Ahab the Arab

Ahab is a beautiful chestnut Arabian cross gelding. He was my mom's horse first, then my sister's horse, and then he became my horse when I was in fourth grade. Ahab was a cool horse that had such a mellow attitude and was willing to do most things. I remember I went through a phase, I believe it was sometime during fifth grade where I would just take Ahab for walks around my parents ranch. I would lead him for hikes, not ride, I would walk on the ground and lead him everywhere! I think this might have been because I had too much energy to sit and I had to move around by walking or jogging!
When I grew out of Ahab we gave him to friends. Unfortunately, the friends had a horse that was really mean to Ahab. So we were given Ahab. He lived with us for another year or so, and then we met some people that had a young girl that was looking for a horse. We gave Ahab to this young girl. We stayed in touch with the girls trainer for a year, but then lost touch. I am not sure if Ahab is still around, but if he isn't, he is for sure enjoying the best green grass in heaven!
(yes, I know, Ahab and Hombre look like the same horse, but they are two different horses! Plus, they are not even related)

Hombre- The Man!

This entry is about The Man of my life for many years- middle school, high school and junior college. This Man would be Hombre. Hombre is a chestnut colored gelding. His breeding is 1/2 Quarter horse and 1/2 Arabian. Hombre was born on my parents' ranch and he is the son of my mom's mare. Her mare is 29 years old this year! Hombre is 22 years old. My mom still has her mare Hochoy (means good luck in Chinese), but Hombre now belongs to a woman in Windsor, CA. Hombre means Man. My mom named him that. Hombre was suppose to be her other horse. Well, he ended up only being 15 hands tall, and she was hoping for more like 15.3 hands. Hombre was also a pest. I gave Hombre a couple nicknames throughout the years- Oscar the Grouch, Dennis the Menace, and a couple other names that I don't need to mention! For the first five years of Hombre's life he pestered us when he was lose all around the ranch. He always wanted to know what was going on and why we were digging long holes (ditches) in the ground, or why the other horses and the cows got feed also, instead of just him!
Eventually, by age 6, Hombre started to be a working horse. I decided that I thought I would start teaching Hombre a few things. I found out that Hombre is actually a very talented horse under saddle, but when you are standing on the ground next to him, he is a real pest!
I started to take riding lessons on Hombre, and then I started to show him. Many people were impressed with him. I had people asking me what his breeding was- I just said he is a Quarter horse/Arabian, most people thought he was a thoroughbred! He was quite a beautiful mover and most Quarter horses are not that gracious of movers.
We ended up doing really well in shows. I took Hombre to eventing shows- Dressage, Show Jumping and Cross-Country jumping at Training level. We won a couple of these events! Hombre loved to show off in the arena when he knew that he was being watched! He would always be unpredictable in the warm up- knocking down rails when jumping, kicking out or giving a little buck from time to time. But when we entered the show arena, he was serious! That is a good thing.
For Dressage, we did a couple musical freestyles, and we even presented a musical freestyle at CDS championships (California Dressage Society) and won!
It is funny how a crazy little horse like Hombre became such a great performer.
Unfortunately during college days I wasn't able to ride much. I was running track working at Costco and going to classes. There wasn't any free time for riding, just sleeping. I sold Hombre to a lovely lady in Sonoma County. I stayed in contact with her for a year or two and then lost contact. I just hope that Hombre is still enjoying the days and getting his trail rides in. I do miss him dearly, but I am glad that I got to enjoy the prime years of his life! Thank you Hombre for all the memories, and I sure you have given your new owner many memories also!

Annie- Life was too short, and she will always be loved

This is Annie. I bought Annie at age 6 months old. She was cute but goofy looking. Foals go through many awkward stages. I was Annie's 5th owner, and she was only 6 months old when I bought her. Kind of sad. At 4 months of age she was suppose to go to horse slaughter with her mom. The mom went, but Annie was saved! I did a bunch of ground work with Annie. Teaching her the basics: getting groomed with brushes all over her body, picking out her hooves, using clippers around her legs and her ears and her muzzle, she was great with loading in the horse trailer.

Unfortunately, Annie had too short of a life. When she was almost 3 years old, I took Annie to a trainer that I had used before. On the first day of training Annie fell down while being tied up. After a long story of information, we found Annie had 4 fractures in her pelvis due to the fall. After many tears, Annie was put down. Now Annie is up in Heaven grazing on billions of acres of green grass.