Sorrel vs. Chestnut

On August 2, 2021February 1, 2023 By Carla ConorinoIn Just Fun Horsey Stuff2 Comments

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! 😀

Flame and his half-brother, Blaze=sorrel

Wait, how did Patriot get on this post?! He’s not my horse; belongs to The Franch, but he sure is beautiful!

Baby Spirit-“The Black Stallion”

On September 30, 2020 By Carla ConorinoIn Arabian Horses, Just Fun Horsey Stuff1 Comment

AV Olympic Spirit aka Spirit with his mom (dam), Raylee Asasi

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 (Andreanov x Cedaridge Folaura)

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.

Flame aka NH Fyrecracker (AV Olympic Spirit x Fyrelite Bynite)

Honey aka Spirits Fyrestorm (AV Olympic Spirit x Fyrelite Bynite)

Here’s their mom, Fyrelite:

Fyrelite Bynite (Nite Mover x Pure Silk)

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:

Affirma Fantasia (Affirmativ x AA Khaibar)

AV Midnight Lyric, a full sister to Fantasia, is still owned by Mrs. Johnson and is currently leased out to Belesemo Arabians:

AV Midnight Lyric (Affirmativ x AA Khaibar)

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?):

Sheila Varian-Dreamer and Doer

On September 6, 2020 By Carla ConorinoIn Arabian Horse HistoryLeave a comment

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:

The Legacy of Sheila Varian

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!

Bargain Table Horse Books and Arabians

On August 17, 2019August 25, 2019 By Carla ConorinoIn Arabian Horse History2 Comments

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:

270px-Byerly_Turk — *The Byerley Turk* by John Wootton

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:

Astraled

ribal2

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!

Timmy the Rescue Pony-Star of “Timmy Tales”

On August 5, 2018February 6, 2023 By Carla ConorinoIn Horse Rescue, Rescue Works, Timmy Tales1 Comment

CuteTimmyatcar

Timmy is one of my two rescue horses who now calls The Franch home. He is a sweet loveable pocket pony who loves everyone. He has never been ridden and I estimate his age to be around nine at the time of this writing. He was rescued from a severe neglect situation along with 63 other horses in Lewisville, Texas in 2009 by Anastasia Keyser of Hope for Horses Equine Rescue Inc.

Here is a before photo of a small group of the rescues back in October 2009:

LewisvilleHorses10-09003

Timmy was less than a year old at the time, so he may have been too young to remember much of what happened, considering how much he trusts people. Most of the rescues were Pony of the Americas, Haflingers and a few other breeds. He has the coloring of a Haflinger, so I just like to say he’s half-Haflinger and half Pony of the Americas, but he’s just really my sweet, cute, funny little boy!

Timmy in the pasture:

Timmyinthepasture

Timmy and his best friend, Frisco (my other rescue horse):

FriscoandTimmy

Timmy and me:

Timmyandme

Dreaming of Arabians

Tag: Dreaming of Arabians