My Herd since I acquired Magic
Spiritshadow was born April 7, 2001 – he is Magic's colt. Magic was bred on May 11th & 13th of 2000 to Kim Bars Shadow - a registered Appaloosa. When Shadow was born he had a bent right front leg, an infected umbilical cord and when he was 1 week old he needed a plasma transfer. By the time he was a month old the vet put a PVC pipe on his right leg to straighten it – it stayed on for 2 days and when we took it off his leg was much straighter. The farrier started working on Shadow from the time he was 3 weeks old. I had to keep his hooves level to make sure his leg stayed straight. It has been chore but for the most part his leg is fairly straight now at 3 ½ years old. In November of 2002 - my Husband to be - Mark arrived at my home for a visit. I took him to show him the horses. At that time I would spend up to 3 hours a day with the horses - feeding, cleaning, brushing, petting and just plain socializing with the horses. So as far as the horses were concerned - I was one of them, and they were not used to having other people in the stalls. Mark and I were talking just inside the stalls and had been for about 1/2 hour. I wanted to show him Magic who was on the other side of the babies stall and I just walked across the stall assuming that he, Mark would follow - but what I did not see was that Shadow did not accept Mark as readily as I did and he crossed in front of Mark telling him not to go any further - Mark Ignored it and then Shadow kicked Mark - right in the shin. It sent Mark back into the railings on the ground - it did not break the bone but sure gave Mark a welt on his knee that took 6 months to heal. So much for assuming that my horses accept all humans as they do me - especially my Appaloosa.
Catalina Maagic – Known as KitKat was bought July 1st, 2000 as a buddy for Magic while she was pregnant with Shadow and a gift to my Granddaughter Amanda who was 12 years old August 29, 2000. KitKat is full blood Arabian bay, born March 2, 1997. She was 3 years and 3 month old when I got her and she was green broke. She would take a saddle and rider but did not like the bit – she did not understand the “go forward” but Amanda had a great time working with her and just being with her. KitKat is still not fully trained, but she does not buck and can be ridden with a halter. I am planning on using the Parelli method of training for all the horses – just need to find the time. Amanda is 16 years old now and does not have a lot of time for KitKat. KitKat is 2nd in charge after Magic and keeps the babies – now 3 ½ years old - in line. Magic is very attached to KitKat and does not want to be very far from her. For the last 2 years the horses have lived as a herd, in open stalls. They are able to roam around in a large arena and 5 smaller areas where they can be separated if necessary. One of the smaller areas was set up as a pasture – it is not very large so they only get to go there once a week or so.
Greyhawk – Known as Hawk was acquired October 8, 2001 as a weaning buddy for Shadow. Hawk is a PMU baby from Canada. He is a pure bred Percheron (no papers) about 5 months old when I got him from United Pegasus Foundation. He arrived in Hemet, CA with 250 PMU babies from Canada – a 40 hours trailer trip. Hawk is a gray Percheron – as a baby he was black with white flecks of hair in his coat – now at 3 ½ years old the black is getting dull and more white is coming out. I am not sure if he will go all white or just dapple gray. Either way will be just fine. When I first saw him there were at least 100 other babies in the arena at UPF. He just caught my eye – so kind and gentle, but frightened and did not want any humans near him. He had at least 30 fly's in his right eye. I was just drawn to him – he seemed very special. I stated to look at his confirmation – but stopped – I had already been drawn to him for some reason and did not want to discourage my choice as I knew he was the right one for me and Shadow. My roommate brought him home for me and when we arrived at our ranch – Magic had a fit. She did not want this colt – who was younger but larger that Shadow anywhere near her baby. Shadow had been weaned for about 4 weeks but was acting very depressed so I felt a weaning buddy would help and I had wanted to get a PMU baby so that is were Hawk came in. When I unloaded Hawk – I opened the railings to let him in with Shadow – but since Magic made such a stink, Shadow was afraid and did not want to be anywhere near Hawk. So I moved the railings so that there was a separator railing between Hawk and Shadow – Magic was in a stall right next to Shadow but with plywood up so we would not nurse. By morning Hawk had moved the string tied railing, he pushed through to be with Shadow and both were laying down quietly next to eachother. By then Magic had accepted him. Hawk was the best thing in the world for Shadow – he taught him manners and it gave him a playmate. They bonded as buddies very quickly.
Jypsi Treasure – Known as Jypsi is another PMU baby that came from Canada a couple weeks after Hawk did. She came to TIER – the same rescue that I got Magic from, but I did not see Jypsi until April of 2002. When Shadow was born I had really wanted a filly. I did not get Hawk as a filly since Shadow was a colt. Now when the boys were 1 year old and being gelded soon, I saw Jypsi out at the TIER rescue and just could not pass her up. She was black and friendly and curious and oh so smart. And her mane was long and curly like a Fresian or Morgan. I have always loved Fresian's and have wanted one as much as the Appaloosa. So on May 5th, 2002 I brought Jypsi home to the boys and Magic and KitKat. My fifth and final horse for awhile. I do not know Jypsi or Hawk's birthdays but they are sometime early in May 2001 – about 1 month younger than Shadow. Shadow and Hawk – loved Jypsi right off. She wanted to play with them so I made sure that the boys were gelded right away so the three of them could be together. By December of 2002 I got married and we moved the horses to some rental property with our trailer and 2 ½ acres where the horses are just a few steps from our front door. My husband works at home, so the horse always have someone around even though I wish it could be me – that will be in the future. Jypsi has been designated as Cheyenne and Heathers' horse. Heather and Cheyenne are close to the same age and will be part of Jypsi's training process. Heather has already been able to sit on Jypsi - the first person ever. Jypsi was not to sure what was happening but was very good - she did not buck. When I tried to get her to move she would move her front legs but not the back ones - after some coaxing she finally was willing to walk around in a good size circle. When Heather got off, Jypsi's back was drooping - We will need to work on strengthening Jypsi's back so she can carry the weight without a problem.
Majestic Spirit (Magic) – Shadow's mom has been with me for 5 ½ years now. She is a Throughbred and is about 21 years old. She has had some rough times, she does not trailer to well and gets very nervous – which causes her nose to bleed. I had a friend Shane spend about 20 hours working with her to trailer so she will get in the trailer better now but she does not like staying there very long. Just before we were to move to our current home – there was a terrible wind storm and one of the horse metal covers came off and flew into Magic's right eye and cut the cornea, and gave her a concussion. The vet said that her eye would probably end up blind but the concussion would heal. She had a terrible head ache for some time before the swelling went away. The scratch on the cornea healed but I believe that she can only see shadows out of her right eye. She is 21 years old now and has a hard time keeping weight on. She gets supplements and extra feed to keep her weight up – but not to much or it will cause problems with her back. She has a chiropractor adjustment every few months. She had the adjustments every month when she was pregnant with Shadow and it helped a lot – her pregnancy was full term and very easy for her. She was very clear in telling me when she was going to give birth. She was still at a stables when she had Shadow. I saw her every morning and every night. The week before Shadow was born I would spend extra hours in the evening to stay with her – but would leave about 10pm at night when I did not believe she would deliver that night. Finally on a Friday night – she was pacing very much and I believed this to be the night so I slept in the cab of my truck – by 12 midnight I was so tired I got her heavy blanket and put my sleeping bag on it and went to sleep in the back of my truck. I woke up about 4:10am hearing her grunt. When I got to her stall I saw Shadow's feet sticking out of her. By 4:25am she had delivered him. He was slow in getting up because of his bent leg but I was happy he was there. In June we move to our own place where Magic and KitKat and Shadow where in the front yard of a 5 acre home. Then January, 2003 we moved where we are now. In October of 2003 the San Diego fires hit – they came to within 1000 yards of us – to the top of the hill but they did not come down the hill. But they were close enough that the horses were moved to a ranch a mile ½ West of us. The Hidden Horse Ranch – a great place and a super bunch of people. The Sheriff came with a trailer to move 2 horses – the babies would not load so I had them take Magic and KitKat – I knew they would be OK alone without me. When the Sheriff came back he had a 3 horse trailer and the babies loaded this time – Hawk first – but he turned backwards when he got in the trailer – I had them leave him this way so he could see Jypsi and Shadow. Jypsi went in next and she did just fine. Shadow took a little longer as he did not like the trailer episode when coming to our current home but finally went it – whew – they made it. The HHR kept all 5 horse for 8 days – feed them and trailered them back home for NOTHING. I was there every morning and every night to clean stalls and blanket them. Shadow got a bit colicky and was irritable so I did not want anyone in the stall with him for fear he would kick – well he did – he kicked me. I did not want any one to get hurt – so I made sure I took care of them everyday until I brought them home. I was able to get them out of the stalls once before they came home and let them run. This arena was bigger that the one at home and they had a good time. Shadow saw a Cow for the first time and just about freaked. He snorted and stomped so much that I had to move his stall away from Jypsi and Hawk to be next to Magic before he would settle down. I guess he is still a mama's boy. The trailer ride back home was good and they were all glad to be home again – running and kicking and bucking. Eeeeeehhhaaa! There was another fire in August 2004 – just as close but not as big and put out very quickly. The horse's took it in stride. Now we have rain – lots of rain and mud. Oh well – we just need to visualize and meditate on a barn to keep them dry and out of the mud. Soon I pray!
