Some of my favourite books when I was a kid...

Well, I had lots of them.  Walter Farley, of course.  I always wanted to find an Island Stallion of my own.  Black Beauty, once I got over the sad parts. ANYTHING by Marguerite Henry--I still check my saddle carefully to make sure all the hair is lying down underneath it because of one of her books. But the one I want to talk about today is an old series, by a man named C.W. Anderson.  He wrote a group of stories about a boy named Billy and his pony, Blaze.

(Taken from www.equitainment.com.au/factsheet.asp?ID=48)

Not only were the Billy and Blaze stories rollicking good adventures, but they also taught about proper horse care. I don't remember lots of details, but I do remember one about a forest fire.  Mr. Anderson was not only an excellent writer and illustrator, but was also an accomplished judge in the hunter/jumper circuit, and his expertise showed in the books.

I thought I would throw that out there, in case you are scrounging for a present for your young equestrian which doesn't have the name video in it somewhere.  They are still available at Chapters. I found them here.

Don't forget about our Gift of Kindness, as well. 

Don't know what to get someone?  Give them the gift of a gift and help support a horse in foster. Gifts can be donated to any of our horses still in foster, not just the ones on the poster.

So, you might be wondering what brought all this to mind, besides the whole Christmas frantic running around thing.  Well, we had a young lady donated to Sadie's Place, who unfortunately didn't make it onto the poster.  And, aptly enough, her name is Blaze.

Now, unlike the Blaze in the C.W. Anderson stories, this Blaze is a filly, but other than that, she reminds me a lot of that little guy.  Coming in at 14 hh, she fits neatly into that large pony category, for those who like hunter classes. She's smart and easy to handle, very relaxed and likes people.  How smart is she?  It took her owner 3 days to take her from sitting in pasture to pulling the jogcart.  And she never batted an eye at it the whole time.  How calm is she?  Well, when I saw her, it was the second day of two nasty, windy cold days.  She had been inside, in a stall, for the entire time. And she stood in the crossties like she had all the time in the world.  No fidgets (except for chewing on the crosstie a time or two), no swinging the head, no running back and forth as far as the ties would let her go.  You would have thought she was 24, not rising 4. Whatever I wanted to do, she was happy to do that. 

Hard to see in this picture, but she's still got a lovely pile of muscle on her, despite being off the track since August.  Her owner raised her from a foal--still has her mother, in fact, and would have kept her if he had enough space and time.  But, he has two jobs, a growing family, and no time to give to her.  So, it is with great regret that he has asked Sadie's Place to find a home for her. 

Now, I say she was retired from racing and, it would be logical to assume that she must have been injured.  Well, she was.  She has a small chip on her sesamoid bone, so small it took two x-rays and a lot of looking to see it.  She is still racing sound, but her owner doesn't have the time and wants her to go to a good home, where he is sure whoever adopts her will fall as desperately in love with her as he and his family are. And I think he's right.  She will make someone a snapping good show pony.  She's very focused, watches her people all the time.  When I asked her to move over or lift her feet, it was like an expensive car--instant response.  She still has her long racing toes, but her next trim will fix that. 

Here she is, being jogged by the owner's 3 year old son, with dad acting as the safety harness.

So, now that I've written all this, I'm wondering if I've been hoist with my own petard.  You see, I'm rather vertically challenged and, while I can appreciate big, tall, handsome boys like Yankee, Tilly and Bandit, I have had to admit that I am past my years of hopping up on horses that are taller than me and bouncing if I fall off and hit the ground. A little filly like this, so smart and just my size, is a serious temptation, especially having had the chance to meet her.  So, to be completely up front here, I think you had better move quick on her, because as soon as I come up with a reason for why we need a third horse in the barn that will work on my husband, she'll be gone and all mine! (insert insane giggling here)

Yep, she'd look mighty fine underneath MY Christmas tree...you know, if Santa brought her, my husband couldn't say no...hmmm, what to leave for Santa Christmas Eve?

Did I mention she comes with a blanket? 

Have to go feed the ponies.  Chance has developed a new, perplexing habit--he likes to dump the last of his feed out of his dish and lick it off the floor.  Very strange, but boys are strange anyway.  Penny likes it best when he decides to share and, I have to admit, they do look cute together, with their noses in his feed dish, although it rather defeats the purpose of giving him all that feed.  Must have a talk with him about that...I wonder how he'd feel about a second girlfriend.

Don't forget to hug your horses!