Happy Halloween Everybody!

Growing

Milva is officially started under the sadle and doing very well. She is a bundle of pure pleassure and a more lighter, sensitive and responsive horse will be hard to find.
No matter what other people say - like I ever cared what anyone else said anyway, I´m very very glad I waited for her to turn 7 years before starting her seriously under the sadle.
Fact is that horses are growing until they are 6 - 7 years old. Trakehners grow until they are 7 years.
There are alot of opinions out there about when to start a horse. Well, in Marion´s World it´s not until the horse is fully grown. Which sounds logical, healthy and responsible to me. I´m aware of that most people think different and yes, I´m aware of the financial cost.
Ask yourself the question who and why people came up with the idea to ride a horse when it´s 3 years old.
In the old days horses where used for work, transportation and people depended on them. To have a horse was luxury and of course the people wanted to use the horse as soon as possible to get something out of it.
Same thing in the competition world - it´s all about quick results.
Don´t get me wrong here - I do not critize anyone starting their horses early and honestly I do not care what other people do - or think.
Live and let live.
Back to Milva. Shawn rode her a couple of times first and everything went smooth.
Today I rode her with only a savvy string around her neck. To ask her to go forward I only need to bring up my energy a little bit, meaning sitting straighter in the sadle and of she goes. I´m not using any legs yet. For turning I just use my focus and weight - no legs there either or carrot stick. For stoping i use the sss-sound and turn down my energy, no reins needed.
Pictures and movie will come.

Switching Turn-Out Stable

Malin and I switched our little herd into the middle turn out stable, which is perfect I think.
The middle turn out stable is a little bit smaller than the other two which means that it´s only going to be our four horses and no additional horse. I always worried when a new horse came into our herd because you just never know if it works out or if one of the horses gets hurt or not. When Annabelle came, the little Haflinger, Orkan got kicked pretty bad and needed to be in the hospital for a week and he had stitches for two weeks. When Bea came into our herd she got kicked by Tinka and needed to have stitches and boxrest for two weeks.
One less problem to think or worry about.

Wonderful Tonight written by Pattie Boyd

 An iconic figure of the 1960s and ’70s, Pattie Boyd breaks a forty-year silence in Wonderful Tonight, and tells the story of how she found herself bound to two of the most addictive, promiscuous musical geniuses of the twentieth century and became the most famous muse in the history of rock and roll.

She met the Beatles in 1964 when she was cast as a schoolgirl in A Hard Day’s Night. Ten days later a smitten George Harrison proposed. For twenty-year-old Pattie Boyd, it was the beginning of an unimaginably rich and complex life as she was welcomed into the Beatles inner circle—a circle that included Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Jeff Beck, and a veritable who’s who of rock musicians. She describes the dynamics of the group, the friendships, the tensions, the musicmaking, and the weird and wonderful memories she has of Paul and Linda, Cynthia and John, Ringo and Maureen, and especially the years with her husband, George.

It was a sweet, turbulent life, but one that would take an unexpected turn, starting with a simple note that began “dearest l.”

I read it quickly and assumed that it was from some weirdo; I did get fan mail from time to time.... I thought no more about it until that evening when the phone rang. It was Eric [Clapton]. “Did you get my letter?”... And then the penny dropped. “Was that from you?” I said....It was the most passionate letter anyone had ever written me.

For the first time Pattie Boyd, former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, a high-profile model whose face epitomized the swinging London scene of the 1960s, a woman who inspired Harrison’s song “Something” and Clapton’s anthem “Layla,” has decided to write a book that is rich and raw, funny and heartbreaking—and totally honest and open and breathtaking.

Mirror Mirror

Summer 2009

Our relationship with the horse can be seen as reflecting of our relationship with nature and our own selves...We see that instinctive, spirited energy has a place in horses' survival, and maybe our own as well. ~S.L Richards

Trakehner Familienalben erzählen - Erhard Schulte

A magical treassure book and a must have for all Trakehner lovers. Even if you don´t understand any german it´s still worth to get the book only to look at all those magnificent pictures.
Erhard Schulte describes the life of charismatic, famous Trakehner breeders after the IIWW.
The book is full of wonderful pictures of famous Trakehnerstallions and Trakehnermares - a who is who in the Trakehnerworld.
Even though the Prussian people lost everything in the IIWW and had to leave their beloved land and houses behind, they still were passionated about their horses and did everything to keep the Trakehner alive.
On a personal note - I found lots and lots of Milva´s ancestors in the book. Not only pictures but also stories behind the horses and their owners. Suddenly it was not only a name but the horses became alive.
I found it always easier to find information and pictures about stallions but in Erhard Schulte´s book I also found information about Milva´s famous mare lineage - and pictures!
Milva comes out of the Trakehnermare family MELDUNG von BURGBANN aus der bäuerlichen Zucht von Szagun Pagulbinnen. I was thrilled to read about Meldung!

Above is a picture of Meldung. Meldung was still born in Prussia and went on the big Trek in winter 44/45. After thousend of kilometers and several weeks walking in the deep snow and cold Meldung and her humans finally arrived safety in West Germany. It incredibly to think about what those Trakehner horses achieved!