Bur-Dals Ginanah,
a registered Arabian mare, loves Megan Novotny
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Megan(left) and Kristen(right)
lead Supreme Tsamaz, a 3/4 Arabian mare.
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Megan leads Supreme
Tsamaz (Tsammie). |
Kristen leads Tsammie.
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Notice the hands
around the saddle horn! |
Hey, this horse is
easy to ride! |
Giddy-up!
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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.
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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!
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