With making Paige's introduction post/Tik Tok I realized that while I made introduction videos for each of our horses on Tik Tok, I have not done the same here for our friends on the website. Judging from the views that our blog gets, it may not be many - but it's always fun for me to write.
It was 2016 when Libby sent me a picture of a chunky Appaloosa filly that was bred like our beloved Ellie. We decided to take a chance on her and made a down payment with her breeder in IA. No sooner had we done that then my long term relationship ended, I was back to being a single mom and adding the expense of another horse seemed like a really bad idea. I messaged the breeder to back out of the deal but never heard back from him. My parents stepped in and said "make this happen" so we decided to go get China anyway.
It just so happened that by the time it was pick up day I had a new man in my life. He was a dairy cow guy but he wanted to come along when we picked up China, in a Perkin's parking lot in IA. That poor guy got a crash course in horse crazy girls as we talked all the way down and back about horses on some of the worst roads of the winter. He also got to see the insanity of taking a filly who had never been off the farm or in a trailer, unload her into a crowded, busy city and then try to get her back onto a strange trailer. God bless good minded fillies because she unloaded with all that chaos and with a little help jumped on our trailer for the trip home. God bless Tim because he still came back for more and even asked me to marry him later that year.
Her yearling year had her moving farms, twice, and then we got her going that winter under saddle. From the beginning she was the easiest horse we have ever started under saddle. The "born broke" kind as they say. I also tell people the mare understands English as one day we were riding with another broke western pleasure horse and I said "just go like that". I shit you not - the next day she jogged in place. LOL
China never stopped surprising me. We went to a few shows her two year old year and she handled them all like a champ. Her 3 year old year though... we still showed walk trot as we don't believe in rushing into lope classes. Each show she just got better and better. She exceeded all my expectations by winning several high point buckles - including one at our one and only Appaloosa show. At the end of the season we were awarded the trophy saddle for high point judged horse in that series. It was a season I never will forget.
The next year was a rough year. China tried to die by giving up eating in the spring. It was over a month and several different vets before China finally started eating again. We intended to lope that season as a 4 year old and were a little behind with the months it took with her being sick and then recuperating. She still did her best and we were proud of the progress we made. We were ready to figure things out in 2020 and then... COVID.
Our season finally got going in August, just in time for her to strain her suspensory. China got some recovery time for that. With China being off indefinitely, I decided to buy myself a POA show pony and Elsie came into our lives. They say everything happens for a reason and I believe that China getting hurt was actually a blessing in some ways. I never would have put China on the back burner otherwise and I never would have had such an amazing pony come into my life.
When November rolled around, China was recovered and we went to one last show. I had a new walk/trot pony in Elsie so Sophie took China to the show to do walk/trot on her newly recovered right front. They won every single class they entered. We joked that Sophie could have ridden her in backwards and they still would have won. China won another buckle with Sophie. That show and that buckle would be China's last.
Sadly, China's right front leg was injured again the next spring. This time, even with time off, it has changed her gait and she still has her off days. Anyone who knows China or has heard my stories about her knows that she is a bit of a diva. She will be walking like death is the only option one day and I'll start making plans to let her go in peace. The next day she will tear across the pasture like a race horse with her tail flagged over her back. As long as she has more good days than bad days, we will continue letting her make beautiful babies for us.
Speaking of those amazing babies. China was bred in 2021 to Ive Got Super Powers, a smaller son of RPRs Impulsive Superman. Manny is one of our favorite stallions breeding in POA but being as he only carried one LP gene and China had none, we opted for his smaller, fewspot son to guarantee color and hopefully keep that foal in height. I prayed and prayed for a filly and when Sundae arrived I cried tears of joy when Tim told me she was a filly. I'll share more about Sundae on her own intro page but we were excited to breed China to our own stallion, another son of Manny, Super Cool in 2022.
Nugget was a little shy so we did have to sedate China. That's quite the breeding story as she was his first ever mare and after half an hour he still hadn't gained the confidence to actually climb aboard. Finally, using his halter and lead, I pulled him on and let's just say - the beautiful filly they gave us in 2023 was worth all that hassle. China had a gorgeous bay leopard filly named Berry Sweet Shenanigans. Her story will be in the meet Nani blog.
China came up open in 2023 but is ready to breed this year for another Nugget/China baby. We are waiting a bit as we like our mares to foal when the weather isn't quite so cold and snowy. Fingers crossed that we have another China baby in 2025. I know I can't keep them all, but it's so hard to let them go. Each of China's babies is as special as she is. China was my first heart horse in a long time. We just "get" each other and Tim would tell you that's because we are just alike. I know that I will have to let some of them go eventually. For now, I'm starting my pasture full of China babies and I love every second of it.
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