China Doll
#165.
Light Bay TB Cross mare/filly.
Appx. 15 hands. Appx. 3 yrs. old. This
is a darling filly! She is quite personable and very cute. Very
curious.
She is halter broke only. Would make a nice project for someone
willing to
give her the time and care she needs to become the very best
she can
be.
This
lovely filly is also coming to TIER tomorrow! Her new mom,
Mina, has christened her China Doll. China for short! Mom is
very active in dog rescue in Taiwan and will be home shortly.
Until then, TIER will have the distinct pleasure of having China
visit us! Thanks Mina! Can't
China
is a typical squirrley, curious, baby! Played hard to catch
and thought about jumping the fence at the feedlot. HA! She's
settling in quite nicely. A couple scrapes that I will put Corona
on. Other than that....she's big and she's awesome.
Update
9/16/00 - Well,
it was an impulse move, one that neither of us really
expected
to work out, but.... almost 4 months after her being
sprung as an unwanted, untrained wild-child, Miss China
today, after a nice lunge with side reins and a saddle,
got a rider on her back for the very first time!!!! I
wasn't planning on being the first one to get on her at
all, but
after working her with a saddle for a few weeks, I started
getting her used to the feel of weight on her back, with her
not even noticing. So today I enlisted the help of my
father to hold her, and I leaned over her, then when she didn't
care about that, I swung my leg over, just got on and....
nothing! Just got on and off a few times without incident
(I don't think she noticed, she was too intrigued with
the carrot pieces she was getting for being good). So
then we tried
going for a little walk- that was a bit more scary,
but we walked for a few minutes and called it a day...
but I was thrilled with her! She has been so calm lately
that I was really hesitant to send her off to a trainer
to be broke, and so I am thrilled that it looks like I won't
have to. She still has a LONG way to go before I would
even begin to really ride her, but just that I can start
getting on and off, working with more side reins and
eventually
on the lunge with a rider is great!
Will
have to get you photos of her in her tack- you won't
recognize
her! She also got a visit to the vet today, just to check on
her cold (no temperature, no lung problems, just a
little respiratory thing) and a few bumps on her legs (all
old and set,
but her feet need to be done again and reshaped),
but all in all it was a wonderful day for her, and
she celebrated the whole thing by bucking in the turn
out afterwards
and rolling 4 times ;-) Mina
Update
9/25/00 - The little missy just keeps getting better and better!
She amazes me constantly, because of how hard some things are
for her to understand (like the fact that the crossties, washracks
and farrier are not going to kill her) but that this horse is
just taking every step in her riding training in stride- literally!
After two days of riding her at the walk in the bull pen, working
on stopping and turning, in a attempt to see just how she'd
progress, and taking advantage of a blissfully quiet barn moment,
I got on her today outside of the ring (about the 8th time total
on her back), and instead of the uncontrolled backing up she
had been doing everytime I got on outside, she was quiet, and
easily walked calmly over to the big ring. After a few minutes
at the walk, I took a deep breath and asked for a trot... and
she did! What a monstrous stride this girl has, big and scopey,
smooth and she has an instant wonderful head position.
She's
got a long way to go, but after riding her for almost 20 minutes
today, ending up on a little walk around the barn, I cannot
stop being amazed at this horse. If only whoever bred her, mistreated
her, dumped her and sold her knew what they missed out on with
her, I hope they'd be kicking themselves. People who saw her
the day she came to the barn, and see her now just can't believe
it's the same horse- she is so calm, so sweet and confident,
and so easy. I think China is going to spoil me into thinking
that all 3 year olds that start off not even halterbroke can
become quiet, calm riding horses broke with love and care, instead
of roughness, in only 3 months... she certainly has!
Thanks
again for giving me this opportunity to have this absolutely
incredible horse. I can't imagine her anywhere else
but here, at home and loved.
Update
1/4/00 - Hi auntie Gail!
It's
me, China Doll, remember me? I stayed at your house for a month
before my mom could come back from Taiwan and bring me home.
It's been six months since then, can you believe it? I can't,
and neither can Mom, who keeps telling everyone how wonderful
I am and how much she likes me- all that gushing can make a
girl feel quite embarrassed! But I guess it's true, because
Mom comes out to take care of me every day, and we have even
started going for rides. I wasn't too crazy about having Mom
on my back at first- I even bucked her off twice- but now that
I understand what she wants, I've been a really good girl. We've
even started cantering, something that is so much fun! Mom says
I have a really, really big stride- I hope that means we can
start jumping eventually!
Even
though I don't live at the same barn with Mom's other horses,
I've visited with them several time. Vivian, the old mare, doesn't
like me too much, but I've been told not to take that personally.
But T.P., mom's hunter, really likes me, and nickers when he
sees me coming. I like TP a lot more than I like the horses
I live next to at my barn- they are always trying to steal my
food! But Mom just moved me so that I have a big corral all
to myself, with horses next to me, but not so close that they
can steal my food! Now that I'm living in there, I've gained
a lot of weight- Mom even had the vet come out to make sure
I wasn't pregnant, because she says I'm fat! I'm not fat, just
happy and enjoying my new life. I've even started standing in
the crossties- I hate it, and I'm afraid of the chains, but
I'm trying because Mom wants me too. And to make her really
happy, I finally let her put the bridle on me, without having
to take it apart and put it on piece by piece. I had my teeth
done, and the mean man took out 6 whole baby teeth- but now
I don't mind having a bit in my mouth, and don't slobber so
much when I eat all my treats every day!
I
guess that's it for now- I just wanted to say hi and thank you
for helping to save me!
Merry
Christmas!
Love,
China Doll
Dear
Gail,
Well,
China said most of what I wanted to say for me. Seems you let
that horse at the keyboard and she just has at it ;-) But she's
just an amazing girl, and I am thankful every day out of all
the times I have looked on rescue sites, I chose the day I did
to look at your page, saw her picture, and the rest, as they
say, is history. China had been doing very, very well, and aside
from a stone bruise that saw her resting for several weeks (well,
we tried to rest her, she just wanted to run around and play!)
she's been awesome. I moved her to another corral about a month
ago, because the one she was in before had no space between
her and the next horse, and she wouldn't stop kicking the bars
trying to protect her food. This new stall is out in a more
natural, quiet area, with other horses close, and lots of things
to see going on, but far enough away that she can relax without
worrying about the other horses. The change in her with this
new stall has been amazing- she is so calm and relaxed that
I was worried something was wrong with her, to the point that
I had my vet out to make sure she wasn't pregnant, with her
being so gentle and gaining a little weight. Luckily, she's
not pregnant, he just says she's happy and robust! I'm starting
to ride her a little more frequently now that she's got some
more weight, balance and a head on her, and she's really a lot
of fun. I'm hoping that by spring she'll be ready to start trailing
over to the barn with my other horses and take a few lessons
on the flat.
She
had her teeth floated about a month ago, and the dentist actually
thinks she's quite a bit younger than we thought, somewhere
around 2 1/2 or early 3. She's just at 16hh now, so I think
when she's fully grown, my hopes for a "real" horse
(both my others are 14hh) will be more than fulfilled! I'm so
glad I've got her now, because had she stayed unbroke and left
uncared for much longer, I don't know if she would have been
able to be so easily rescued being much bigger. She's actually
grown a ton since you last saw her- not just height, but muscle
and bulk.
Anyway,
I'll stop gushing about my girl, but I will enclose some photos
to make my point ;-)
Update
7/23/01 - Happy Birthday China Doll! In celebration of her
birthday, China's mom, Mina, made China her own webpage!
China's
Website
Update
8/5/03 - It's hard to believe that Miss China has been with
me three years now- it seems not too long ago that a little
bay hellion entered my life with a bang! It's been amazing to
watch her grow up- in some ways more than others ;-)
This
year, as China has turned five, suddenly a new horse is being
revealed to me. We started taking some dressage lessons last
year, in an attempt to work through some behavior problems,
and China has excelled in that arena. I am hoping that next
year we will try our hand at Training and possibly even First
level- it will be the first formal foray into dressage for both
of us! On the other side, her hunter flat work and jumping has
improved in so many ways from the dressage and collection work.
We've had to go slowly with jumping, but she's finally at the
point that I think next year some hunter shows will also be
in her future- baby greens to start, and from there, who knows!
Enclosed
are some photos of China we got recently- a far cry from that
homley creature in the feedlot of three years ago!
Update
4/28/04 - Miss China is doing great. Finally this year,
her brain caught up with the rest of her- she's like a different
horse. She showed over fences for the first time last month,
and got 5th in the undersaddle out of 30 horses! Slowly but
surely, she's getting there!