Happy 12th Birthday Farah!

Horsemen sometimes refer to twelve as magic year in a horse's maturity.  Old enough to finally know something & young enough to be in their prime.  Since Farah is now that age, I thought it would be fun to recap her life to date~

5-16-2008 - 2-years old - OR

Farah has had that magic something - from the beginning.  Called presence - she has it in abundance.  A look-at-me attitude - combined with a beautiful, exotic look that can never be replicated.  I took the photo above the first time we visited her.  With a forward attitude & willing nature - she's a truly wonderful ride.  Her walk is fast, her gaits are smooth & she loves to run!  Everything I could want in a horse, this mare has.

11-28-2009, 3-years old - OR

I only have a couple photos of Farah during these early years.  She had good care, was treated with kindness & from what I've been told, was easy to start under saddle.

7-21-2010 4-years old - OR

Once she was ours, I wanted only the best for her.  I'd learned a lot over my 20-years of horse ownership.  Butch & I had both paid in our dues with competition in Competitive Trail & Endurance.  I wanted to provide Farah with the best standard of care & the training she'd need to become an all-round saddle horse.

7-7-2011 5-years old - Granite Falls Thoroughbred Farm

Our amigo & mentor Dean Essex, DVM had re-trained me to ride his way.  As he's fond of saying; "If you stop learning, you might as well be dead."  He made me into a better, more confident, rider. 

6-15-2012 - 6-years old - Victoria Tract, WA

Farah was definitely worth the effort, learning from every ride, each better than the last.  This isn't to say that they were all golden!  On one of our first trail rides with other horses, after she was rude & I put her in the rear, she cow-hopped & tossed herself around, the entire 10-miles.

5-1-2013  7-years old, Warmblood Inspection - Poulsbo, WA

I had to do some research back through both the breeder & another prior owner to get her paperwork together.  I applied for her acceptance to the American Warmblood Society.  Not a breed, but a performance horse registry.  

5-17-2014 - 8-years old - Mt. Adams, WA

With all the miles we were on the trail, I let temptation prevail & by 2014, entered her in her first 55-mile endurance ride, Mt. Adams.  She loved it!  I loved it too, since she was the most athletic horse I'd ever ridden.  The thrill of riding a horse strong enough to just bound up steep mountain trails & keep on going, can only be experienced.

5-15-2015 9-years old - Mt. Adams, WA  (photo by Jessica Anderson)

Our second time at Mt. Adams, I decided to just let her do her thing & she won.  The following year, there was only one more award I wanted to achieve with Farah.  Holding her back to second place, she won Best Condition by a large margin.  We only did a ride a year - so to do them so easily made a statement about her level of fitness & love of competition.

4-11-2016 10-years old - Quincy, WA

There's never a year she doesn't improve over the last.  It amazes us how smart she is & how in tune to her environment.  It was very hard to have to stable her once we were in IA...  The lack of places to ride & less than ideal living conditions for her, made things more difficult than I'd expected.

9-29-2017 11-years old - Brushy Creek, IA

This year, when Farah was offered a place to live, on a beautiful farm, my prayers were answered.  Now, I can just make a short drive, saddle up & we're on our way.  More time to ride, more time to spend with her & knowing she's comfortable again is a huge relief.

Janice, Farah & Connie

Today, Linus & Kay along with Kent & Sheila - (visiting from North Carolina) came out to work on the pasture fence.  Dean on the tractor is another integral part of what's become a great team effort.  Janice & I did our best to supervise.  Even Carol, Kay's mother, was able to pet Farah.  The first time she'd been close to a horse for many, many years.  By late afternoon it was time for the first picnic of the season.   Farah has taken to Janice - more than I've seen her like anyone in forever.  Maybe all those carrots have something to do with it :-)

This year Farah celebrated a beautiful new barn of her own & new friends who made it all possible.  A special birthday all round!