ancient breed of horse that originated in the Marwar region of western India. The breed is easily recognizable due to its inwardly curved ears. The Marwari is believed to be descended from the warhorses of the Rajput warriors of the Marwar region.
The origins of the Marwari horse are uncertain, but the breed is likely to have been influenced by Turkoman type horses brought to the area by Mughul invaders, as well as the Arabian horse. There is an Indian legend that seven Arabian horses of good breeding were shipwrecked off the shore of the Kachchh District and were taken to the Marwar region to be used as foundation bloodstock for the Marwari. Like the Arabian, the Marwari is know for its hardiness and also like the Arabian they were bred as warhorses. They were renowned for their courage in battle and loyalty to their riders. It was said that a Marwari horse would only leave a battle under three conditions; victory, death, or carrying its master to safety.
Chetak was a legendary Marwari horse. The grey stallion purportedly carried Maharana Pratap to safety after he slayed the last of the Moghuls in the battle of Haldighati. The courageous stallion was said to have been brave enough to take on an elephant and reared so that Pretap was able to kill the Moghul who sat atop the war elephant. Chetak was mortally wounded by the elephant’s tusks, but he carried his master to safety, traveling many miles before dying near a river.
The Marwari were almost eliminated during the British rule of India during the early 1900s. The British preferred their thoroughbreds and polo ponies and ridiculed the horses with the inward turning ears. Even after independence from Britain, the Marwari horse was still endangered because war horses were no longer needed and many of the Indian nobleman who bred them had lost their land.
The Marwari horse was on the verge of extinction until Maharaja Umaid Singhji stepped in to save them and his work was continued by his grandson, Maharaja Gaj Singh II.
Later in 1995 a British horsewoman named Francesca Kelly founded the group, Marwari Bloodlines. Then, along with her husband, Raghuvendra Singh Dundlod, they led a group in 1999 that founded the Indigenous Horse Society of India which helps promote and preserve the breed.
Ashwarya who is named after a Bollywood actress is currently residing at The Kentucky Horse Park and she was donated to the park by Francesca Kelly. She’s the only Marwari horse in the U.S. presently as far as I can tell due to the fact that India does not allow the export of the breed at this time. According to my research, Francesca Kelly has since moved the rest of her Marwari brood to the UK. If anyone is aware of others in the U.S. I’d love to hear from you.
Joey is the biography of a horse, but not a famous horse like Man O’ War or Seabiscuit, just a regular horse that was saved from bad circumstances and in return rescued his rescuers. Everyone who ever meets Joey can’t help but fall in love. Joey had been a show horse early on, but after an injury ended his show career he was passed from owner to owner and eventually ended up in a neglectful situation, which often happens to horses who are considered no longer “useful”. At some point during this time he went completely blind, which was probably due to malnutrition.
Along comes Kim Tschirret who has a dream to unite troubled horses with troubled kids and Hope Reins is born. Joey along with another Appaloosa, named Speckles, arrive together at the fledgling therapy horse ranch to be among the first group of horses to help troubled kids. The volunteers at the ranch, along with Kim, learn as they go and have to face special challenges brought on by a blind horse like Joey. The book is inspiring because they learn and adapt to Joey’s needs as well as the needs of the children entrusted to their care.
There is a strong Christian theme to this book, which I thought might be off-putting for me because I am not particularly religious; although I do believe in a higher power. But, it’s actually heartwarming following the main players and how each of them addresses their individual faiths and hope in God and the miracle that is Hope Reins.
Warning; tears will be shed in the reading of this book. Sometimes the tears will be because of sadness, but mostly because the book is heartwarming. Reading this book strengthened my belief in the something more that all of us can have faith in and the ability of some people to truly access the goodness with themselves. I highly recommend this book for horse lovers and anyone who wants further evidence that there is true kindness to be found amongst the humans.
This book was a gift from my beloved Franch horses:
Pretty sure my dear friend, Julz, helped them pick it out! 😉
It seems that every horse coffee table book I’ve ever picked up from a book store bargain table always includes Arabian horses. I started thinking about this because I was disappointed that the book pictured above doesn’t contain one of my favorite breeds, Marwari. But then I thought, well, I guess it would be pretty impossible to include every breed of horse in every coffee table book. But then I thought further and realized they always include Arabians. (At least the ones I’ve seen.)
This book even has one section completely devoted to them:
While the rest of the breeds are grouped into categories:
A quote from the book: “With his tiny curved ears, large liquid eyes, extravagantly dished face and luxurious mane and tail, the Arabian is the horse of dreams.”
Another quote: “This beautiful ancient breed is thought to go as far back as 3000BC and has strongly influenced many of today’s more modern breeds of horse.”
I’ve been aware for some time that the Arabian horse influenced many other breeds, most notably the thoroughbred through the three foundation stallions;
The Byerley Turk:
The Darley Arabian:
And the Godolphin Arabian (my personal favorite):
(I’ll write more about these three Arabians in another post.) I was surprised to learn that Arabians also directly influenced the American Quarter Horse. Growing up in Texas, it always seemed that Quarter Horse owners and Arabian owners are of different mindsets. It still seems that way actually. So other than a little Arabian blood coming through to the American Quarter Horse via early Thoroughbred foundation stallions, I had no idea that there were full blooded Arabians among the early Quarter Horses until I read an article in the December 2018 issue of Equus that mentioned two Crabbet-bred Arabians who were direct sire-line descendants of Mesaoud, one of the foundation sires of the Crabbet Arabian Stud in England.
The stallions were Astraled and Ribal:
I never tire of learning about Arabian horses and their influence on other breeds and their appearance throughout human history. I have much more to learn about the Arabian horse, but as in everything I love, I am a life-long learner. I welcome comments and additional information as I know this blogpost just barely scratches the surface. I’m learning as I write!
Affirmativ is the sire of AV Olympic Spirit, resident black stallion at The Franch and he is grandsire to my two loves, Flame and Fyrestorm. He was owned by Jim and Renee Boeshans of Springfield, Oregon and Renee calls him their “miracle horse”.
Renee had taken her friend to Twin Fir Farms in Sisters, Oregon to look for a colt, when a sweet, little, black, one-month old colt decided to start following Renee around. She says, that while they were choosing a different colt for her friend, Affirmativ chose her.
He is their miracle horse because at the age of 18 months he broke his leg and they were devastated. Affirmativ was sent to Oregon State Veterinary Hospital for surgery and had a pin put in the leg, but was rejecting the pin and was sent home for the Boeshans to treat it. Miracle of miracles happened and it healed. They had not been expecting to be able to show or ride him, but the plucky young stallion made a full recovery. Affirmativ would go on to become a winner in country English pleasure and halter. He was Scottsdale’s Most Classic Arabian and Champion Native Costume horse in 1994. And later at the age of nineteen, he was shown in hunt seat, western and native costume by their granddaughter, Cortney Boeshans.
Affirmativ has over 100 foals in the U.S., Canada and Germany. The ones that have been shown have done very well, winning national, regional and Class A championships. One of which being, AV Olympic Spirit aka Spirit, who was 2004 Top 10 US National Champion Arabian Working Cow Jr Horse.
Affirmativ has the true, classic Arabian look with chiseled head, large eyes and long “hooky” neck that breeders strive for and it is passed on through his bloodlines as can be seen in his grandson, NH Fyrecracker aka Flame:
The Arabian horse world is both large and small at the same time. Renee and I became friends on Facebook through the connection between our beloved horses and we both have a mutual love of the breed. I couldn’t be happier that Affirmativ chose Renee and became her “miracle horse”.
Dreaming of Arabians 