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March 2008: Belle is 2! The time has gone by so quickly, it hard to believe it. She's sailed right through that awkward, gangly stage without a backwards glance, and went right to beautiful. Her base color does appear to be bay, and I'm guessing if so, then her mother must carry the agouti gene, since her father does not. Belle is going gray much faster than her half brother, Dharby, (who was base color black)
She is out with her mother once again, and I now have the side by side comparison of the two of them. And Belle is taller. She isn't as rounded as her mother...not yet. But I remember what Jerusha looked like at 3, and I think I know how Belle should turn out. ;-) She really does look like her mother in gray. Carol once told me the Bedu have a saying: "A foal follows its mother" and I can honestly say that I now know what that truly means. I am looking forward to watching Belle grow up and I can't wait to see what she'll do next. She has shown herself to be very balance, and she REALLY likes to jump. Especially over puddles.
Belle is still growing, although it does seem to be in spurts rather than continuous. She looks and moves JUST like her mother, only in gray. Her willingness to please continues to amaze me, even knowing her parents as well as I do. There have never been any fights over anything. Belle will stop, look at whatever, look to me, and go on. We've walked through deep mud, puddles of water, over fallen trees to name a few things, and there has never been anything even remotely resembling fear. She reminds me a lot of her half brother, Dharby, who is now working under saddle and going out on trails. When the weather warms up, I will be looking to teach Belle to pony from Shah. She spent her initial months in the paddock with "Uncle Shah" and I know he's as steady as they go, so there should be no issues. I'm trying to learn how to set a horse up for halter, and have been looking at picking up some videos to help me out, since I've never been much of a halter fan. But it's as good a place to start introducing Belle to the show ring.
November 2006: GTS Al Mas Hura AKA "Belle" is growing by leaps and bounds.....and I mean that literally as well as figuratively most days. She is taking after her mother in many ways, "look at me" attitiude and movement. She's quite....agile...yeah, that's a good word.
We've submitted her hair samples for DNA verification, and her papers should be arriving any day now. She's a very dark gray, but definitely gray none the less. The "plume" is visible in her tail when she runs now. She's fat and sassy, with a hind end to die for. Look out all you Quarter horse fans; We'll make converts of you yet with this one.
I'm thinking we'll finish the weaning process this coming long holiday weekend, since I'll be off and will have time to supervise if needs be. Bitty has begun to "just say no" so I don't think it'll be a big issue.
Belle is already moving on command for both left and right, and backwards with just my voice and a point at her side or chest. She stands very well for the farrier (and we DO like to keep our farrier happy...LOL) already ties, and she is just 8 months old. She's proving to be pretty sensible and far TOO smart some days. I'm going to have to be on my toes with this one and it's going to be interesting to see if I have what it takes to stay ahead of her learning curve. It's truly amazing to watch how these horses figure things out--you can almost see them think. I have been working with her a little bit at a time since I've been far too busy with work and don't seem to have enough day light left by the time I get home. But thankfully a little bit seems to be all it takes most days. Let's hear it for brains AND beauty. ;-) "
Original: On March 22, 2006, CSA Jerusha presented us with a brand new filly. A new Managhieh Hadrujiyah!
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