Operation: Let's have a real-life Knabstrupper! Current Stage: BABY IS HERE

[BlackOak2]

She does look like she's filled out a bit. But maybe that's her 'summer black' parts of her brown coat.

[Silverine]

Day 161 Update

So Mojo and I have had some pretty exciting things happen over the past two weeks.

First, Mojo hit five months on the 7th! That meant it was time for her first Pneumabort vaccine! She was not happy to be pulled away from her best friend for it but was happy when I put her back out less than five minutes later.

Vaccine from the vet. (I picked it up from them and gave it to her without them needing to come out.)


Mojo hanging out with her best friend, Dana, after I put her back out.


Then last Saturday Mojo went to her first ever licensed dressage show! I've been looking into getting her registered as an American Warmblood. Her pedigree is unknown, so she needs to meet the performance requirement. In this case we're going for the dressage requirement of 62% or better on Training Level Test 1 or higher. Unfortunately I was unable to ride her myself due to an injury, but my trainer agreed to ride her for me so we decided to go anyway. So with the show on Saturday we had to do prep on Friday.

Mojo telling me what she really thinks of show prep:


Prepping of course took quite a bit of time. I also had to braid a mane for an actual show for the first time ever so that was interesting. Mojo also had her ears clipped for the first time and was not a fan. But in the end she was sparkly clean and ready to shine!



I left her in the stall overnight and kept my fingers crossed that she would stay clean. Thankfully she did. I got to the barn bright and early on Saturday, redid a few of the braids that Mojo had rubbed out overnight, loaded her up, and headed on over to the show. We got there with no trouble and then got to spend the morning relaxing while waiting for her time in the ring.



Here's some pics from the warmup ring:




And my girl being an absolute rock star:






Despite being pregnant and having a lack of consistent work while mom has been... "incapacitated", Mojo still managed to show that she really is a wonderful horse. She got tons of compliments from the more advanced dressage-y people, and my trainer's trainer even said she looks like she could go far! She had a few little bobbles in her test - she tried to break to trot while cantering and my trainer had to get after her, and one of her circles was a bit... off - but even with that she looked amazing. Even better, she scored 63.077%!

So Mojo has officially met the performance requirement to be registered! Now all I have to do is fill out the paperwork and pay the fees and she will no longer be just some random grade pony from nowhere - she'll be a registered grade pony from nowhere!

Anyway, I didn't get a pic of the test because I had to leave before it was ready for pick-up and I've spent the past week on vacation but I'll upload that once I have it in-hand. For now, here's a pic of Mojo's after-show "fro".

[BlackOak2]

WOW!

She looks great. She has really come far. And, it looks like motherhood is doing her wonders in that ring.

And... I must say... the best part about it, is that after-show fro. I mean, those with straight hair like it when the curly Q's stay in for awhile!

Congrats.

[Silverine]

She really has come so far from when I brought her home. I wouldn't say it's the motherhood making her look good - I think right now that's just all the hard work we've put in.

And right? I wasn't expecting quite that much puff but I probably should have. I'm wondering how long they stayed that way since I left for vacation right after dropping her off.

[Tenacious Equine]

That’s amazing! Congratulations to you and your now-registered warmblood!

I was unaware that grades can be registered as American Warmbloods if they meet the performance level, but that’s fascinating! My own horse is a Haflinger/APH cross and that sounds like it would be an interesting goal for him (the highest I’m planning on competing him is Novice).

[Silverine]

That’s amazing! Congratulations to you and your now-registered warmblood!

I was unaware that grades can be registered as American Warmbloods if they meet the performance level, but that’s fascinating! My own horse is a Haflinger/APH cross and that sounds like it would be an interesting goal for him (the highest I’m planning on competing him is Novice).

Yeah, the fact that AWSSR allows horses of any (including unknown) breeding into the registry is part of the reason why some people look down upon the registry. If you're curious, this is the page explaining eligibility. I personally really like it because while everything has the potential to be accepted, not everything will be accepted. You have to have a performance record. Whereas a lot of breeds will register a foal as soon as it hits the ground, AWSSR requires the foal to prove it can perform (or to come from a verified pedigree of at least four generations of performance). I'll use AQHA as an example of the flipside of this where anything that has two AQHA parents is automatically AQHA.

Basically, AQHA just records the horse's breeding. AWSSR records breeding (if available) but is more interested in recording performance. So I guess one is a breed and the other is a registry? But that's pretty par-for-the-course for warmbloods, they're generally more registry than actual breed.

[BlackOak2]

I remember when I did John's mane, it took about a day until it lost all of the curl. My own hair doesn't keep a curl at all, but if I braid it wet, wait for it to dry and then take it out, it'll hold a good day until I run some water back over it.
I'm sure it did have only a little to do with being preggers. But being preggers can level off and balance out a lot of those hormones. Well, you're familiar with such things.
This unborn is getting more and more interesting! I'm getting anxious to see it hit the ground!
...
However... I'm not a fan of the time that must still be experienced. -_-
ah-ha!
Patience is certainly a horrible thing to experience.

[Silverine]

If it makes you feel any better - we're about halfway there. Today was day 164, and if she goes on her due date (which I doubt) there's only 176 days left. So six days until the actual mid-point.

But I'm betting on her taking two extra weeks. Considering she's a maiden and she's due early spring it's likely she'll go long.

Then again there is a full moon on March 18th... So my two guesses as to actual birthday are March 18th (19th if it's past midnight) or March 30th (31st if it's past midnight).

[BlackOak2]

Hmm... -_-
The day she'll drop... -_-
Hmm.... -_-
Going off of your March dates, I think I'll split it a little, March 21st.

And, perhaps... it does help a little. Talking about things in the future as if they're in the now, sometimes makes it seem better. Don't know why, but it does.

Oh! I just got a fresh image in my head. Little foal with a black front, a blanket over most of the back and back half, with a very distinct paint crossing the withers and straight to the hooves. Looked like a chimera horse. Cute little brown (had a tawny nose).

[Silverine]

The 21st is my niece's birthday. BIL is the next day. I hope it's not either of those.