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Posts: 3,540
Can you tell I'm excited?? 
Yesterday my little girl took a nine hour flight from Schipol in the Nederlands, to (I believe) Ontario, Canada. She's to stay there for seven days as quarantine and to rest up after the flight. Then she'll be loaded on a trailer for her roadtrip to Kentucky.
:dance: :dance: My baby's getting ever closer!!!! :dance: :dance:
Bine-TeddiesDebbie I love horses and your's looks very sweet and pretty. I can't help wondering how expensive it must be to ship a horse all across the globe like that. Must be a really special horse.
MerBear OriginalsHey...I'm in Ontario, maybe I can visit her for you!!! :dance:
I'm already on a farm with 4 large Percherons so she'd fit right in (under them anyway)
Marion
Posts: 3,540Sabine by the time Blossom gets to me from Scotland, her passage will cost between $6,500 and $7,000. Its a spendy, and time consuming thing, so you really want to be sure you want the pony....and yes, I VERY much want Blossom!!! 
I do know quite a few racehorses and eventing horses get shipped round the world for their competitions, and also for stallion duties 
So I guess it depends on the person as to whether or not the shipping is spendy....
Marion I can see little Blossom getting lost under your huge Perchies I love the Percherons, such beauties...and there's a lot to love!
Country BearsOooooh Debbie, it's soooo exciting, you must be about to burst!!! I'm so excited for you, please be sure to let us know when she arrives!! Can't wait!!! :hug:
Posts: 3,540 I'm still going over my fencing (for the hundreth time ) and Blossom's field shelter arrives on Monday....some assembly is required 
So I've no doubt I'll be keeping busy til she arrives....but YES!!! I'm getting so excited!!! I haven't been this excited in years...just catch myself grinning for no particular reason.
We'll see how "little" she is the first time she's stood on my foot
:dance: :dance: :dance: Hooray Debbie!! I'm excited for you, too!!
:hug:
Tracy
I so envy all of you horse-educated folk. I think they're beautiful but have little experience with these majestic animals and don't understand how to care for or ride or properly love them at all.
Is it costly to house and feed a horse? I do know it's time-consuming and requires daily grooming, pen upkeep, and feeding/watering. I see a lot of mistreated horses, near starved, on one of my favorite Animal Planet shows, ANIMAL COPS. Very sad that someone could behave that way toward such a gorgeous animal.
I saw the movie HIDALGO with my sons last year. Viggo Mortensen plays a rider in a desert contest which is so intense and extreme it sometimes kills its participants. I believe it was based on a true story. I remember reading, before seeing the movie, that Viggo fell so in love with the animal he rode that he just had to have it after filming, and bought it and took it home with him. I have to say that the movie is just an ode to horses; the beauty of their gait, and their loyalty, and the bond one can form with them.
<sigh>
I think I will come visit some of you horse folks and you can teach me everything I never knew. How does that sound???
:hug: 
Aw Debbie, this must be sooooo exciting for you. I can't wait to see some picture of your horse.
Chowlea BearsThis waiting is terrible - when does she arrive home?
Sandra :redface:
Posts: 3,540:hug: Awwwwhhh Shelli you would LOVE being around horses! There's nothing quite like it. I think much of being safe and happy around them has to do with your attitude. They are a big mirror reflecting what you feel. If you are scared, they'll walk all over you....literally. So you have to be confident and 'think big'. In a horse's world, you need to be the one in charge, and you can easily be that without being mean. It has a lot to do with body language and positioning....much like it is with any other animal, they each have their own language.
Viggo Mortensen didn't just get the horse that played "Hildalgo", he's also got the stallion that he rode in "Lord of the Rings". I think for an actor he's become a great horseman. His love for his horses certainly shows.
Mum in law said the horse that portrayed Hildalgo came from Missouri I can't verify it, but think its a small world.
A big bummer, though, is that our wild horses are once more being served on dinner plates. 
Makes me thoroughly ticked because its pressure from the cattle and sheep ranchers that pushed this through. All the times they keep saying the horses are starving, the land can't support them ~ this is PUBLIC land mind you....and its because the ranchers keep running their livestock for practically nothing on that land!!! Small wonder the horses and deer are starving. Ticks me off because that land was set aside as a park, a sanctuary for wildlife ~ NOT as a feedlot!!!!
Wild Horse Annie fought to save the wild horses from wholesale slaughter in the 70s and last year, a bill passed that gutted it. In fact an ammendment passed in order to stop the slaughter again by preventing the USDA inspectors from being at the horse slaugherhouses. And, the inspectors circumvented this by being paid by outside private buyers to have the meat inspected....thoroughly bypassing the intent of the law laid down by Congress! Sorry, but it does get my blood boiling....
And no, I realize other cultures eat horses, and that's fine, I accept that. Afterall, some East Indians would be horrified at me eating a cow. However, I have a problem when its one of our Wild Icons landing on the dinnerplate in an underhanded method...
As for Miss Blossom...she'll be arriving in about two weeks :dance:
Well, I just can't wait to see photos of Blossom when she arrives and joins your family officially. I hope you'll post some. I'm very excited FOR you!
Posts: 3,540 I'd say he's got "Pooka" written all over his face Seriously, if he's that resistant to the bridle and saddle...both are hurting him. I find there's typically some underlying problem, and as he's gone over backwards, I'd be surprised if he DIDN'T have some knotted muscling as well.
I'm certified as an equine shiatsu (so a sports massage) therapist, and its *amazing* how many horse 'problem' behaviors are caused from pain. The horse simply has no other way to say it hurts, and I can't physically do this....
Yep, I'm really looking forward to getting some Blossom pics when she arrives. She's been kept stalled for quite sometime now, and I know as a youngling she's gonna stretch her legs, and give a few bucks and kicks Yippeeee!!!!
Posts: 3,540I think the hardest thing for me is reading over the internet about a horse/pony that I suspect has underlying muscling issues, and NOT be able to get my hands on them!!!!! 
Drives me round the bend sometimes......When I went to the UK for my first visit, I spent 3 weeks and massaged over 20 ponies...3 of them came sound from one treatment.... and one of them WAS on vet care! Another had finished with the vet care, and was on physio treatments that weren't getting great results... What was fun for me was watching them after the treatment. Oftentimes we'd turn them loose, and straight off the bat, they'd get a decent long drink of water (great!!!! It gets rid of the toxins released during treatment) a good roll and oftentimes they'd go for a run or do some other usually 'restricted' activity.
Yep, I'm all too familiar with cow ponies and any horse after winter...those first few spring rides are always 
scary!!! Horses have an *excellent* memory, so they really don't forget the training....its just that they're coming back from vacation, and aren't too sure about this whole "work" concept.
I haven't tried it yet, but a friend swears by the Cashel soft saddle http://www.cashelcompany.com/pageshop.p … mber=XSOFT She used it for training a fjord, and she says you stick to the saddle like a limpet! You might be able to find them cheaper on ebay, but that's a fairly reasonable price for a saddle...granted most people would say its a spendy glorified bareback pad, but I've never been keen on a true bareback pad....to slippery for my tastes, give me the bare horse anyday!
Posts: 3,540 Nope, still in quarantine for Blossom
Laughing at your 'solar panel' horse.... That means he's totally secure with you guys as his herd, and can relax enough to get a decent solid sleep. That truly is something because a lot of show horses are so 'wired' they don't sleep, and can literally fall asleep in their classes from sleep deprivation...poor things...
Ohhh, but that's scary about him eating plastic bags Not good for a horse's system! I'm sure he's thinking he's got 'bread' because it smells like bread, but no...being a horsey vacuum cleaner is not good.
I think every rider should bareback ride....it connects you to the horse like nothing else. There is something so primal, so ....needed in riding like that. Granted the stirrups and saddle make you feel nice and secure, and sometimes that's needed to give a horse a confident feeling when you really aren't too sure about the whole thing.
Ooh, and I wanted to let you know, apple cider vinegar (or just plain ole vinegar) is a great fly spray!!!! It really works, and I was stunned to see it work just as well as regular fly spray MUCH cheaper!!!
