[eskielover]

Being in Kentucky & away from my filly who is in training in California, I almost missed her birthday.....(what kind of mommy am I?????)

She has been in training all this year (tried to start training last year when she turned 3, but she was sick with strangles & wasn't able to be ridden or worked very hard. So we started training the beginning of the year.

She has become a very solid, sensible trail horse. She stops & thinks about something before just freaking out about something. (she has been that way since she was born). It is wonderful to see that trait that I saw as a baby has followed through into her riding. Considering she is 17 hands high at the withers (most horses are about 15 hands high 1 hand = 4 inches).

My trainer decided that she would give Izzy a chance to show herself at the beginning level dressage show today.....what a wonderful way to mark her 4th birthday.

She is such a special horse to me as I never dreamed in my life that I would ever really own a horse, & then when I ended up owning a horse, I never imagined that I would end up with one that was born out of a mare I owned or would even have the kind of bonding that happened between us. It is truely a miracle in my life.

I am missing her so much & am working on getting a shelter built with fencing so I can have at least 2 of my horses transported here & I can start enjoying Izzy again. It's days like this when I realize how much I really miss her especially & how much I miss being able to ride whenever I feel like it.

What I find most interesting here in Kentucky is that I met a lady who has invited me to ride with her to help exercise her horses. She & her husband own 1000 acres with trails that are tree covered with streams & fields covered with flowers & several huge lakes. When I ride with her, it's like riding in the dreams I had as a child. The exact same feelings & sensed riding through the woods. How I could have ever imagined as a child what the reality of riding in Kentucky woods would have ever been like is awsome. It is a strange feeling when reality is exactly what a childhood dream was.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZZY!!!!!!

Never realized how much love I could have for a horse before she was born. I loved my others, but she was just so special.

Debbie

[eskielover]

I just received an email with her test scores......Introductory Dressage A & B (first show ever (walk trot)). Both scores were in the 60's which is excellent for a first time horse. Dressage tests have a series of transitions & formations they have to go through 20 meter circles, straight lines, diagnols across the arena walk to trot, trot to walk. The highest possible mark for each is a 10. She got nothing lower than a 6 & many were 7's. I loved the judges remark at the bottom of the second test......"Cute horse......lots of personality" That's my Izzy. I am so proud of her. She is one very special horse that I am missing so much.

Debbie

[hurtingintn]

wow sounds very exciting..congrats

[sarahlilianne]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZZY
Lots of success with your training!
Lily

[inkblot]

Yes, Happy Birthday Izzy!!!!

I can see, hear, and feel your love for her. She sounds very special, and so do you too. This sounds like a beautiful relationship that the two of you have. Thank you for sharing the celebration with us!

[lifeblows]

How fortunate you are to have your very own horse! I miss riding like MAD. However, since I don't get to ride anymore and can't afford lessons, I volunteer at a local horse rescue. The conditions they come from & their stories are just horrid. But we have a crew of volunteers that donate their time and sometimes money too to nurse them back to health. Once they get to us they are loved on and spoiled like they should have been. Needless to say, with my own past, I can really relate to these poor creatures. You wouldn't believe the things they've been through but we get them back to their beautiful selves again. I really love animals and horses. They're such beautiful, mystical creatures.

Happy belated b-day Izzy!

[iamtwilight]

(((eskielover & horses))) & happy birthday (((izzy)))!!!

horses are so wonderful. i wish i could have one, too, but i haven't enough experience. i went riding every summer with my best friend (now ex-best friend) but when we parted ways we stopped. i miss it so much, i wouldn't even have to ride, i'd just like to be around horses.

btw, you sound like a wonderful mother for your horses.


twilight

[eskielover]

(((((hurting)))))) thank you for the wishes

(((((Inky))))),
Yes, she is so special to me.....thank you for her birthday wishes

((((((lifeblows))))))),
It is hard when we no longer have horses around to feel that freedom that riding them brings, but your position with the abused horses that are being rescued is the most important service you could give your love of horses to. There is nothing more rewarding than watching an animal that has been mistreated come around to a full life with love surrounding it. I know my horses' chiropractor in california worked with a rescue group there......oh the situations he would tell about. I know we have a wonderful rescue program here in Kentucky also. I pray that when I get financially stable that I will be able to give myself to horses in need of love & caring.....it is the most rewarding feeling of anything I know. You are a very special person to give of yourself the way you are. There is a magic about the horse that is very healing to the human soul......so to be able to return the healing to them is an honor.

((((((iam))))),
I know what you mean about riding when you were young & then not having the horse or the money or the time to ride again. I rode through my college years & then with my career, had no time even though I had the money, my husband had no interest & that controlled my life. When I lost my career, they told me to get involved in something I always loved before & hadn't been able to do.......that was when I got involved in dressage riding again & then got my first horse at the age of 45. He is my special old man now & retired but Izzy is up & coming so I have a horse I can ride outside of the safety of home (since he is mostly blind). When the love is there, it seems there is a way for it to come into your life when you least expect it.