Tiny Falabellas

 
The Falabella is the smallest horse in the world, being 7 hands high (about 70 centimeters) at the biggest. They are any colour, but black and bay are the most common. Their average life span isn't any higher then 30 years old, just a bit below that. 
 There are two story's about their origin, but the more likely one is that a family with the last name Falabella owned a ranch in Buenos Aires, Argentina, called the Recreode Roca Ranch. They bred some really small Shetlands with a very small Thoroughbred they owned. The result was a almost perfect horse type miniature with a thick mane and tail and a large head compared to it's body. 
 One of the smallest Falabellas was a mare called Sugar Dumpling who was only about 20 centimeters high at her withers!

Bashkir Curly horse?!

 Bashkir curly horses are genraly  about 14.2-15.1 hands high but can be all sorts of shapes and sizes including  pony sized. They come in any colour such as pinto, spotted/appaloosa, palimino (left) etc, and live for about 25 to 35 years. The curlys origin, like the Arabian, is completly unknown but there are 7 totally different story's that can't be proved. Their history is a bit more clear though, with the first officail sighting and breeding don by the Damele family. John Damele and his family lived in Eureka, in the middle of Nevada, and it was him and his sons who first saw 7 curly horses running amongst some wild mustangs. In spring, 1931 they caught one of the curly horses and took it back to their ranch where they broke it in and later sold it. The winter of 1931/1932 was one of the roughest in American history, and all of the Dameles horses were completly wiped out, but the curly coated horse lived. Afterwards they started catching more of them and trained them to be cow horses that could be relied on in the cold Nevada winters.
 They are very tough and can survive all sorts of crazy cold weather conditions, which, added to their good temperments, health, and  the fact that  they are pretty much good in all disaplins, makes them very good alround mounts.
Some interesting facts about them are that there are less then 5000 curlys left in the world, about 10 percent of them have a special additional gait (such as the Fox Trot, Indian Shuffle, Running Walk, etc) , and some people say they SMELL diferent to other horses??

He he he! I love the snow! : )

The Arabian horse

Arabians are said to be some of the most beautiful horses in the world, and stand at about 14.1-15.1 hands high. They are genraly grey, black, roan, chestnut, or bay, with bay, grey, and chestnut being the most common. For years Arabs lived in the desert with people, and for protection from being stolen, prized war mares were sometimes kept in their owners tents, where they were close to children and everyday family life. Only horses with good temperments were allowed to have foals. And because of this, they are some of the few breeds that the United States Equestrian Federation (do not ask me what that is!) allows children to exhibit stallions at nearly all show classes including those for riders under 18.
People don't really know anything about the Arabs origin, but records show that the breed has been around for about 5000 years.
Also, they have quite dished faces and the photo above is a good example. A dished face means that from about it's eyes and down to it's muzzle is kind of scooped in so it's a bit like a banana, although some have this more or less then others. And last of all the most a Arab has been sold for (on record) was a stallion called Comegeto who feched $350,000 in 1977!!!

The Exmoor pony

It's kinda strange, everyone's looking at us....

Exmoor ponies are brown, bay or dun with black points and stand about 11.2 - 12.3 hands high. They are very intelligent and make good ponies for kids, although they are strong enough to carry a small adult!

 There are only 800 Exmoors globally  and less then 40 in North America making them on the endangered list for horse breeds. So I  wouldn't expect to see any in New Zealand any time soon! Here is a website that is really good if you want to know any more about horse breeds....... http://horsebreedslist.com/

The Knabstruper horse

The Knabstruper originated in Denmark, Europe. It started with one chestnut blanketed mare which was bred with a Fredricksborg stallion. Together they had a madly coloured colt. From here they were established as a breed in 1812, and became some of the most sought after horses in Europe at that time.
 They are about 15.2 - 16 hands high, although there are also pony sized horses at under 14.2 hands high. They have very attractive markings with black or brown spots varying in size all over the head legs and body. Knabstrupers are well known for their kind temperments, strength, stamina,very high level of trainability, and their wonderful colour. And their average life span is 20 to 35 years!
 

Who's a posh piggy now?!

'Puffball' eating out in our kitchen!

 On sunday i made our guinea pig 'Puffball' a sandwich. At first i made it just for fun, but then i had the idea of actually having a table, and then it was the sign, and finally (and most importantly) ....... the towel! And here's how to make your own sandwiches for your little piggies!





How to make sandwiches for guinea pigs!


(serves one)
You will need...


half a piece of bread
2 table spoons of grated carrot
1 thin slice of apple 
broccoli,raisins,etc 
purple cabbage chopped finely


First get the halved bread and put the slice of apple 
on top.Then put the carrot and cabbage on, a bit of your guinea pigs favourite food, and put on a plate!
Yum yum!:)


Note, if you are going to let your guinea pig eat inside, then put down a towel just in 
case he has a little...um...... accident.

Paper clip zip!

 Hi! Today I made a 'paper clip zip'. Obviously, they're made out of paper clips and they go on your zips, but there're also fun to make, and look really cool! We got coloured paper clips so that made them look extra cool! I got a blue one and a green one and as the green one was already in a spiral, I had that one on the end and bent the blue one into a zig zag, put a G bead (of course) and two heart beads on it, attached it to my zip and I had an extra cool, non plain, jumper!





warning! 
Please use pliers when twisting paper clips, unless that is, you want very sore fingers!