Oh my goodness! What’s Inka’s story? I just can’t keep up. :lol: You all building Puika quite the harem!
ETA I think it is hilarious that 15.3 is “tiny”–you have some big 'uns on your farm!
[quote=TBKate;3648028]
Oh my goodness! What’s Inka’s story? I just can’t keep up. :lol: You all building Puika quite the harem!
quote]
It is quite amusing all the ladies Puika has to look after now, especially considering his beginnings with Anna and Peter!! So awesome!! 
Sometimes I have feeling that even I can not keep up with this speed Inka has been loved and cared (not ideal, but best intentions). She has no health problems - so far I would say our only horse without health problems.
She has some training problems but nothing drastic, and in general she is very spooky, nervous lady, but again - vet said that it is OK for TR/TB mix. Owner is moving, suddenly, and needed new home for her asap… With winter coming there are no many stables left with a free space… So it happened.
For me she really seems tiny, she is small even in comparison with Shelfa, and when she stands next to Giva she looks like a little donkey. Today I measured her - she is 158 cm at withers. I can easy put my elbow on her back.
Even our pedigree/ breeding officials call her tiny. Maybe here we just are used to 16+ horses, so anything under 16 h is called a children horse. Giva is close to 17.3 now and she seems just the right size for a horse for me.
Here is her pedigree
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/inka
15.2 is a good size - you can call her a Cob! You could breed to a warmblood Pony stallion and make Sport Ponies. Good for the niece!
I think you should make this into a book. I love your stories!
So did I miss whatever happened to Nelson? Do you still have him?
I second whoever said these stores should be made into a book… they are absolutly wonderful!
Nelson is here, of course. He as supposed is sitting in his box - lonely, of course, but he is very popular and he gets a lot of human company. He is brushed, cuddled, is getting the clay applications on his front legs 2X a week, nice sawdust to keep clean…
He always says that he would like to run with others, but he has large window and he is able to see and talk with others 24/7, so probably he is not doing so bad. Bored, but not sad and lonely.
He is on very tight diet - only a half bale of hay daily so he gets a lot of different things on top of that - 1X my favorite pumpkin mash (boiled water over crushed laxeeds and dried herbs , then big slice of pumpkin cut in pieces added, then a handful of bran with vitamins and microelements, half cup of canola oil and on top few slices of carrots), and unlimited amount of nice oat straw at night to keep him busy without putting weight on.
Once a week Peter takes him out for a short handwalk - one round in front of barn (there the ground is dry, smooth and very hard) and he is allowed to nip the grass until I’m making overall cleaning in his box. I can do it when he is there as well but then it takes half a day - he is very cuddly , kissing and nibbling all the time, so there is two ways - to be hard and say him to step away (he is obedient boy but you must see his sad facial expression then, it looks like he will burst into tears next moment) or turn cleaning into a looooong sweet kiss and cuddle game.
Last month here he had lost some weight but he must get off much more before he will be allowed a longer walk/small pen outside so the poor abused starwing boy is peeking out of the window now.
We suspect that Giva has a soft spot for him 
so it will be interesting at spring to see how it will be going.
[QUOTE=Ted the Peep 'Ho;3648169]
I think you should make this into a book. I love your stories![/QUOTE]
I second this!!! A book would be WONDERFUL!!
Anna, I can’t believe how much has changed around your farm! I"m so happy for you!
Although I can’t help but wonder if you and Peter want to adopt ME?
I JUST discovered your blog and have begun reading it… I read your original posts earlier but have not been able to keep up. The last few days i’ve tried to read what I’ve missed and now that I’ve found your blog (and added it to my favorites! I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to all your stories/horses and adventures!!!
please, PLEASE consider adopting me!! I promise I won’t be ANY trouble!!! 
[QUOTE=Seriously_Hunter;3649314]
I second this!!! A book would be WONDERFUL!!
Anna, I can’t believe how much has changed around your farm! I"m so happy for you!
Although I can’t help but wonder if you want and Peter want to adopt ME?
I JUST discovered your blog and have begun reading it… I read your original posts earlier but have not been able to keep up. The last few days i’ve tried to read what I’ve missed and now that I’ve found your blog (and added it to my favorites! I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to all your stories/horses and adventures!!!
please, PLEASE consider adopting me!! I promise I won’t be ANY trouble!!! ;)[/QUOTE]
Oh oh!!! :waives hand: Adopt me too please! pretty please? I’ll muck stalls, and groom ponies, and fix fences, and and and… haha.
Just one picture from Peter’s riding lesson today
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/20-11-08/PICT8241.jpg
But overall Peter is doing better - now he understands better his mistakes
Just one of the jumps
http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=nGRAfUepbIw
Giva has recovered at the stage that now is time to start lungeing - she needs get the right muscles on. So now I’m learning all that - I tried, it worked, and now I must learn at least enough to be sure that I’m not doing something wrong. It is such a shame that we do not have possibility to get BA on horses And then MD… and then… You know what I mean
But at least our trainer is good one, she mostly trains young horses for the professional stable and I really like her attitude. Their last addition was a french stallion, heavily beaten up, scared and panicking, completely unrideable, and you needed to see the love and patience she was putting into his lesson - beautiful. And after the cooling she played with him in the field next to the jumps - step right, step left, back 3 steps, hugs and kisses, left, right, turning, kiss… The stallion was not in fenced area, he had no leadrope on, he was completely free to run away so it was pure love, not obedience.
Peter looks good :yes:! I can’t wait till Peter shows Giva next summer, (local showjumping class) right ??!
You don’t stop amazing me. 4 horses. Inka is nice, Puika is indeed SUCH a lucky boy, I’m so glad for him and for all your other horses that they found you.
Nice little group you got there. Let’s hope Nelson heals quick, so he can have some fun time too!
Well done, you folks are such an inspiration.
Anna - I’ve really been enjoying this thread and learning about horse-keeping in Latvia. You guys are amazing! It just goes to show that good things happen to good people.
Tell Peter that he looks terrific! His progress over jumps is truly remarkable and I’m so happy to see him doing well. He’ll be ready to show in the spring, for sure!
Peter looks like a professional! He is talented and I hope to see more videos of his flat work also. So when are you going to ride?
How is the brood doing? Especially Puika? I worry about him, he was your first and he seems to have the most difficult issues…Does he get ridden any more?
Now you have a herd! and a baby coming…so how many will that make?
I wish it were so simple here to have many horses but board is so expensive that it is almost impossible where I live…that is why one is here in NY and the other in Texas!
Keep the pictures coming…
Ivy, Puika is getting worked every second day - Peter is the only one who rides so it is about maximum that he can do. Not a serious rides - Puika still needs a lot of schooling and to be honest, Peter is not the most experienced trainer so we better do it slowly, just a bit more each time so Puika has fun and Peter as well. Puika tries really hard, but he has no idea how and we just do it slowly, step by step, sometimes only 10 minutes, but with an archievement at the end. A lot of praises and a lot of cuddles - so work for Puika is a great fun, not a burden. When we do something - riding or lungeing, - they all watch and are qeueing up like “me, me, next is my turn!”
Nobody rode here for past few days as we survived great snowstorm - wind, snow, powercuts… A serious one - traffic was closed, public transport delays for hours, interesting fun. Horses did well - extra hay (3 bales each per day ) and they were still hanging outside in snow most of the time.
About boarding horses - prices have gone up ugly here too, so people are selling really cheap just to be sure that horse can survive without being sold to slaughtery. We are lucky - we have quite a lot of our own land here (and much more around to cut hay for free), we have outbilding suitable for stables (I measured - we can keep here about 80 horses easy in that outbuilding ) and a great vet just around the corner - we are really lucky and if something will go really crazy, we shall have space for few more horses.
Now I have serious question to you all with multiple horses about herd dynamic:
Puika and Shella is at the same pen and it seems that never is Puika’s turn to eat - do we need swap the teams? Puika is with Shella as they are the love birds, best buddies and so on, but Shella is not letting Puika eat (by our opinion, maybe for them it is ok?). Giva is in the other pen with Inka, and they do better together - Giva is bossy, but letting Inka get some hay as well.
What do you think? Is there a possibility that Puika is really starving due to Shella or it just looks like that? We are considering putting Shella with Giva and Inka with Puika? Any sugestions?
Just uploaded cygnet episode from our TV into youtube so if you are interested - there it is
http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=m7AmmBluXko
The beginning is about people who had rised them at the first days and then the trip to us. For few seconds Shella is seen With Peter and with the TV journalist.
It may be just as simple as creating several piles of hay so that Puika can always get to one. For 2 horses make 4 piles spaced apart so that Shella cannot guard them all.
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3675522]
It may be just as simple as creating several piles of hay so that Puika can always get to one. For 2 horses make 4 piles spaced apart so that Shella cannot guard them all.[/QUOTE]
I agree- I always put at least one or two piles more than the number of horses. So if you have two horses in one pen, put 3 or 4 piles spaced out far enough so that a horse can’t guard multiple piles.
We had been putting 3 piles, but Shella chases Puika away from all 3 - nicely, nothing ugly, but Puika is such a sweetheart and is leting her do it. Maybe it is because she is pregnant Puika is letting her with everything? We shall swap the pens tomorrow - as Inka is smallest and lowest in the rank, she maybe will be not chasing Puika badly, Giva and Shella know the rules so they can eat together with minor issues - Giva MUST get the first mouthful and then all is ok
Today we did two good jobs - released our last cygnet and relocated electric fencing so horses have a new bit of pastures to enjoy life.
Do not stare at me like that! I can fly, I just do not want just now!
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8310.jpg
(from left to right: Puika, Inka, Giva and Shella)
Babies, time go out!
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8287.jpg
We are coming! (Shella is on front - I think she looks quite pregnant )
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8288.jpg
Three nice bums (look at Giva’s bum now - it is nicely rounded now)
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8289.jpg
Puika is following loves of his life
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8290.jpg
(Puika is so funny now - we are not using lead anymore for him - we lead Shella and Puika follows her like puppy - it makes our life so much easier)
Not a bad life, you know…
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m138/BBCedrik/28-11-08/PICT8313.jpg
