Wow! Has it really been a whole year?! Boy how time flies!
You and your beloved Peter have done very well. BIG APPLAUSE!!! 
Well, keep it coming. I may not post much on this thread, but I love your stories and pictures! Happy Anniversary!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Anna!
You have come so far sooooooooo incredibly quick.
I get butterflies in my belly when I think of how lucky & happy Puika must be. All your horses are wonderful and what’s even better, no matter how novice you think you are, they are all cared for wonderfully, the pictures you share with us speak for themselves :yes:.
You might feel like a novice, but what you have accomplished for the horses in your care is like a milestone. You and Peter are a goldstar to those furry 4-legged sweethearts.
Indeed a “big applause” is well in place for Anna & Peter!!! :yes:
Wished we had a “clap hands” smiley to insert here 
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I love this thread, please keep updating it! It’s really inspirational to read it from the beginning (I spent 3 hours 1 night reading it all!) and see how far you’ve all come together.
Happy Anniversary Anna! We love you!:yes::yes:
Happy happy day Anna. You are a wonderful inspiration and I am so happy to see the job you did with your special rescues. hahaaahahha but I see you really have a herd now. You cant just have one horse now can you LOL
So happy to know you.
Anna- Happy Anniversary… This thread makes me believe on people again…Good people that are willing to go out on a limb for something that needs them…The love and courage you guys have shown should be a book!
Keep it coming…How does Puika like his harem? How is Shella doing?
I still think you need to adfopt all of us and we will move to Lativa animals and all…
Hope for many more anniversaries…
MUCH agreed! Congrats!!! :yes:
Happy Anniversary, Anna! You and Peter are the best!
I read this thread and your blog as well, Anna. Congrats on everything you have accomplished with the horses!
From 0 to 60 (MPG) in one year! 
Today was a great, sunny day so some pictures to show, but our main news are Prega She is getting better .
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9315.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9319.jpg
Now she tries to walk along with human, her head at the same level as human’s shoulder, no lead, just by herself. So far she can hang it for 4-5 steps (her’s, not ours) only and then she rushes again, but at least it is 5 volunteer steps now. She is definitely frightened of humans, not other things (we have bales of hay covered with flapping plastic sheet, and she never showed any interest about it when passing). Others are OK, quite happy.
Puika today
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/PICT9264.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/PICT9270.jpg
Girls all together
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/PICT9266.jpg
Giva
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/PICT9288.jpg
Peter had a nice day riding a bit the stallion who sired Shella. He is a sweetheart (stallion, I mean)
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9152.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9215.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9230.jpg
And this is our nice vet
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq222/ozolkalni/09-02-09/PICT9193-1.jpg
That stallion is g o r g e o u s!
Very nice. Does your vet own the stallion? Does the stallion ride primarily dressage?
You’re lucky to have such close access to a great vet.
Prega may have had some unpleasant human experiences in the past, who knows. Sounds like you are making progress, which is good for her.
Giva, what a queen! And boy does she know it :D. I also thinks she knows she’s Peter’s special horsey. 
Wow Anna, seems like yesterday when I first stumbled upon this thread and what a year it has been for you and all the lucky animals! Horses, dogs, swans and whatever else may need some TLC!
Yes, he was boarded at vet’s for a while, she fell in love with him and bought him. Last year he got the top ranking between young stallions of the Latvian breed. Now she is slowly training him to become a dressage horse.
Prega HAD (we know that now) very unplesant human experience - she was beaten up heavily for everything, mostly because of the bad mood of owner. But now she learns to trust and love humans again - at present it is our main target.
Anna, Congratulations a million times over!
Your horses look so furry, muddy and happy!
How big is Giva again - she looks like such a giant next to Peter!
And is Nelson still on lockdown in order to lose weight?
And that stallion is beyond beautiful.
Yes, Nelson is stil inside waiting for the vet with Ultrasound to give him last check and then he will go to his new home where he will start easy walks slowly. I’m very happy that we found Nelson a very suitable family and about 4 miles away from here so easy access to go and visit him.
I know they are muddy but they are just doing nothing and I enjoy looking how happy they are rolling in mud - they do have a normal, easy life now until spring will come.
And the best news - Peter had a good ride with Giva today - nice canter just for fun, the first one under saddle since she had been here - she is wonderful to ride, and we do hope that this summer she will be able to start a serious job and then let’s see - maybe 5 ft jumps next summer. She is keen, really keen.
No worries, Anna - muddy = happy in my book!
Anna- That stallion is GORGEOUS! Is he the one you used for Shella? Your horses look wonderful and my has your herd grown…How many are planning on keeping? I am so happy that you guys have done this amazing thing for these horses…
Keep the stories and pictures coming!
Yes, ivy, that is the stallion that we used for Shella - he is from well known Latvian draft horse line, quite light build (for Latvian draft, of course, compare him to Puika, for example) and I do hope that the foal will be quite nice.
I picked up that stallion for 3 reasons - all important to me:
a) he is very sweet with a really good temperament (to both - humans and horses). Actually as it was meant to be our first foal ever, temperament was more important to me than stallion’s performance (something like a training foal for us) - Latvian breed horses sell well as hobby horses due to nice temperament so I was thinking also about that. Only later I understood that last year this stallion got the highest marks between Latvian breed young stallions at certification;
b) as owner is our vet and she also is very interested into the foal as well as breeders association (his is from rare line so every foal counts), she promised me every help that I would need - from foal watch up to the training. As this probably will be my first foal I need all the support and advices possible - remember, I’m still a very novice;
3) price for live cover was quite important too as we are not a wealthy bunch here and Shella’s repro history was quite misterious - Shella has good pedigree and her performances were good also as a showjumper, so she is definitely worth breeding but she had just one foal 7 years ago (he is quite a good jumper here, nice boy)… Why only one? No answers, so I didn’t wanted to spent a large amount just to find out that she has repro problems as well.
So far Shella is doing great, no wheezing even now when she spents most of the time inside in the box, so now I’m waiting for April to see how it will be then - for heavey horses April is the worst here.
Now we are seriously considering about putting Giva into the foal. Her withers still are not 100% and by our opinion it would be better not to plan any serious job for this summer. Vet and trainer agree. Few days ago Peter let her canter under saddle and she really enjoyed it and was not showing any pain, but still - even light jumping would be different story and we do not want to do anything silly to destroy her back again. So we are searching for the suitable stallion and so far our pick is this:
http://www.fp.agenturserver.eu/kempkehof/englisch/hengste_first.htm
(scroll a bit down, there are quite a lot info - my gut feeling says “yes”, but I do continue searching. Here, in Latvia we have 3 more or less suitable hano stallions, but 2 of them have not nice temperament (and are passing it to the children) and the third one is passing different health problems to his children so I do not want use him as well.
Our choice is limited by chilled semen offers only - we can not use frozen semen as we have only 2 licensed vets to work with frozen, and one is leaving the country in March for the season. I do not want be stack with one vet for the whole country on top of the season 2 hours drive away from us. So chilled only so it must be close enough for a quick delivery (Germany is the nearest with a good choise) - so here we are seriously thinking, searching, working out expenses and so on…
About keeping… Nelson has found a new, very good home already, so next weekend probably the vet will be here to look at his leg seriously, and if all will be OK, he will leave soon after that (road is not safe, very icy now, so no rush - I know that jolly well, today we went into quite serious car accident due to the icy road, our poor car needs serious job now but at least we both are ok and alive).
In the 1st May we will know about our two boarders Brenda and Prega - according to the contract, if bording fee will be not paid until then, they will beame ours - only then we shall start thinking about them, but probably they will be here at least for a year - Brenda is pregnant and if foal will survive, we must wait until it will be weaned, and Prega needs a lot of love and care and training to be used for anything).
So if the boarders will go until then, we shall keep Puika (that was the whole idea about having horses - to keep Puika happy), Shella, Giva and Inka. Only 4 + one foal hopefully. In worth - 6 horses + 2 foals until new girls will be adoptable.
But I already have few potential adopters lining up now, so that’s OK - one horse (18 yo retired gelding from the terapy riding facility for disabled) already had found home without even coming here - the gelding has one problem - he is not friendly to all other horses, he is picking up a friend, and is quite agressive to others, so he would be better alone with a buddy. Other than that - he is retired therapy riding horse so very very well trained and more than safe to ride, and suitable for a mild ride with a lot of joint supplements. I found him a brilliant, very suitable home with a family who just want a horse to roam around for love and for easy walks sometimes around the forest (he will be their 4th retired horse and references were great). He will be in heaven there. So I’m getting into it
From the other side - my fear is not dissapearing, it is even growing. It is not like I’m frightened of horses themselves, no, when they are in the box, I can cuddle them all day long with pure love and no fear. When I need walk them or just hold them - I’m frightened. Not about the horse, about my legs, I can not trust them, they are weak, bad knees, and if something happens, I will not be able even to jump on side. That makes me feel very unsafe. We discussed it with the trainer today and she suggested me ride the horse after Peter’s lesson, just slowly walking until horse dries out. Maybe that will help me build up more confidence.
Peter had his riding lesson today and did quite well, so he will try out some shows this summer, just for fun, probably on the school horse (they both like each other)
