This was gifted to me by my good friend, Sharon Miesen. It’s a first edition, printed in 1955. I love old books like this one. Love the way they smell, feel, and the way they make me feel. It’s books like this that remind me why I want to be a writer.
This book has seen a lot in its time. It’s been handled and read by many people over the years, mainly young girls most likely. Girls who dream of having their own wild Arabian stallion who loves them the way Flame loves Steve Duncan. I’ll bet this book has heard laughter, tears, and everything in between.
Books can take us to any time and place. Books like this helped me to continue to dream of possibilities in spite of the often-dark circumstances in which I found myself as a young girl. Hope truly is a powerful thing.
My very own Flame (gelding though). Dreams can come true!
So, making these cute Christmas pics of horses is not as easy as one might think. A lot of bribing and coaxing is involved as you will see by the photos and videos below. I wish I had gotten a video of when Flame first walked into the stall and started snorting and stamping because he had never seen a window in the back of a stall before, but alas, I was not prepared.
I haven’t posted in a while so I’m warming back up with this little Christmas themed post. Hope you all enjoy! I hope everyone has the Happiest of Holidays!
Fyrestorm is Chanel’s plucky little sidekick in, Timmy the Lonely Pony. Real life Fyrestorm is also quite plucky, but she prefers to be called by her nickname, Honey or Honey Boo. Like Chanel, she is a daughter of the resident Franch black stallion, Spirit (AV Olympic Spirit). Honey Boo’s registered name is, Spirits Fyrestorm. Honey was a surprise because one day her mom, Fyrelite, had a little red baby by her side even though as far as anyone knew, she hadn’t been bred. After DNA testing, it turns out that Spirit is officially Honey’s sire, so like Chanel she is a pure Franch bred Arabian.
Baby Fyrestorm with her mom, Fyrelite Bynite:
Fyrestorm aka Honey Boo all grown up:
Honey and me:
AV Olympic Spirit aka Spirit (resident black stallion at The Franch and father of Chanel and Fyrestorm):
Fyrestorm and Chanel:
Don’t forget to check out these social media links for Veronica Stanley-Hooper, the wonderful illustrator who is making my dream a reality!
Timmy the Lonely Pony is the first book in the Timmy Tales picture book series which follow the adventures of Timmy the rescue pony!
Timmy is rescued from a ranch that couldn’t care for him. He really likes his new owner and the kind way she takes care of him, but the other horses on the ranch notice Timmy looks and behaves differently. When Chanel, an Arabian horse who isn’t kind to Timmy, finds herself in trouble by the pond, Timmy is the only one that can help. Can the horses work together to save Chanel?
This exciting story of Timmy the Lonely Pony was inspired by a real pony who now lives on a 200-acre ranch in Texas.
Chanel is a cute character with an attitude in, Timmy the Lonely Pony. Real life Chanel is a sweet Arabian horse owned by my good friend, Stephanie Young, who runs The Franch. It’s an over 200-acre horse paradise where all three characters in the story live very happy horsey lives. Chanel’s real name is, Spirits Chanel No V. Number V (five) because she’s the fifth offspring of the resident stallion, AV Olympic Spirit aka Spirit.
Baby Chanel with her mom, NH Hungary Eyes aka Sera:
“First Kiss”
More Baby Chanel Pics:
Stephanie with her love, Chanel:
AV Olympic Spirit aka Spirit (resident black stallion at The Franch and father of Chanel and Fyrestorm):
Lastly, Fyrestorm aka Honey, half-sister to Chanel and the third character in, Timmy the Lonely Pony (she’ll be featured in my next post):
Don’t forget to check out these social media links for Veronica Stanley-Hooper, the wonderful illustrator who is making my dream a reality!
Just a quick post about my favorite pure Polish Arabian stallion, so everyone will now I’m alive and well! I love this horse and will post something more elaborate about him at a later date.
One of his offspring, the beautiful filly, TA Melania, resides at The Franch along with my horsey loves!
TA Melania (*TA Arapaho x *TA Mariette by *Kordelas)
TA Arapaho currently resides in Dunkirk, New York at Mystic Side Arabians. For more info on this gorgeous stallion, click on the following links:
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:
Andreanov (Negatraz x Andorra)
Affirmativ’s dam, Cedaridge Folaura:
Cedaridge Folaura (Folltan x Sharene)
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?):
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!
Affirmativ (Andreanov x Cedaridge Folaura) 1984-2009
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.
AV Olympic Spirit (Affirmativ x Raylee Asasi)
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:
NH Fyrecracker (AV Olympic Spirit x Fyrelite Bynite)
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”.
It was love at first sight for me and this sweet boy! He was introduced to me as Fyrecracker, but I couldn’t resist calling him Flame because of his fiery, red color which brought to mind Walter Farley’s Island Stallion of the same name. The name also seemed fitting because his sire is the black stallion, known as Spirit around The Franch.
AV Olympic Spirit
Spirit’s sire is the beautiful, Affirmativ:
Affirmativ
Flame is a Polish Arabian and he has the great, Bask in his pedigree three times on both his dam and sire’s side. He also has several Varian Arabians in his bloodline. He has Bay El Bey on his sire, Spirit’s side who was well known in Arabian horse circles as “The Kingmaker”. Bay El Bey’s descendants are stamped with his distinctive look, intelligence and excellent disposition, which is definitely true with Flame because he possesses the long arched neck, kindness and intelligence that has been passed down to him through the generations. To learn more about Bay El Bey, check out The History of Bay El Bey.
On his dam, Fyrelite Bynite’s side, Flame has in his bloodlines the following Varian Arabians, Khemosabi (Khemo as he was known, was actually raised by Ruth and Bert Husband, but his breeding career was launched by Sheila Varian.) and the mare, Bayanka.
Dreaming of Arabians 