Bur-Dals Ginanah, a registered Arabian mare, loves Megan Novotny

Megan(left) and Kristen(right) lead Supreme Tsamaz, a 3/4 Arabian mare.

Megan leads Supreme Tsamaz (Tsammie).

Kristen leads Tsammie.

Notice  the hands around the saddle horn!

Hey, this horse is easy to ride!

Giddy-up!

Allie Gushura makes friends with Supreme Tsamaz  in the arena, about the only dry place at Windt im Wald Farm on May 21, 2004.

It's time for Allie to mount. Tsammie is certainly ready.

Allie plays with  Tsammie in the arena.

"Oh, wow! This is such great fun!" Both Allie and Tsammie are doing so well!

In December 2003 the Country Critter Journal printed a coloring picture of a team of two horses pulling a sleigh with a couple of people, some Christmas presents, and a dog. The winners of the coloring contest would be from two age categories, 5-7 and 8-11. During the first week of January 2004 Windt im Wald Farm called the families of Megan Novotny (age 7) and Allie Gushura (age 9) to let them know that these girls were invited to a free riding lesson at Windt im Wald, aboard a “wild and crazy Arabian horse.” Winter 2004 really hung on with lots of snow, ice, frigid weather, and terrible driving conditions, making it very difficult to award the prizes to the two winning contestants before spring.

At last spring arrived, bringing with it the sunny, balmy days of May and at last an opportunity to meet both Megan and Allie and their families. As the Fickle Finger of Fate would have it, April’s showers extended well into May, and both winners were faced with showers when they arrived here at Windt im Wald Farm. Thank Goodness for our enclosed 60’ x 120’ riding arena. Often it has not seemed big enough, but it worked well during Megan’s and Allie’s visits. While the rain poured outside the arena, we were all warm and cozy and having fun.

On Saturday, May 15, 2004, we were pleased to meet Megan, her older sister, Kristen, and her parents. All the horses in the barn were likewise pleased to meet the members of the Novotny family. Bur-Dals Ginanah, a little grey purebred Arabian mare, was particularly pleased with the attention and love that Megan lavished on her, and both girls made Supreme Tsamaz feel very important. Tsammie is a ¾ Arabian mare and the head horse at the farm; she helps us break young horses on the trail. Very soon Tsammie had the Novotnys offering her treats. She always knows how to wind humans around her pretty nose. After the girls put a halter on Tsammie and led her to the arena, we discovered that Kristen was just as fond of horses as Megan.

Megan, whose legs were far too short to reach the stirrups on the saddle, learned very quickly how to direct Tsammie with just a pair of reins clipped to Tsammie’s leather halter. In just a short period of time Megan was totally on her own, directing Tsammie to walk, stop, back, turn left and right, and trot, all the while sitting very straight and confidently.

Kristen did just as well. Though her legs were longer than Megan’s, her feet did not fit in the stirrups either. She sat Tsammie well and quickly mastered the whoa, go, left, right, and back signals. She was particularly adept at getting Tsammie to hold a trot while maintaining her balance nicely.

As for Tsammie, she was the center of attention, receiving pats, hugs, and tons of kind words from these two polite young ladies. Tsammie, ever the mistress of knowing how to say “Yes” on cue, won everybody’s heart.

During the week of May 21, severe thunderstorms became a common, but not welcome, occurrence. Allie Gushura and her dad, Bob Gushura, were certainly brave during the frightening weather of Friday, May 21, 2004. They arrived just as a terrible electrical storm brought hail, frightening wind, rain, and falling trees. Even more frightening was the loss of power in the barn and in the arena. Nevertheless, Allie was obviously happy and excited to meet Tsammie and vice-versa. Allie’s dad was both knowledgeable and calm around all our horses, and we all soon agreed that a horse’s behavior was more the result of its handling than of its bloodlines or its particular breed.

As we walked in the rain to the arena, we were certainly grateful for the emergency light at the back door. As a result of that light and the two open arena doors, there was a little daylight, but not much. It looked dark enough to be evening at 5 PM. In order to get pictures, we and Allie’s dad used flash attachments. Good old Tsammie did not even flinch as the flash attachments went off. Additionally, Tsammie walked over a plastic tarp and over plastic PVC pipe without losing a beat. She even walked into an old brittle plastic swimming pool just to show us that nothing, not rain nor lightning nor flashbulbs, would make her feel uncomfortable.

Once Allie was in the saddle she was able to direct Tsammie to go, whoa, trot, walk, turn left and right, and back up. Again, like Megan and Kristen, Allie worked Tsammie without a bridle or bit. Although both doors were open, Tsammie never attempted to walk out of the arena, but followed Allie’s directions. Once Allie had dismounted, Tsammie demonstrated her famous ground tie and let Allie play with her.

Thank you, Megan and Allie, for entering the 2003 Christmas coloring contest. We are happy that you gave Tsammie a good workout and helped prove that Arabians are not wild and crazy! We are pleased that Tsammie demonstrated that no horse needs to be handled roughly to be able to perform willingly. You all did such a great job!

We look forward to having a new coloring contest in late 2004. Watch for it in the Country Critter Journal!