|
STORY BY
ALIAS
Anyone who knows Shade has
heard about the
loving horse named Charlie who has been with Shade for five years.
First bought at the age of three by the family as a green broke horse,
he was an energetic excitable young colt. Shade had only been riding
horses who were older and more experienced than him and Charlie was
very
intimidating.
Charlie was the first horse
that Shade actually owned. He taught
her everything she knows, from honing her riding skills to her amazing
western competition skills. He was her first everything horse, "Charlie
taught me absolutely everything I knew about riding and horses. He was
my first horse to own. First horse I fell off of. First horse I
trained. First horse I ran barrels on. First horse I jumped on. First
horse...everything. I've had him since his third birthday, and hes
eight now. He turned eight earlier this month."
Charlie and Shade compete
together in many different western
events and have been nearly inseparable for the five years that she has
owned him. Charlie is so smitten with Shade that as she drives down the
driveway in the car, he runs up to the paddock gate and watches her.
This loving horse has been her shoulder to cry on, her best friend and
partner in competition for years and recently, something happened that
might change all of that.
Since the purchase of her new
horse Rev, a more advanced western
horse who will challenge Shade more than Charlie, Shades mother has
decided to lease Charlie to another family about 5 hours from where she
lives. At the end of six months, Charlie might come home, and he might
not. Shades mother has decided that Charlie needs to be sold, her
reasoning is unclear. But we know that this dynamic duo should not be
separated.
The family leasing Charlie
has said that he is a dangerous horse
and that their daughter is scared to ride him, does this sound like our
Charlie? Calm, loving, affectionate Charlie? No. To me it sounds like
he misses her and is unsure of this new environment to which he has
been moved to. They have never been separated for a long period of time
in the entire five years that she has owned him. And now this happens.
Naturally devastated, Shade has tried everything to figure out what
could be causing him to act in such an Un-Charlie-Like behavior. Her
mom however says that if Charlie comes home before the six months are
up, that he will be sold to a lesson stable...
For years before Shades
mother bought her a horse, she had been
riding the docile lesson horses at her riding stable, until one day her
mother heard about a horse being sold by one of the parents at the day
care she runs. The person was thinking of selling a two year old
American Quarter Horse x Spotted Saddle Horse cross gelding named
Charlie. "He was a spunky little horse with a quirky personality." When
they first got him the only under saddle training he’d had was one John
Lyons clinic as a demo horse, so Shades riding instructor offered to
train him. They told the person selling him to keep looking at the time
because they didn't think they would be getting him. They continued on
their search.
For the next year they
searched through a ton of horses described
as bomb-proof, beginner safe, dead broke; but all of them had issues
that turned them away. When Shade was 11 years old, they considered
Charlie again. While Shade was at school and her mom was working, her
mother gave the woman selling Charlie a check to buy him.
Once Charlie was at Shades
riding instructors ranch she told them
that they should let him sit and fill out to age 4 before they started
his training, Shades mother didn't want to pay $200.00 a month to board
a horse she couldn't ride, so they found someone who offered to train
Charlie for $20 a ride. After 60 days of training the woman turned
Charlie over to Shade. "I was a very timid and green rider still,
sometimes I’d even be afraid to brush Charlie because I’d be way too
light and end up tickling him, so he’d shake his head or move around,
etc. But after lessons and supervised training sessions with Katie for
a few weeks, me and Charlie finally ‘clicked.’" Once he had the basics
down her mother decided that Shade should finish him and do what she
liked with him.
"For the next year, all I did
with Charlie was just general
riding. I had played around with trails, patterns, barrels, racing in
the back fields with friends from the barn, doing games during my
barn’s horse camp, all that. It wasn’t until my friends started asking
my to join 4H and show at the fair that I finally realized Charlie and
I actually needed to make Charlie do something. He was too fast for
western pleasure, I didn’t know enough about English to do hunter under
saddle, and a friend at my barn did barrels, so she kind of showed me
the general idea of how to train a horse for it, how the pattern
worked, etc. And I was pretty much in love with the idea that it didn’t
matter what you looked like, how expensive your horse was, or what a
judge thought. It was just you, the timer, and the horse. So after a
year of training Charlie for poles, barrels, flags, keyhole, and down
and back, completely independently, I rode him for my middle school
equestrian team. Every practice I’d do a little English work with him
as well, and when I showed at fair, I ended up winning the Hunter Under
Saddle/Hunter Pleasure Reserve Champion with him as well as placing in
the top three of each of my speed classes."
Shade was very proud of
herself and Charlie, having trained him
and trained him well. But... that's not her proudest moment... "I was
definitely happy with what I’d done at fair, but my proudest moment
with Charlie that year didn’t involve any ribbons or points. It was
when an older lady stopped me walking out of the warm up arena after
the day’s show had ended and told me that she had never seen a horse
and rider as connected as me and Charlie were. She said that she’d been
around horses her entire life and hadn’t seen any two beings of any
kind just be able to work that naturally and effortlessly together. I
was pretty much elated, because it was the first thing I've ever done
by myself, something special, that I could be really proud of."
Over the next few years Shade
worked on herself as a rider and on
her bond with Charlie, strengthening and expanding it to where she
could call Charlie from the driveway gate and he would come running to
her. She worked on English events and barrels and turning Charlie into
an all around performance horse. She rode on her middle school and high
school equestrian team and placed in every class aside from English
bareback equitation, and qualified for the Michigan State Horse Show in
2007. She placed placed top five in barrels, poles and down and back.
She was extremely happy with Charlie and their bond.
"This past year, I qualified
with twice the amount of points
needed for the Michigan State Horse Show 2008, and placed top five in
every class I showed in; barrels, poles, down and back, and keyhole.
Don Trout (notable, if not famous, equine photographer) said that
Charlie was calendar worthy as we walked up to the photo backdrop for
our Top Five photo. One of his assistants mentioned that me and Charlie
seemed to ‘match’ in personality, which could be true. My friends would
probably agree that Charlie and I are basically the same beings in
different forms, we’re both really goofy and will only do things for
people we really care about or love doing. With me and Charlie, its
never really been work riding him. Barrels, English, trails, or even
just walking around the arena bareback its therapy, if anything. I’m
looking around my room as I type this and I've counted 32 blue ribbons,
three reserve champion ribbons, 11 second place ribbons, 7 thirds, 5
fourths, 2 sixths, and 1 eighth place ribbon just within my range of
vision, just from a couple open shows, state, and county fair, just
from two-three years of semi-active showing. But its not really the
metallic cloth that comes with a couple points that I love Charlie so
much for, it’s the fact that he’s been my foundation, my rock, my
shoulder to cry on, for so long, more than any other person or animal
has ever been in my entire life. I've put my blood, sweat, and tears
into this horse, but there has been times where sometimes I’d think
Charlie wasn’t enough of a challenge for me, that I needed a faster,
more advanced horse, but at the end of the day, he's just that ONE
horse. And he will always be that for me. He's not top of the line in
breeding, he's not sleek or elegant, he's just that little PtHA grade
pony that made my life what it is now. And I really, really, really
don’t know what I’d do if he just wasn’t there one day. I really don’t
know how to end this little blurb, because I don’t know whats going to
happen to me and Charlie. He's officially for sale according to my mom,
and I’m going to do everything in my power to fight that.
Charlie is now officially for sale. He came home from the boarders
on Saturday night October 18th. Here's hoping that this wonderful duo
will not be separated. We love you guys!
|
WRITTEN
BY SNOWKITTY
 be
bowled over by some of the odd in-game messages they've received. While
some of these can be entertaining, others are advertisements, which
many find irritating.
As an experiment, I
asked the communities on Virtual Horse Ranch,
Virtual Pups and Sand Box Farm: "When other players send you in-game
messages as advertisements, how do you respond?" As usual, responses
were numerous and enthusiastic.
"I generally don't
consider in-game messages at all," said Parker of
Virtual Pups. "The advertiser usually offers 'great dogs' that are
actually low-statted and poorly trained., but if you're talking about
things advertised in chat or the forums, those tend to be... genuinely
interesting."
After noting that
polite, informative messages were easier to consider,
Firemedic of Virtual Horse Ranch agreed. "I generally do not respond to
an in-game message. I have a mission in mind already when I log in, and
they are just distractions." Firemedic continued to say that chat,
bulletin board and forum ads were better choices, though forums are
"not as effective."
"The private messages
though, are along the line of the telemarketer
that calls at dinnertime," Firemedic added. "I do not think they work."
Akutenshi of VHR also
doesn't make a habit of considering such
solicitations. "Why? Because I state on my ranch summary and my ranch
layout (that) I don't appreciate such things."
However, many players
are happy to consider and respond to even the
most unwanted of advertisements. Cecelia of Sand Box Farm wrote, "I
anticipate people messaging advertisements to me. I always consider
what they are selling, and if I am interested they are messaged back
immediately."
Trukrchk of VHR responds similarly. "I always check [them] out," she
said. "Sometimes I buy a horse, just to help out. Sometimes, I just say
'Sorry, but no thank you.' Everyone was new at one time or another,"
the player pointed out, "just some individuals go about the game
differently."
Perhaps, then, there
really is substance to the "junk" mail game players are receiving
daily. Only time will tell.
POLL: "Do you
look at or consider the animal, art, or other goods the person is
trying to sell?"
"Yes, if it
seems like something I'm
interested in."
- 100% of Sand Box
Farm
- 36% of Virtual
Horse Ranch
- 66% of Virtual
Pups
"No, I
probably won't want it anyway."
- 63% of Virtual
Horse Ranch players
- 33% of Virtual
Pups players said
|
STORY
BY KHOLRAN
|
It’s not uncommon for pet
owners to
want to
share their own food with their animal companions. After all, they‘re
just *so* adorable with those big puppy dog eyes. Who could say no?
With the upcoming holiday season, pets often find themselves with an
abundance of human food to choose from, but not all of it is good, or
even safe, for our four-legged friends. There are certain things that
should never be shared, no matter how cute the cat looks or how much
the dog begs.
Chocolate. The fact that chocolate
is dangerous to dogs and cats is
fairly well known to pet owners. Chocolate contains a chemical called
theobromine, which acts as a stimulant. Too much can lead to an
increase in heart rate, permanent heart damage, or death by heart
attack. Even in small doses, chocolate can cause diarrhea and gastric
upset, leading to dehydration. So how much is worth calling the vet
over? Toxicity is based largely on the dog’s body weight. A small dog
will be at higher risk than a large dog when fed the same amount. The
type of chocolate is also worth considering. Baker’s chocolate,
semi-sweet, and dark chocolate have higher levels of theobromine than
other types. No matter the type, chocolate should never be given to
household pets, even in small doses.
Grapes/Raisins. It is still unknown
exactly why grapes are so
dangerous. It is thought that a compound in the flesh of the fruit is
responsible for the toxic nature. As little as a few ounces of grapes
or raisins have been known to cause acute kidney failure. Like
chocolate, grapes or raisins can also cause gastric upset, vomiting,
and diarrhea, leading to a loss of fluid. While not all dogs are
equally affected, use caution with both grapes and raisins.
Onions and Garlic. Less well-known
is the fact that both onions and
garlic can be lethal to dogs. Both of these foods contain sulfoxides
and disulfides, which damage red blood cells and cause anemia. These
substances also build up in the body, so small amounts over time are
just as dangerous as one large amount. Cats are more susceptible to
onion and garlic poisoning than dogs, but always avoid foods containing
onion or garlic.
Dairy Products. Throw away the image
of cats lapping
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milk from a
saucer. Most adult cats (and dogs too) are lactose intolerant.
They
lack sufficient lactase (an enzyme) to adequately break down dairy
products. Feeding milk or ice cream to an
animal that can’t digest it
causes major internal digestive problems. Vomiting and diarrhea are the
most common symptoms of lactose intolerance. Dehydration soon follows.
Chicken Bones. While the bones
themselves are not toxic, chicken bones
splinter when eaten. Shards of chicken bone can get stuck in the
animal’s mouth or throat, obstructing the air flow. Worse still, pieces
of bone can escape the stomach relatively unharmed only to lodge in the
animal’s intestines. These sharp pieces can puncture soft internal
organs, causing major internal damage. They can also block the animal’s
bowel and prevent the excretion of waste, which then builds up in the
animal’s body and is very toxic.
Xylitol. This chemical is found most
often in sugar-substitutes (think
diet soda, sugar free gum, and sugar free candy). When ingested, it
increases insulin production and decreases blood sugar, leading to
brain damage and fatal liver failure within 24 hours if left untreated.
As little as three grams (equal to about five sticks of sugar-free gum)
can be lethal to a 65 lb dog. Naturally, smaller dogs are even more
heavily affected.
While it may be tempting to share a bit
of our holiday meals with our
pets, for their safety, it’s best to stick with their own food. No one
wants to spoil their festivities with a trip to the emergency vet’s
office. For a list of other foods that can be dangerous to pets,
consult this list provided by the Humane
Society of the United States. |
WRITTEN
BY DRAGONWINGS
Nooo, that’s not nice.
Last night, I cooked up
a huge batch of green beans, with sliced
tomatoes, garlic, and bacon. My grandfather is in the hospital, so
we've been rotating cooking and staying with my grandma, who’s like me,
only older and more onry... and even funnier if that’s possible.
So anyway, last night I
cooked up a HUGE batch of bacon. I used to love
bacon. I lubbed how you could chew on a piece of bacon for an hour and
it would STILL taste like bacon, They should make bacon gum. They have
bacon Jelly Bellys, but you never get enough in the pack, and besides
sugary bacon is nasty.
So, I spend 2 hours
cooking up a poop load of green beans, and bacon
and such, and my house smells like bacon and my hair smells like bacon,
and all of a sudden I never want to
see/touch/feel/smell/eat/throw/cook/steal/ another piece of bacon as
long as I live.
So for dinner I had a
huge bowl of baby carrots, some green tea, and a caramel rice cake.
Now, for those of you
who are unfamiliar with my pet situation, besides
the horse and great Dane, I have 4 Hobbits. They’re about a year and a
half now, and they’re funny as hell, and keep me entertained.
(right about now
Prancer would make the "OMG Draggy you’re the old cat
lady!" joke, and I’d swat her, and she'd go cry to Nitty, who would in
turn laugh at her.)
Frodo, Sam, Pip, and
Merry ( the poor, lone girl ) are pretty normal
cats. They’re not spoiled, they have manners, and they don’t fart in my
face. They have open reign to some of the food I eat (tuna, veggies)
and aren’t interested unless I'm really hungry, or I try to hide it
from them.
So after fishing Sam
out of the toilet ( Okay...yes they have water
bowls...2 of them, because Sam is famous for dunking is whole head in
the bowl, then shaking off, sending the other cats running from the
evil water droplets. Sam loves playing in the toilet :/ I always leave
the lid down, but when people come over they forget.) I went and got my
carrots and such, and sat down to monitor chat and annoy Rain.
And Pip sat next to me
the whole time, staring at my bowl. The other cats? Didn’t care, wasn’t
anything good supposedly.
 But Pip just sat his happy orange ass next to me and
watched my hand go in and out of the bowl.
So I took one out, and
asked him if he wanted it. He just looked at me, so I ate the carrot.
So I get down to my
last baby carrot, and finally he meows at me.
What Pip?
*meow* "Momma can I has
carrot?"
Nooo, I tried to give
you one, you didn’t want it. This is my carrot.
*mrrrooooooooow* "Momma
I wants carrot now"
Uh uh. Mine. Go away.
*rrrrooooooooooooooowwwwww*
"but Momma my tummy says growl!"
No. You have cat food.
and unless Sam went scuba diving you have water too.
*mew* "But I’m hungry"
Oh good grief.
*paws at carrot*
"Hungry Momma, give kitty carrot"
Fine. Here.
So I set down the bowl,
he grabbed the carrot, and ran off by the sofa,
and started chewing on it. Then he left it on the floor and hid behind
the sofa and started pouncing at it.
He's currently guarding
it from Merry, who is as nosy as I am. She's
been tackled twice for trying to get it. And it’s amusing me.
My vent? The Puss In
Boots face. I now know where Antonio Banderas learned the look from :/
And I wanted that damn carrot.
WRITTEN
BY ALIAS
|
Cats have long been around the history books, from the God’s watchful
eyes in Egypt to the Witches familiar in England and the old Americas.
All across the world people have stories about cats. This time of year
though, it’s mostly one type of cat that comes to mind. The Black Cat.
Cats have been said to have nine lives, godlike powers and the ability
to predict mass death. We will start with the earliest dating story I
can find…
The domestication of cats began in
ancient Egyptian times, around
200B.C. The early Egyptians learned of the companionship and mousing
skills of cats and began to worship the cat. They were believed to be
an earthly incarnation of the Egyptian goddess Bast or Basset, and
therefore, killing a cat was punishable by death. The Egyptian cats
were not mere housecats however, they were eyes of the Goddess, because
of this, priest had cats in the temple and when they wanted to show
offering to the Goddess Basset, they would give the cats the finest
fish and pamper the temple cats. When cats died they were mourned by
the family that cared for them. They often shaved off their eyebrows as
a mark of respect for the cat. Mummified and entombed in precious
coffins made of bronze or even wood, the cat is buried in a special cat
graveyard. They are often unearthed with caches of mummified rats or
mice to tide them over in the afterlife. So how did cats go from
revered to… largely feared?
The answer lies in Europe. Cats
began to spread to other
continents and more and more people began to see the cats’ ability to
keep small rodents at bay, thus more and more people began to keep
them. This was, however, the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Medieval
times brought the worst time in history for the cat, Cats
|
were believed
to be agents of the devil, and to possess magical powers. Pope Gregory
IX declared the cat to be a "Diabolical Creature". Persons that kept
cats were suspected of being witches, and were put to death along with
their feline pet.
Cats were beaten, killed and
driven away from towns and villages.
In fact the domestic cat population of Europe came close to being wiped
out. Some of the superstitions from those times surrounding cats, have
survived history, such as believing it bad luck to let a black cat
cross your path.
People were being burned at the
stake and accused of being
witches. People with cats were supposedly witches and black cats were
witches in disguise. Cats were seen as consorts of the Devil and were
subjected to large amounts of torture and brutality. The persecution of
cats was so successful that they almost went extinct, and with the
amount of black cats killed, it’s surprising to see the color still
alive… Unless, black cats really do have nine lives! Witch hunting died
out and with it, cats once again became the rat-catchers they were. The
11th century brought the Black Plague and cats became vital to killing
the vermin that were associated with the epidemic.
North America isn’t immune to cat
history, while there were many
varieties of cats in the Americas, but they were not domesticated or
recorded as domesticated until the Europeans came to the continent. The
cats, after a long and tiring boat ride from Europe, were imported to
help with the mice and rats that were known to attack grain and rice
stores, they also helped keep the population of mice and rats to a low
in the settlements.
These days cats are our companions
and our friends. Some cats,
like Dragons’ Hobbits, keep us amused with their cat-ish antics and
their adoring behavior. Other cats are still roaming the streets,
surviving on food that they catch for themselves… or that people feed
them. They are no longer seen as evil and persecuted and nor are they
seen to be witches familiars by the population. Remember to keep your
cat indoors for the holiday season, this is a time of many people
walking around, some people might see a cat and assume it has no home…
this could lead to your pet being lost. Take an extra precaution and
bring outdoor cats indoors for the season.
Have a safe holiday everyone! And
for those of you Trick–or-Treaters… BRING IN THE CANDY HAUL!!! |
|
|
STORY BY
ALABAMA
“Send Evy gifties and
She loves you for life,”
so says the subject of that sentence. You see, Evlon of VP is a
hoarder, though of the best kind. She can’t get enough of those
specially dyed dogs, especially if they are dragon related, though she
also likes mythology and Native American based colors. But let’s face
it, Evy isn’t all that picky, in her own words, “if I find one that I
don't already have and I can afford it I won't say no.” She doesn’t own
a rescue, most of her hundreds of colors are won in auctions or the
best way for her to get them is to trade her artwork for them.
And artwork is another
thing “Evy” is known for. She started out
doing her own artwork for all her colors, but, “this thought poofed as
soon as I hit 100. I'm 300+ now, but I'm considering making line art
for some of the breeds that I've got a lot of and just recoloring it to
fit the gifties,“ she says. She feels her artwork and willingness to
help other artists or would be artists may have helped her be
nominated. “People always ask me how to do things, mostly art related.
I take as much time as needed to make sure that they learn to do what
they wanted. Also I attempt to be polite to every one, and respect
individual opinions,” she says. Not only is she polite and respectful,
she has a wealth of knowledge that she’s gained in the almost three
years she’s been playing and she shares that knowledge whenever someone
asks. 
Besides her art and
gifties, Evlon enjoys improving some of her
favorite breeds on VP. She has a few different breeding programs going
at any one time, focused mainly on wolves and foxes, including Dire,
Eastern Timber, Nijitazosqtal Decoy, Artic and White Wolves, Red and
Gray Foxes, and various other related species, “so too many really!”
she says, “But hey, why stick with just one or two breeds?”
Like most new players,
she didn’t start out with things such as
breeding programs and color hoarding businesses. Back in February of
2006, a friend from another site kept talking about Virtual Pups and
she decided to check it out and “fell in love with it.” At first, she
bred her dogs indiscriminately and trained them however she felt like.
For other new players, she suggests “Not to go it alone at first. Hop
on the forums and ask for help… There are so many programs for
beginners, like free good quality dogs, and sponsor mentors.” Evlon
doesn’t actually participate in any of those programs, but she does
have some things she likes to do to help new players out, such as
giving show trained dogs out and letting people event them to make
money, among other things.
Her VP project “pets”
aren’t the only ones she has. In real life, Evy
is also somewhat of a collector with 12 pets, including four dogs, five
cats, two fish and a pinto horse whom she lets hang around in the
pasture and get fat. And her taste in real animals is also somewhat
unique. Among her dogs is a Hokkaido Inu and a wolf hybrid along with a
Japanese Bobtail cat and the fish of course can’t be ordinary gold fish
or zebra fish, they would have to be crown tail bettas. “A nice
ying-yang theme seeing as one is smoke and the other is white and red,”
she states.
When not playing on VP
or doing artwork for VP, Evlon is busy with
college and likes to watch anime. “Oh yes! I almost forgot, I spend
most of my free time with my animals. Kinda hard not to with 4 dogs
living in your room.”
So for this player, art mirrors life which in turn mirrors playtime and
Diversity is the name of the game.
WRITTEN
BY
JNFERRIGNO |
|
|
“The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes
were green
He had the nerve and he had the
blood
There never was a horse like the
Tennessee stud”
– Johnny Cash “Tennessee Stud”
In the 1950's men were
already singing about these gold colored green
eyed horses, and who knew that in 1969 the birth of a unique colored
filly would start a whole new chapter for Equine Color. The filly’s
name was Champagne Lady Diane, and her offspring would soon baffle
leading researchers across America.
Scientist could not explain
the mare’s pumpkin like color, as a result
they passed it off as a freak occurrence. Samples had been sent to two
different labs, and neither had an answer. It was not until a third
generation of breeding, that equine color specialists started to pay
attention. However, no answers were formed as of yet. Some times, to
better understand equine color, the simplest thing to do is open up a
history book. It has been my experience that recorded details which you
think were insignificant turn out to be a Godsend.
Behind
A Name
Before being recognized as a
color, these champagne horses were often
called pumpkin skinned due to the unique way the gene dilutes both hair
and skin pigment. This pink skinned horses developed dark freckles
(different from mottling) that often resembled the blotchieness found
on
the skins of pumpkins. This freckled skin, and their near golden orange
coat color, is how these horses got the name Pumpkin.
It wasn’t until years later
that these horses would
|
be called
Champagne. This unique name can be attributed to the brood mare
Champagne Lady Diane, a suspected Amber
Champagne mare. In honor of the
mare’s name, and the her uncanny resemblance to sparkling wine, all her
colored offspring were registered as “champagne-colored” according to
their papers. It is through this tradition that the color’s name stuck.
Unlike the Pumpkin Ponies found in VHR, if it were not for Champagne
Lady Diane, we could have truly been breeding our very own real life
pumpkin ponies.
FROM
"THE MASTER OF THE HORSE"
History of
“Champagne” Horses
So like many unique
equine colors, champagne dates back to fifteenth
century Spain. What was often thought of as Isabel (or Isabella) was
actually a champagne variant. Nowadays the name Isabella means
different colors depending on what country you are in, but back then it
meant a cream color horse. However, this poses some difficulty, because
there are two dilution genes that can mimic a cream color, those are:
the Cream gene, and the Champagne gene.
Queen Isabella of Spain
kept well over 100 of these animals in her
royal stables, and the only way to obtain one at the time was through
her good graces. At one time, she gave them as gifts to knights who
served in the war, and this is how some historians believe the
champagne gene began to spread. It is often thought that Queen Isabella
bred palomino horses, however evidence suggests that what she bred was
actually cremello or ivory champagne horses. Though palominos would be
part of the foundation stock for such colors, |
ultimately they were not
the goal at the time. The horses which she sent home with German
knights, were to begin the foundation
for the Royal Hanoverian Creams.
These cream colored
horses with cafe-au-lait manes and tails, were used
for British royal processions. Historic books show pictures of a light
colored horse with legs a few
shades darker and a darker mane and tail.
Since these photos are all in black and white, we can not tell the
color exactly, however we do know that the points on these horses were
not black. Since color photography was not invented at the time, we
look at historic paintings instead. These paintings clearly depict a
champagne colored horse, more often gold champagne, however many are
ivory champagne, and later in the 19th century there are coach strings
of classic champagne horses.
Along with sending
these horses to European knights, Queen Isabella
also sent horses with her Viceroy in New Spain, which is now called
Mexico. This is how the cream and champagne colors made their way to
North America. And through the Spanish Colonial horse, Americans
founded new breeds mixed with European imports. As a result of this
importation, almost all American breeds can be found carrying the
champagne gene.
It is not clearly known
what happened to these champagne colored
Hanoverians, however it has been documented that the last of them were
sold off in 1920 due to financial need. Some American Cream Draft
breeders say their stock is based off of the old Royal Hanoverian
Cream, however Hanoverian breeders never heard of such a thing, and
admit that the color was most likely phased out due to it’s lack of
desirability at the time.
For over a hundred years, a historic breeding program was forgotten,
and it wasn’t until recently that people began to understand how to
breed these champagne colored horses once more.
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