LOSING MY NOBLE AND GREAT HORSE!

In my fantasy series, "The Mist Trilogy," I made up a story about the noble and great horses who are chosen to be unicorns when they die.

I now have sent a second "noble and great" horse to Celestia, the unicorn kingdom in the afterlife.

On Sunday, Oct. 15th, my beautiful Kit left this earth life. Kit was an amazing horse that I had the privilege of owning for twenty-two years. He was almost twenty-nine when he died which is old for a thoroughbred. His health was not great. He had already lived through a surgery to remove a tumor around his optic nerve. He also had to have daily medication for cushings. Cushings is a common desease in older horses though it has been diagnosed on rare occasions in younger horses. The symptoms include: 1. Excessive thirst and urination. Normally, a horse drinks 5 to 8 gallons of water a day. A horse with cushings drinks 20 gallons of water a day. 2. His coat gets long and doesn't shed in the summer. 3. He looses muscle tone and weight and his eyes get dull. They often develop a hay belly. 

Your vet can do a blood test to determine if your horse has cushings. It can not be cured but can be managed with medication. I was giving Kit daily Prascend pills by hand. They made a world of difference.

However, even with the best of care that I was giving Kit, I can't stop time.

Kit was the leader of my band of horses at my house. Yet he was always the gentleman. The other horses respected him and deferred to him but he was never unkind to any of them. I called him my "benevolent dictator!"

Kit was the RMDS Dressage Champion at First Level and First Level Freestyle. He was also the cover boy for all my trail guide books titled: "Riding Colorado." I bought him as an untrained six year old and trained him to compete in Dressage and ride the trails in the Colorado mountains. We shared some amazing adventures together.

I am so grateful that I had the privileged of owning and loving this amazing horse.

Here is a beautiful poem that a friend sent to me. Maybe it will make you feel better if you've lost a horse, too.

Don't Cry For The Horses by Brenda Riley-Seymore

Don't cry for the horses that life has set free.
A million white horses, forever to be.
Don't cry for the horses now in God's hands.
As they dance and prance to a heavenly band.

They were ours as a gift, but never to keep
As they close their eyes, forever to sleep.
Their spirits unbound, forever to fly.
A million white horses, against the blue sky.

Look up into Heaven. You will see them above.
The horse we lost, the horse we loved.
Manes and tails flying, they gallop through time.
They were never yours, they were never mine.

Don't cry for the horses, they will be back someday.
When our time has come, they will show us the way.
Do you hear that soft nicker close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses, love the ones that are here.

If you would like an autographed copy of "The Mist Trilogy," go to the website: 

www.dancinghorsepress.com

The series is also available in print and ebook wherever books are sold.

MY BEAUTIFUL JAZZ IS EARNING HIS UNICORN HORN

It has been a very sad 10 days for me. On Tuesday morning, Jan. 30th, I went out to feed Jazz, Kit, and Hardy and I noticed that Jazz was panting. Horses don't pant! I immediately called the vet thinking colic. When he came, he noticed that Jazz's heart rate was nearly 200 bpm. Normal is 40! And it was arhythmic (uneven and irregular.) I loaded him into the trailer and took him to Littleton Large Horse Hospital.  They told me that the problem wasn't colic, it was a problem with his heart. After doing an ultrasound, they found a tear in the aorta. After trying for several days to get his heart rate down and rhythmic, they realized that his heart was failing. I had the devastating experience of having to say goodbye to my wonderful friend and dance partner. I am heartbroken.

When I bought Jazz 12 and 1/2 years ago, my goal was to take this untrained Hanoverian gelding up through the dressage levels until we reached 4th level. It was a fantastic journey, training and working together, moving up through the Dressage levels. Last summer we made it! We competed at fourth level and earned our scores toward the USDF silver medal for 4th level. We were actually working toward competing at Prix St. George this summer. The last time I rode him he did five 4-beat Tempi changes perfectly. It was so fun. We were in perfect rhythm together. 

Besides being my dressage partner, Jazz was just a wonderful, loving horse. This is the most recent picture of him saying "Hi" to my 2-year-old grandson, Landon. 

I also started riding him on the beautiful Colorado Trails the last two summers.

I had so much fun with him!

Now my dream horse is gone and I am in horrible pain.

Those of you who have read "Behind the Mist," know that Jazz is the star of "The Mist Trilogy." You know that I believe that animals live forever just as we do. I know that Jazz is in heaven. It is just that I miss him so much. It hurts so much to walk into the barn and see his empty stall and unused saddle and bridle. 

For several days, I was of the mind to never ride again. But, you know what? I can't do that. It is true that my heart is broken but I can't cut that same heart out. Horses are part of who I am and I can't deny who that person is.

What the future will bring, I don't know. I'm kind of relying on Heavenly Father to make that clear to me. But, while I always planned that Jazz would be my last horse, I now think there may be another horse in my future.

Just a note: My deepest thanks for all the kind words of love, understanding, and sympathy from so very many people. Your concern strengthened me.

THE GREAT VALEGRO COMES ACROSS THE OCEAN

The 2015 FEI World Cup for Dressage will begin in Las Vegas starting April 16 and the star-studded cast is arriving for the red-carpet treatment. Already adjusting to the dry air is the brightest star of all...VALEGRO! This magnificent horse was a double world champion in 2014 and has already been immortalized as a Breyer horse (that's my goal!) He was the Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix Freestyle Champion at the World Cup last year. In fact, I don't think he has been beaten since he won the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics. He wore gold for both the team dressage and the individual dressage with a score of 90.089%!

This Dutch Warmblood gelding was born in 2002 and stands at 16.2 hands, smaller than most of the big-name dressage horses, even shorter than my Jazz. He is ridden in competition by the British rider, Charlotte Dujardin. He was in the stable of Carl Hester when Dujardin joined his stable as a groom. She was given the opportunity to bring Valegro (called Blueberry in the barn) along to get him ready for Hester to show. What a lucky girl! Of course she deserves it. She is a fabulous rider.

So, pay attention to the results of the World Cup in Las Vegas this weekend. I'm putting my money on Valegro but I wish our U.S. riders the very best as well.

You can keep up to date by checking this link: http://www.worldcuplasvegas.com/

MY BLIND HORSE-HE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE AGAIN WHEN HE BECOMES A UNICORN!

Kit in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO

Kit at Fox Run Regional park in El Paso County, Colorado

My precious thoroughbred, Kit, is now 24 years old. I found him in a pasture in northern Colorado as a barely trained six year old. I began training him in dressage and on trails. I competed with him through 2nd level in dressage and he was the RMDS champion twice before I retired him from competition and just used him as my main trail horse. He is the cover boy of all three of my "Riding Colorado" trail guide books. I love this horse with all my heart.

On Halloween, 2014, I was on a trail ride with my friends and Kit ran into the horse in front of me. "Weird," I thought. Then,  on another ride last fall, he ran into a tree. "Weird," I thought. Then on the trail ride at Fox Run pictured above, I was standing beside him and he ran right over me! I knew something was very wrong. I started swinging my hand toward his left eye and he didn't flinch or even blink. I called my vet, Dr. Marc McCall and told him I thought Kit had lost his vision in his left eye. Dr. McCall said it was probably just a cataract and he could remove it, making his as good as new.

When Dr. McCall checked him, he discovered that it wasn't a cataract, that it was optic nerve damage and that there was nothing we could do. Kit would be blind in that eye for the rest of his life. I was heartbroken for him.

So, I started re-training Kit to get used to half a world. At first, he appeared to be super sensitive to sound and they would spook him, but now he seems to be adjusting and coping much better. I ride him knowing I have to be his left eye. I have been riding him with a slight flexion to the left in order to center his right eye more. When I approach him from the left (the "near side" where we equestrians do most of our work) I make sure I talk to him so as not to startle him.

Kit, like all of us, needs to be allowed to accomplish all that he can. None of us is perfect so we just do our best with what we have.

I found this youtube video of a completely blind dressage horse being competed at 2nd level dressage. The horse is in Oregon, my old home state.
Click here to watch it:
https://youtu.be/NS0TqVafEeI

Horses are healers for people but people can also be healers for horses!

HERE I AM IN THE LAND OF THE HANOVERIANS!

Here I am, actually, really, honestly, in the Land of the Hanoverians. Yes, I am in Germany, visiting my son and his family. Chris is assigned to Grafenwoehr Army Post in Bavaria, the southern end of Germany. He is a dentist for the post here in this beautiful place!

Anyone who has been reading my blog knows that I love my hanoverian, Jazz (show name: Love That Jazz.) I love him so much I made him the star of The Mist Trilogy!  It so happens that Germany is the home of the hanoverian breed! Hanoverians are a warmblood breed that originated in Germany. They were developed under the direction of George II, King of England and Elector of Hanover. By the end of the 18th century, the hanoverian had become a high-class coach horse. 

Adjustments in the breed were made after WWI to make the horse better for riding yet still strong enough for farm work. After WWII, when the demand for sport horses boomed, the breed was adapted again. Thoroughbreds were used to refine the breed, with an occasional Anglo-Arabrian or Trekehner Stallion thrown into the mix. 

Today, Hanoverians are popular in the Olympic Games and other English Riding Style events and competitions.

 In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, three hanoverian geldings, Elvis VA, Bonaparte and Satchmo, made up the gold winning team!

The Hanoverian Breeder's Association has worked hard to keep up the quality of the breed with rigorous grading of breeding stock and careful record keeping. I have a more complete pedigree of my horse than I do of myself! Jazz is registered with the American Hanoverian Society. This is the brand that is on his left hind quarter:

The hanoverian is strong and robust but also known for its willing and trainable nature. Chestnut, Bay (Jazz is a very dark bay,) black and gray are the approved colors. No buckskin, palomino or cremello nor those with too much white are allowed to be registered. They range in height from 15.3 to 17.2 hands (Jazz is 17 hands.)

Of course, Jazz is my favorite Hanoverian, but more famous than my sweet boy is Brentina. I wrote a blog post about her when she was retired. You can read it here:
http://themisttrilogy.blogspot.de/2010/11/dressage-great-brentina.html
I had the privilege of meeting Debbie McDonald. She is my height. That's why she looks so tiny on her 16.2 hand Brentina!

Throughout the year, people come to Germany to search for their DREAM HORSE! (I was lucky to find my dream horse on dreamhorse.com ) One of the most famous sales of Hanoverians is at Verden in the northwest corner of Germany, close to Hanover. October is the time for this sale. This year's Elite Sport Horse auction is Oct. 10 and 11th! I will be so close! I will be in Berlin at that time. I don't think I'll be able to talk my husband and son into taking me over there, however!!!

YEAH FOR JAZZ-THE STAR OF THE MIST TRILOGY!

Saturday, Sept. 20th, Jazz and I competed in the Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Championships in the Level III class. Jazz was wonderful and we were excited to place third. Now it is back to work to get even better and work toward next year's show season!

Here is a picture of my wonderful husband of 42 years who always supports my horse addiction. He is the ultimate "Horse Husband!"

With show season over, it's time to read. If you need a good book, read Behind the Mist, Mists of Darkness or The Rising Mist from The Mist Trilogy, or North Mystic. They are all 
available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and everywhere else. But the Best place is on the website where you can get the books autographed!
Click here: www.mjevansbooks.com

GETTING READY FOR THE RMDS CHAMPIONSHIPS

I haven't had much time to write since I am getting ready for the Rocky Mountain Dressage Championships. I ride in the Level III championship class on Saturday the 20th. My ride time is at 2:56 p.m. Happily, we are supposed to get a break in the heat by then. I hope so. It is so hard to ride a forward ride when Jazz is hot and tired. I will give him a rest on Friday. I will scribe for a judge in the morning then come home and ride Jazz quietly around the neighborhood. Saturday morning I will bathe him and braid his mane. He doesn't like baths very well! He is quite good about standing still while I braid him, however.

Yesterday's lesson with my trainer, Grant Schneidman went really well. Grant told me a great joke:
"How do you make a small fortune with horses?.......Start with a large fortune!"

Man is that true!

Okay, wish me luck!

Another note: The championships are being held at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colorado. This is a fabulous horse show facility and I have loved showing there for many years. Sadly, it is now for sale and the only people who are putting up offers are developers that want to turn it in to more houses!!! If that happens, we will loose the best facility around. If you have a bunch of money, please come buy it and save it for the horse shows!!!

U.S. PONY CLUBS BUILD HORSEMEN AND WOMEN (AND FUTURE UNICORN RIDERS!)

I was a horse person born to non-horse parents. While they didn't understand my obsession (for that is what is was and still is!) they did everything they could to support me. This included two riding lessons a week. In those days, group lessons were $2 each. Now, that may not sound like much to you but, to my parents, it was a big sacrifice. As I became more and more accomplished as a rider, my teacher, Johnny Johnson at Highlands Hunt Club in Portland, Oregon (it isn't there anymore) started "encouraging" my parents to get me my own horse. This was something they could not afford so for a year, all of 7th grade, they pulled me out of riding.

By 8th grade, God intervened and provide me with a young, untrained, beautiful dapple-gray Arabian. (see my very first post!) I trained Tai and he took care of me. But my greatest resource for my training and horse care knowledge came from my involvement in Lake Oswego Pony Club. Every Saturday morning, I rode across Lake Oswego, something you probably couldn't do today, and rode with Pony Club. In the summers we would compete as a team at the Pony Club Rallies and take our tests to move up the levels. We competed over 4 days against teams from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The first day we had to take a written test on horse knowledge. The second day we competed in Dressage. The third day we competed over the cross-country course. The fourth day we competed in Stadium Jumping. Each day, we were also judged on horsemanship by "secret" judges that watched us care for the horses. I loved those rallies! And I learned so much! By the time I graduated from High School, I had received my "B" rating. At that point, I went off to college and didn't have time to get my "A." But Pony Club never left me and it is because of my exposure to dressage in Pony Club that I am competing in it today!

Since I was supporting my horse myself, I didn't have money for a trainer. If it hadn't been for Pony Club, I would have been lost. At that time, all of the coaches donated their time to us. It was so wonderful.

I loved Pony Club so much that I included a character in my book,"Mists of Darkness,"

that was a Pony Club member! She gets injured when one of the evil unicorn Hasbadana's mists of darkness descends upon the Rolex Three-Day Event. She is healed by Nick and his unicorn, Lazari.

Pony Club's Values are:
Horsemanship with respect to healthcare, nutrition, stable management, handling and riding a mount safely, correctly and with confidence.
Organized teamwork including cooperation, communication, responsibility, leadership, mentoring, teaching and fostering a supportive yet competitive environment.
Respect of the horse and self through horsemanship; for land through land conservation; and for others through service and teamwork.
Service by providing an opportunity for members, parents and others to support the pony club locally, regionally and nationally through volunteerism.
Education at an individual pace to achieve personal goals and expand knowledge through teaching others.

U.S Pony Club wrote a blog post about my writing. You can read it here: http://blog.ponyclub.org/2014/05/30/665/

To learn more about Pony Club or to find a Pony Club in your area go to their website: http://www.ponyclub.org/

Need a fun book to read? Read The Mist Trilogy: Behind the Mist, Mists of Darkness and the soon-to-be-released The Rising Mist. You can get them on the website, amazon or wherever books are sold. www.behindthemist.com

FROZEN'S FANTASTIC FJORDS

In December Tom and I had the fun opportunity to take several of our grandchildren to the new animated movie "Frozen." I loved it! I loved everything about it, especially the music. The animation was spectacular and the story was...well, it was a fantasy and you all know  how much I love fantasies! The Disney movies so often include horses. Usually the horses are big and white and carry a handsome prince. Their breed is unidentifiable. But this time, the horses were actually a fairly accurate portrayal of a true Scandinavian breed of horse: The Norwegian Fjord.

Fjords have long been bred throughout Scandinavia but principally in Norway. They were the favorite of the vikings and were taken to Scotland and Ireland in their longboats. You can read more about the Vikings in my new fantasy entitled "North Mystic." (North Mystic is a fun parody of the Revolutionary War but with Trolls and Leprechauns!) 

The Fjords are short and stocky, technically a pony. Ponies, by definition, are 14.2 hands high or less when measured at the withers. That is the one error Disney made. Their Fjords were much too big. But, regardless of their compact size, these ponies are powerful. They have long been used to pull farm equipment in place of the tractor on mountain fields. 

I first became acquainted with the fjord at a dressage show.

With the traditional black and white attire of a dressage rider, the fjords, with their unique markings, looked so darling! They have a pronounced dorsal stripe that runs the length of their mane, along their back and down their tail.

I remember seeing one pony with his mane trimmed like this:

I thought it was so cool! There is one short scene in the movie Frozen where you see an army of soldiers leaving the village to search for the queen and their manes are trimmed like the one above.

Fjord lovers will brag about their versatility. These ponies are used not only for working as plow horses and pack horses but they will drive and jump and perform in dressage.

Not only are all of those things true but they are also very easy keeps...that means they are easy to keep nice and round...unlike my thoroughbred!

To enjoy more fantasies: check out The Mist Trilogy books-the horse-lover's fantasy for ages 9 and up.

Behind the Mist, Mists of Darkness and The Rising Mist (the latter currently out only in ebook at the moment.)

Or if you want another fun reading adventure, check out North Mystic.

Click here: 

www.behindthemist.com

or

www.northmystic.com

"Like" them on facebook: Behind the Mist and North Mystic

BLIND DRESSAGE HORSE A UNICORN NOW!

Valiant, an upper level dressage horse lost his life on Nov. 15th to an infection on the innermost lining of the heart. He was twenty seven years old. That is not the remarkable part of this story, however. The remarkable part of the story began when he was six years old. At that time he stepped on a nail and developed an infection that resulted in total blindness. His owner, Jeannette Sassoon, refused to give up on him. Slowly and lovingly, she trained him to follow her aides as she took him around his dark world...a dark world that included the dressage show rings of Florida. She competed with him clear up to the Pres St. Georges level! 

I am so sorry that Jeannette has lost her beloved companion but he was one lucky horse to have had her for his owner. Now, as one of the noble and great horses, he is undoubtedly working toward earning his unicorn horn and, just think, now he can see all the beauty of Celestia around him.  

Here is a news story about him from Youtube:

Christmas is coming and the best thing you can get your horse lover is a great book!

Behind the Mist, Mists of Darkness and The Rising Mist are ready and waiting. (The Rising Mist is just available on ebook format at the moment and Behind the Mist is also available as an audio book.)

FIRST FEMALE GRADUATE FROM THE SPANISH RIDING SHCOOL...AND FUTURE UNICORN RIDER!

Hannah Zeitlhofer shown here with one of the Spanish Riding School's stallions.

(photo courtesy of the Spanish Riding School.)

Women equestrians have always competed on an even playing field with men at all shows...including the Olympics. And we have done very well, I might add. But, until last month, there was one prestigious organization that had never included a woman rider in its ranks...The infamous Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Four years ago, they finally admitted the first female to train under their rigourous program.

She was admitted to become and "eleve" or apprentice rider. She was trained for hours a day on the lounge line then dismounted to clean stalls, tack and horses.

But now, things have changed for Hannah. In April, 2012, she made equestrian history when she and one other rider, Christopher Egger, were advanced to the level of "Assistant Rider" thus qualifying to perform with the Lipizzan stallions. Hannah is the first woman to reach this rank! Way to go, Hannah! All of us women equestrians both admire you and feel just a little bit jealous!

As you know, I love dressage and the Spanish Riding School has taken this art form to the highest level. I wrote a detailed post about the SRS on Feb. 22, 2012. You can read it for more information.

In the first book of my trilogy: Behind the Mist, Nick is trained to become the first unicorn rider. In the second book of the trilogy: Mists of Darkness, Bethany begins her training in an attempt to become the second. It was just released exclusively on Amazon's Kindles for three months before you can find it elsewhere. So, I am nominating Hannah to become a unicorn rider some day!
Congratulations, Hannah!

Information for this post was taken from Equus.

Send me the story of your noble and great horse to: mjevansbtm@gmail.com.

Go to the Behind the Mist Facebook page and "Like" it!

Get your own copy of Behind the Mist wherever books are sold or get an autographed copy by ordering it on its website:

http://www.behindthemist.com/

Mists of Darkness-Book Two of the Mist Trilogy has just been released and is available as a three month exclusive on Amazon's Kindle.

Update from Unicorn Rider: Debbie McDonald

I met Debbie McDonald yesterday at the Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Championships at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colorado. She is as nice a person as one would guess by the way she rides. (Some people may not understand that statement but I do!) The update about Brentina is that they are not planning on breeding and harvesting any more embryos from Brentina and just be happy with the two foals they have.

RAVEL can dance across the fields of Celestia!

It has been quite a while since I have written about a Dressage horse. Since dressage is my passion I am going to tell you about one of the current "Greats!" His name is Ravel and he is ridden by Steffan Peters. Ravel is a fabulous Dutch Warmblood. He is owned by Akiko Yamazaki. The big, dark bay gelding was found by Steffan Peters when he was searching for his next Olympic horse. He was found in the fall of 2006 in Edward Gal's stable in Harskamy, The Netherlands. (See the post about Edward Gal and Totilas from Januaray 26, 2011) Ravel was purchased as a stallion but had to be gelded when he was in quarantine while being imported to the U.S. So that means no baby Ravels! A short time later, he had a serious injury that his caretakers feared would end his career. But Steffan Peters patiently brought him back to full and exceptional health after 8 months. This proves that Peters meant what he said in the article in The Chronical of the Horse. He is quoted as saying: "It's not just about competition-it's a serious love for animals."

In 2010, The Chronical of the Horse selected Ravel and Steffen Peters as Horse and Horseman of the Year after their spectacular showing in 2009. During that year, Ravel won 10 out of hie 11 competitions at the FEI level. This included the world cup in Las Vegas and Aachen CDI in Germany. Speaking of Aachen, it had been more than 20 years since an American had won that competition. The last winner was Robert Dover on Federleicht in 1987. All of the top dressage horses from Europe were there and RAVEL came home the WINNER! Watch this horse dance!

Ravel currently lives at Peter's San Diego home: Arroyo Del Mar Ranch. It is a 22 acre property. He spends most of each day lounging in his double-sized box stall. He is easy going and very sweet but once Peters gets in the saddle, he gets right to work. He loves to show off for a crowd or a camera.

I, hereby, nominate Ravel to the high honor of Unicornhood and Steffen Peters to the position of a unicorn rider.

Read Behind The Mist to learn about how the noble and great horses become unicorns in the afterlife.

Share with me the story of your noble and great horse!

Write to me at: mjevansbtm@gmail.com

or contact me on the Behind The Mist facebook page!

Even Unicorn Riders can get old!

Well dear readers, I just had my 60th birthday. I tried to forget about it but my wonderful family and friends in Oregon and Colorado didn't let me. One of them, the photographer for my Trail Guide books, Lynn Johnson, sent me this poem.

When I am an Old Horsewoman


When I am an old horsewoman
I shall wear turquoise and diamonds,
And a straw hat that doesn’t suit me
And I shall spend my social security on
(horse feed) and carrots,
And sit in my alleyway of my barn
And listen to my horses breathe.

I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night
And ride the old bay gelding,
Across the moonstruck meadow
If my old bones will allow
And when people come to call, I will smile and nod
As I walk past the gardens to the barn
and show instead the flowers growing
inside stalls fresh-lined with straw.

I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair
as if it were a jewel
And I will be an embarrassment to all
Who will not yet have found the peace in being free
to have a horse as a best friend
A friend who waits at midnight hour
With muzzle and nicker and patient eyes
For the kind of woman I will be
When I am old.

-By Patty Barnhart
Originally published in The Arabian Horse World magazine in l992



MEET MY FUTURE UNICORNS:

In my first post on October 14, 2010, I told you about my very first horse, Tai, who I am sure is a unicorn by now. As I write this new post, sitting in my tan breeches with hay in my hair, I want to tell you about the three horses that fill my barn and my heart.

My littlest horse is Hardy, a 14 hand 1/2 Welch pony, 1/4 thoroughbred and 1/4 Arabian. He got the best of each breed. I got him when he was 2 and 1/2 and started training him. He is now 16. He is the smartest horse ever and an absolute blast to ride. He can jump the moon and is one of those "Point and Jump" horses that picks his position for the jumps perfectly. I sometimes feel guilty that I have him instead of some 12 year old that could be taking him to the national pony championships...but I love him so much!

This is a picture of my biggest horse, Jazz just shortly after I bought him as a four year old from American Sport Horses in Utah. He is much more developed now as he is 10 and doing great in his dressage training. Yes, he is the star of Behind The Mist! He is a Hanoverian and has been a fabulous horse. He was the 2009 Rocky Mountain Dressage Society 1st Level Adult Amature Champion and the 2010 Rocky Mountain Dressage Society 2nd Level Adult Amature Champion as well as the 2010 1st Level Freestyle Horse of the Year. He is so loving and tries so hard to please me. If he could, he would just curl up on my lap and sleep! I love him, too.


This is Kit on top of Kenosha Pass in Colorado. If you read Behind The Mist carefully, you will remember that Kit in the book was an Appaloosa mare. Obviously, this handsome bay thoroughbred is NOT an appaloosa mare! But that is part of writing a fantasy horse story, I can make up anything I want! Anyway, Kit is my oldest horse. He just turned 20. I have had him since he was 6 and trained him in Dressage up through level 2. He was the 2001 RMDS 1st level champion, the 2003 1st level freestyle champion and the 2005 2nd level freestyle reserve champion. He loves me deeply...something I found out when I sold him. It only lasted 5 months. He was so unhappy that he was misbehaving and lost so much weight that he looked like a rescue horse. I bought him back and promised him that I would never sell him again. I even had to move to a place where I could have three horses so we would have room for him. He is the cover horse on both of my Trail Guide books: Riding Colorado and Riding Colorado II.

Send me the story of your future unicorn! Write to me at:

mjevansbtm@gmail.com

or on the Behind The Mist facebook page

Future Unicorn MOORLANDS TOTILAS - The World Champion!

Some future unicorns are easier to spot than others! Moorlands Totilas or "Toto" is one of those. He is so beautiful he makes your eyes hurt just to look at him! This blog is dedicated to all of the Noble and Great horses in our lives and Totilas is truly one of the Noble and Great ones!

Please accept my apology if you are not as nutty about Dressage as I am, but if you watch the video (one of dozens on the internet about this horse) you will surely agree with me that this horse deserves to be nominated for unicornhood. Moorlands Totilas and his rider Edward Gal led the Dutch team at the World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in October, 2010. They took away three gold medals and recieved the highest scores in Dressage History. They amased an unparalleled number of perfect 10's. In fact, during Toto's eighteen month career showing at Grand Prix they won nearly every test they entered.

Totilas was owned by Cees Viser. He is by Gribaldi and is half Trakehner. The fabulous black stallion was first put under saddle at the age of five (race horse owners take note!) and was trained exclusively by Edward Gal for the next five years until his unprecidented performance in Kentucky...his first overseas trip. Gal said in an article in the December addition of Dressage Today (my second favorite magazine) that he has never ridden a horse that can compare to Toto. He has so much power and energy but is also supple. His attitude is different, too. He responds instantly and gives all he has and everything is easy for him.

Gal kept Totilas on a strict training schedule. His day started with feeding at 7:30. He rode him at 9:00 for 1/2 hour to 3/4 hour. Then he was given lunch. He was put on the walker at 2 in the afternoon for 45 minutes. Later in the afternoon he was given a hand walk and a graze and another hand walk at 7 p.m. He was never turned out loose in the pasture as he gets too wild and he has been know to hurt himself. Such is the life of the world's top dressage horse.

This is an interesting video of Totila's Grand Prix performance at the WEG (If you watch Gal at the WEG Free Style, even with the one goof, watch the rider. He earned a 10 for his riding at that competition.

Sadly, the incredible pair of Gal and Totilas has been broken apart and the WEG was their last competition together. Either just before, and kept a secret, or just after the World Equestrian Games Totilas was sold to Paul Schockemohle of Germany. Schockemohle was a big time show jumper now a big time breeder. He runs a stable of 3,000 horses and produces 500 foals a year at his farm. Totilas was moved there right after the WEG. It was announced in November that Totilas would have a new German rider: Matthais Roth. I watched a German video of him riding Toto and it made me so sad. Totilas belongs with Edward Gal. I am so sad that Toto was taken from his rider and trainer. It reminds me of Shema being taken from Bethany in Behind The Mist. I imagine that Toto's heart is broken, too.

Totilas will be used for breeding, of course, and a contract has already been signed to breed him with Brentina. See the November Post on Brentina.

Tell me the story of your Noble and Great horse who probably never had a medal around his neck! Send me a picture and your story to:

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TRAVELLER - Famous mount of Robert E. Lee

And now at last,
Comes Traveller and his master. Look at them well.
The horse is an iron-grey, sixteen hands high,
Short back, deep chest, strong haunch, flat legs, small head,
Delicate ear, quick eye, black mane and tail,
Wise brain, obedient mouth.
Such horses are
The jewels of the horseman's hands and thighs,
They go by the word and hardly need the rein.
They bred such horses in Virginia then,
Horses that were remembered after death
And buried not so far from Christian ground
That if their sleeping riders should arise
They could not witch them from the earth again
And ride a printless course along the grass
With the old manage and light ease of hand.

— Passage from Army of Northern Virginia, a poem by Stephen Vincent Benet

The history of Dressage, which means "Training," is deeply imbeded in war. The horse was long an essential part of war. Dressage was designed as the method of training war horses who needed to respond quickly forward, backward, left or right and turn on the forehand or the haunches. One of the most famous war horses in the U.S. was Traveller, the mount of General Robert E. Lee, who carried his rider into the battles of the civil war.

Traveller, originally named Jeff Davis (yes, weird name...I like Traveller better, too!), was born in 1857 in Blue Sulpher Springs, Greenbrier County, Virginia (now part of West Virginia.) He was half thoroughbred and half Saddlebred. He was originally purchased by Captain Joseph M.Broun of the Third Regiment of the Confederate Infantry from Capt. James W. Johnston, son of the breeder. His purchase price was $175 which would translate to over $4,000 in today's dollar. Captain Broun's brother latter wrote of the horse:
He was "...greatly admired for his rapid, springy walk, his high spirit, bold carriage and muscular strength."
From Thomas L. Broun, Southern Historical Society Papers, Richmond Virginia.

Major Broun also noted that there was never a need for whip or spur with Jeff Davis, the problem, unlike what is written in the poem above, was holding him back!

In the fall of 1861, General Robert E. Lee was camped with his brigade near Big Sewell Mountains, in close proximity to the camp of the Third Regiment. It was there that General Lee first laid eyes on the big, gray, Gelding. He took an immediate fancy to the horse and called him "My Colt." During the winter, both groups were sent down to South Carolina where Lee saw the horse again. Captain Joseph M. Broun offered the horse as a gift, which Lee declined. He said that if Broun was willing to sell the horse he would try him out for a week. After the week was up, Lee paid Captain Broun $200 for Jeff Davis.

Lee renamed the horse "Traveller." While he used Traveller for most of the war, it was not always a match made in heaven. In 1862 during the second Battle of Bull Run, Lee was standing beside the excited gelding on the front line. Traveller bolted and dragged Lee down a steep bank, breaking both his hands! Lee spent the next two years ridng a nice, calm mare named "Lucy Long." I can't blame him!

Lee returned to riding Traveller when Lucy Long got pregnant and rode him for the rest of the war and until the General's death on Oct. 12, 1870. Traveller died shortly thereafter in 1871 after stepping on a nail and developing Tetanus.

Traveller is currently buried on the Campus of Washington and Lee Univ. in Lexington, Virginia. The stable where he lived his last days is connected to the Lee family house that is on the campus. Traditionally, the stable door is left open so Traveller's spirit can wander freely.

I am attaching a link to an interesting video about three famous civil War horses, including Traveller. The video is from the Museum of the Confederacy.



No doubt about it! Traveller has his unicorn horn by now. I just can't decide if the horn is white to match his body or black to match his mane!

Share your story about the "Noble And Great" horse in your life!

email me at:

www.mjevansbtm@gmail.com