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November 22 to 28, 2014

This is my first journal entry as the co-owner of Shadow's Hollow Stables with my sister and I thought I should jot down my thoughts about each races and training we have been doing with our horses so we could see how far we have come from the day we bought or inherited a horse or horses.

We have acquired 5 horses in rapid succession so we are on our way to becoming an official Stables/Ranch. Lucia and Raya are our first horses and they seem to be drawn toward each other so I am going to call them mates, even though we are going to breed Raya and Lucia separately to get more stronger foals. Ciaran and Keme Mahkah along with Niabi came shortly after the girls. Keme didn't do very hot in claiming race but I could see a lot of potential in him and other horses.

We have entered Lucia, Ciaran, Keme Mahkah and Niabi in Maiden Race Marathon and we have decided to breed Raya with Keme Mahkah so she's pregnant now. Those rounds in Maiden Race Marahton is rail-gripping and exciting because we are watching our babies really run!

Lucia, I am not going to lie, disappointed me in first round but I knew that those horses do have first-race jitters like we do so we fed her and other horses special energy-booster treats (that helps with their metabolism and immune system as well!). She proved me right by climbing up the spots until she won 1st place in the final round! That feisty and temperamental mare definitely have wings on her hocks!

Ciaran, on other hand seems to be very steady running because he's hovering between 3rd place and 5th place but I have a confidence that this boy will be flying down the racetracks in no time when he discovers his self esteem and those wings that I know all of our horses have.

Keme Mahkah.. that boy is SO eager to run, we had hard time trying to get him to stay still and go into the gate because all he wants to do is run. And oh boy, did he run! in Round 1, he placed 4th place.. just few seconds shy from 3rd place... but in Round 2, he found his wings and flew across the wire, landing himself in 1st place!

Niabi, our sweet champagne girl, seems to have a rivalry going on with our white lady Lucia because I see them bickering and taunting each other almost every time they are around each other. She placed 6th place in Round 1 and 2 but I am guessing that Lucia's taunts and challenge worked because in Round 3, she left all of the horses behind in her dust! It was glorious!!

However, Palei and I have a lot of training to do with all of them because we noticed some flaws that we need to work on with them. We are going to be hiring the jockeys because its impossible for us to ride them all at once. Ha Ha Ha. Its late, and I need to stop writing and get those energy treats started since I know Palei is waiting for me.

Until next time!

December 9th to 13th of 2014

Dec 9th
I have so many things to write about. Raya and Keme Mahkah gave birth to a gorgeous brown buckskin filly that we have named Rhyne. The filly have been proving to be the papa's girl due to her endless amount of energy and spitfire personality. Lucia have been in that full 'watchdog' mode ever since Raya gave birth so it is quite difficult for me and Palei to separate Lucia from Raya and Rhyne so we could get the little one used to halter and that basic things.

We also have three new additions. Two stallions, named Liwanu and Alabaster and one chestnut mare that have mustang blood inside her.. her name is Sauda. She worries me and Palei and she is somewhat a charity case because we heard that Sauda is on a way to horse slaughterhouse because she couldn't be controlled or ridden. Palei and I am completely against horse slaughterhouses and we always believe that each horse deserve their own redemption so here we are with..... her. Fortunately, we have a stall lined with metal (and padding so she won't hurt herself) so she lives there. The boys arrived to the picnic with the huge trailer.. the stallions were led out to the paddock just perfectly but there were a lot of horrible screaming and banging happening in front of trailer which triggered howling from my wolf pack. They better not go after my wolf pack or there will be some bloodshed happening....

There is actually a close encounter between me and one woman that calls herself Tally. She had some serious set of balls to start mucking the stalls without asking for my permission to do so and I almost took her head off with the mucking fork. From her expression, it looked like I was going to get reported but Palei worked her magic and smoothed things over. I keep telling Palei and the company owner that I am not a social person and I do not like having social events at Shadow's Hollow Stables. Unfortunately, most of the time, Palei typically gets her way... and I hope she thinks twice about having another social event here after my run in with Tally. That stupid lady...

December 14th
The weekend of Twin Oaks Derby have wrapped up with a perfect ending. Lucia won the match race (its a race where 1st place winners from each rounds compete against each other)!

Unfortunately, our new boys didn't do well.. Liwanu and Alabaster need to get trained more. I will have to discuss with Palei and their jockeys on the training regime for those boys. I need to buy bandages and new equipment because I have a feeling that those boys didn't feel comfortable with our current equipment. We will find out in next derby.

We aren't putting Sauda in any races any time in the near future because she still freaks out if she smells any of us nearby and will go into her screaming fits with her hooves hitting the metal walls. Its a really horrible sound and it breaks my heart because it is painfully clear that she have been horribly mistreated by her previous owner because I could see faint scars on her rump from whips, crops or spurs. Palei and I am not sure how we should do this because we don't want to do the universal breaking which is ride her until she gives in to us because we know that it won't work with her and probably will just make her act more worse. We don't know who her previous owner is.. (and that owner should be thankful or we both would be going after that b*****d) so we couldn't get the details...

Ciaran fell back into his steady pattern once again so we need to figure out how to help him find his wings so he could rise up to others' levels because I could tell that losing those races are a huge blow to his self-esteem. He have been brooding ever since and refusing to come to trough unless others are gone. I feel horrible for that boy... I will need to up his training more and see if it will help. Maybe his friend, Keme, racing with him in trial runs will be the solution...

I hear Palei calling for me. Time for nightly duties before we both tuck in.

After unloading the horses into their respective stables, Rhiannon went into the kitchen to numbly make the treats and special feed for the horses with Palei before silently going into the office. That's when everything exploded and she hits the wall next to the bookshelves, the wall spider-webbed out from the impact with her fist before she sinks down to the floor with silent frustrated tears rolling down her cheeks and her head droops down in a sign of resignation. She stayed in that position for a good while before she forces herself to get up and get into her seat, opening the journal while rubbing at her now angry eyes.

~~

December 19 to 21, 2014

The optimism Palei and I have put into this weekend is false and our babies didn't do that well in all races. In the maiden races, I have noticed something.. Sauda is sticking really close to Liwanu whenever they are in the same races together so they usually place together or near each other so we might need to keep Sauda in the races with Liwanu since Sauda seems to taken to the stallion. There were no accidents or situations revolving around Sauda so we are kinda optimistic about that but we still have a lot of work to do with that mare. In the last maiden race, Liwanu have gotten 2nd place and I am very proud of him. Hopefully all of the horses that qualifies for maiden races will do better next time.

Ungraded races, there weren't a lot of entrants in ungraded so it is given that the boys would place in the top 4. However, they did better jobs than when we first got them. I just hope that they will find their wings and confidence when it comes to running. They are really fast and I know they have stamina but for some reason..they aren't showing it at all.

Graded races..that's where I am really upset with. Ciaran, Keme did very well in those races.. Keme placed 1st, Ciaran placed 2nd... but I am really confused about Niabi because she's Keme Mahkah's female version so I have no idea why she is doing horribly in this bout of racing.

My heart breaks for those horses because with every loss, their confidence and esteem goes down. All I know what to do is to train them more and.. just hope.