Arwen's hunt for a worthy sire - part I

Now this is a post for all the horse lovers out there! Especially those with an keen interest in the two barb mares residing with their Scandinavian owner in Niger.

It all started when my friend the Snowman brought stallion boy Pablo over to see my girls. My two mares responded very differently: Sahara tried to attack, while Arwen tried to catch his attention. After 1½ years of showing absolutely no interest, she was on heat again!

Pablo was so impressed that he jumped for joy, but unfortunately for him, Arwen's owner wasn't as impressed by him as he was by Arwen, so Pablo had to go home emptyhanded.

Next up was Rio - a another colt belonging to the Snowman who runs absolutely beautifully!

I would have accepted him had Arwen liked him, and at first, she showed all signs of liking what she saw.


They greeted once, then twice, and all of a sudden Arwen decided that there was something about Rio that wasn't to her liking, and she spun around and kicked him in the face. I could have insisted, but despite being extremely elegant in his run, Rio was both small for his age and a bit too young to be courting. Knowing Nigerien horse mating business is a complicated affair, I had rather choose a stallion who knew how to go about.

Now Arwen had already set her eyes on the stallion of her choice: a certain Mr Colonel whom we greeted once when going out riding. The Colonel and she clicked immediately, and the match would have been perfect. Unfortunately, the colonel's owner was in the UK right now, and the process of getting in touch (much less getting a yes) seemed to be a very complicated affair.

It seemed at that point that Ishtar had her hands full with a mare crying out for male attention but no suitable sire in sight. Several friends got involved at the same time, trying to sort the issue, and then all of a sudden, different people had each organized it in their own way (without asking Ishtar!) so that different stallions were coming to see Arwen at the same time!

In the end, it was Dan Maffia (Son of Maffia) who was chosen because of his merits and linage (true Nigerien barb, not an import).

As soon as he saw Arwen, he called out for attention and reared.

Arwen was interested too, and had there been time to get to know each other, it could have been a very pleasant experience.

After a bit of fighting, and a bit of human help, the match was finally made-

and everybody started laughing!

As for the final results (if there will be any), I'll let you know in about a year's time...

Ishtar