Our Horses

“When God created the Horse He told him, “No animal will be compared with you; all the Earth treasures lie between your eyes. You will trample down my enemies and carry my friends.
On your back they will offer up prayers to me. You will be happy on the Earth and they will appreciate you more than any other creature because love of the Lord of the Earth will belong to you. You will fly without wings and strike without a sword… ”

An Arabian legend

We have been practicing hippotherapy in the "Zatik" riding club since August 2008. There are twelve horses (five stallions, seven mares)and a pony at our club.

	Kharounji / Khouzhan Born: 2004 Breed: mix of English and Budyonovian Mother: Khatanga Father: Zhemchoug Sex: stallion Color: chestnut Kharounji is his “passport” name. We all call him Khouzhan. Khouzhan is our main “doctor” in hippotherapy. Khouzhan is calm, friendly, and patient with new riders and especially children. He is the humblest and the most receptive of our horses. Learning new things takes him seconds.
Khouzhan’s distinguishing feature though is his phenomenal laziness. He may fall asleep while running. And even asleep he goes on running! Khouzhan is a glutton. If he is surrounded by many people and someone gives him sugar or an apple he will poke his muzzle into everyone’s hands searching for sugar and not even looking if there is sugar there. And after all Khouzhan is everybody’s favorite :)
	Salma Born: 2003 Breed: local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: mare Color: dark bay Salma found herself in our stable by accident. Or was it rather destiny? Her owner who needed money urgently wanted to slaughter and sell her to meat-packing factory. With the help of our friends we bought the horse and saved her from turning her into hum. She is a very smart, gentle and beautiful girl. Her mild temper and right pace make her an ideal horse for hippotherapy. Salma is a very good teacher for new riders. She requires the rider's constant concentration and built-up condition. Just a second of carelessness and Salma takes the rider right towards the stable. And doing so she has such a serene look as if she just carries out an order of the rider. Salma is my favorite horse in the fields and Poisk's favorite girl everywhere:)

	Gokht / Golden Born: 2002 Breed: pure English Mother: Gyuldiste Father: Khatinets Sex: stallion Color: light brown We call him Golden for his dark golden color. Golden has a very strong family tree. All of his ancestors have been racers. He jumps very well and loves it. His galloping is like flying. Golden does not love doing the same thing for long. After some 10 minutes of trotting he may stop and start shifting from one foot to another as if asking, “Can’t we do something else? Something new, I mean?” Golden is a hopeless womanizer. He may fall in love with a female of any species, be it horse, cow, dog or human being. Any species does not mean any female though; Golden picks and chooses. When Golden fancies a female he looks at her side and neighs. If a female encourages him… she should start praying if she is someone smaller than a horse.
	Poisk Born: 1988 Breed: Traken Mother: Father: Sex: stallion Color: dark bay Poisk is the main stallion in the herd. He is 21 years old which is equal to around 95-100 years of a human being!!! However he is very well preserved. Poisk is very calm and well-behaved until he sees a girl. Then he immediately remembers what the main function of the stallion should be! He loves tumbling on the ground, especially in the snow and hates being touched on ears and forehead.

	Jeffa Born: 2005 Breed: mix of English and Budyonovian Mother: Fishka Father: Zhemchoug Sex: mare Color: chestnut Jeffa is Khouzhan’s sib sister. No one can help admiring her beauty and grace. Her soul is as sensitive and gentle as her mouth. One harsh word is enough for her to get offended. When it happens she goes to the remotest angle of the horsebox, leans her head against the wall and looks at the shouter frowningly. She looks like a little baby then. Jeffa is usually a good girl but from time to time she has “critical days “.And when she is capricious and does not want to do something there is no way to force her. In a word… she is a woman.

	Sabina Born: 2006 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Bagira Father: Strasbourg Sex: mare Color: sorrel Sabina is doubtlessly the most spoiled one. She loves getting into thorns while grazing and then her mane is invisible under innumerable prickly thorns and we have to clean her mane and tail four hours. She does not like the process, tries breaking loose from our hands, starts running around in the horsebox like a madwoman seeking for a chance to escape back to the fields.
We started riding Sabina when she turned two. When there was nothing to eat around Sabi would behave quite well under the rider but as soon as she noticed even a small apple on the ground all her attention and efforts would be driven to picking the apple up. She could kick, shake her head trying to get rid of the bridle, saddle and the rider which she felt were the obstacles to the desired apple. Now she behaves herself although remained very curious. Sabina is ginger. It says ginger woman is double woman. It is absolutely true in Sabina’s case. She is a terrible coquette. Both Khouzhan and Golden go crazy for her. She seduces the both of them but does not “say yes” to any of them:)
	Sorbonna Born: 2008 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Bagira Father: Strasbourg Sex: mare Color: sorrel Sorbonna is the youngest sister of Sabina. She is an exact copy of Sabina but much more independent. She was born in the stable but very often behaves as if she was just taken away from a wild herd and is not used to human beings at all. She is wild and absolutely charming.

	Strasbourg the Second Born: 2007 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Jasmin Father: Strasbourg Sex: stallion Color: sorrel He reminds me the wind. No words are enough to express his beauty. Strasbourg is very sociable and adors playing. He loves being scratched on the neck and forehead. Else he loves chewing my shoulder or at least jacket.:)

	Jasmin Born: 2004 Breed: mix of Arabian and Local Mother: Jasmin Father: Zhigan Sex: mare Color: sorrel Jasmin is a calm, modest and gentle woman with a wide back and not very tall-an ideal horse for hippotherapy. She is rather indifferent to people and enjoys her company more than anyone's else. She sees people only as food carriers and takes their petting as a not very pleasant but nessesary payment for the food they bring to her.:)

	Sorenta Born: 2008 Breed: Local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: mare Color: light brown Sorenta is more like a dog than a horse. She has no fear of people, goes to everybody, allows petting and feeding of her and plays with children with great pleasure. She is very patien and tolerant to the ways children play with her but has one weak spot: apples.
Once we took her out to play with a 5 years old autistic child. The boy had a big apple in his hand and Sorenta wanted to take it. The kid refused to give her the apple and ran away. Sorenta ran after him. They were running in the yard for over half an hour. The boy won and Sorenta got so angry that she started galloping around kicking in the air and sniffing. When we wanted to repeat the experiment in a week we found out Sorenta kept remembering the boy and started getting nervous and kicking before approaching the boy. We had to take her back for the child’s safety :)
	Tornado Born: 2008 Breed: Local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: stallion Color: grey If Tornado had to choose which animal to be born he would deffinitely choose being a pig! He is mad about tumbling in the mud. We can wash him with shampoo and then tie him to get dry in the field. He will immediately find the only little muddy spot around and get all dirty in few seconds. This is the only disadvantage of him though. As for the rest he is a very beautiful, friendly and vivid horse.

	Gzhella Born: 2009 Breed: Mix of Arabian, English and Local Mother: Jasmin Father: Golden Sex: mare Color: sorrel She is so much like a deer that we call her Bamby rather than Gzhella. Gzhella is an affectionate and extremely friendly little girl. She is the smallest in our herd so everyone spoils her. She adores licking hands and faces and can do it nonstop for hours. If one wants to escape from her passionate licking she may grab one at the trousers or T-shirt and not let him/her go away:)
	Vasyok Born: 1990 Breed: pony Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: stallion Color: white Vasyok is not a horse, he is a pony! In fact he is the smallest pony in Armenia! Though he hardly thinks so. He sees himself only as a horse, moreover as an undeniable leader of the herd. All the mares should be his and he is always ready to fight with our big stallions to prove that. Only one thing can distract his attention from girls: a sugar candy! He loves any sweets but sugar candy is his favorite. Vasyok is 20 years old (!) but is so vivid that everybody hardly gives him 20 months:)
Besides the horses there are some more inhabitants in our stable – five dogs! They all are involved in pet therapy. :)

	Arjuk Arjuk means little bear. He is a bear indeed-big, shaggy and kind. He loves everybody and requires only love from everybody. Arjuk is great for our little patients who come for hippotherapy. Arjuk cannot settle down at one place and usually wanders in the village all the day coming back home in the evening.
	Dodo Dodo is my favorite boy of all times. :) He is absolutely spoilt, has no manners, runs after horses, gets a big kick right on the face but in a moment when pain is over, does it again, fights with dogs, birds and goats, rarely obeys my commands but… He comes and sits at my feet when I am blue, he never abandons me in danger, he is my greatest companion during my long walks in fields and… I love him madly! And our feeling is mutual:)

	Mumu Mumu is a modest, friendly dog. He loves sleeping, sour cream and piece. He is absolutely peaceful to all creatures including cats. "Make love, not war", he would sing if he could:)
	Bim Bim is a pure Caucasian Shepherd. He is the smallest one among our dogs but “draws up” everybody. He never fears anything and has no feeling of different weight categories. He never asks, he always requires:) He loves putting his head on my knee and being petted on the head. After a while he turns on his back and requires scratching his belly. And then no matter how vivid he is, in 5 minutes he is asleep:)
	Masha Masha is another survivor in our big family! People abandoned the puppy in a half-ruined cow-shed condemning her to death but there was another destiny prepared for her: we found her by chance. Masha cannot live alone; she has to see people, dogs, and other creatures-no matter of what species-around her all the time. This litle cute creature is the only female and the greatest territory defender among our dogs. She raises the boys up when there is another dog on our territory with non-stop barking and as soon as the fight starts she slips into the nearest hole and hids there:)

	Goat kids These cute babies are so curious and sociable! They are always ready to play and to be petted. They still drink milk so in the evening we take them to their Moms which are kept in a separate place (mother goats do not like to be disturbed by children all the time). In summer time they move to the mountains, to sappy grass.

We also had a cat and a dog before. The cat has left with a black boy and never came back. The dog died at 4.5 months. They were very beloved ones and we never forget them. And so I do not want to write about them in the past time.
	Chaplin Chaplin is a spoilt, endlessly charming puppy. I saved him from being run over by a car and he followed me as if he had known me for a lifetime. He was one month old then. I brought him to the stable and never regretted it. Chappa is a great defender despite being so small. And he cannot stop playing with everybody and everything all the time. Life is motion. This expression is just about him! Everyone is happy to see him around but Funtik. They really quarrel like cats and dogs:)
	Funtik This cat is an absolutely charming creature. No one can help loving her, even those who do not like cats. She loves eating and is a great beggar for food. She runs to every new visitor of the stable and starts mewing lamentably as if we have left her hungry for the last three days. And it always works. Funtik likes to be petted very much so she is perfect for nerve-relaxing. She is very tender and loves to be the center of attention. So she is hopelessly spoilt :) Funtik opened a center of felinotherapy at the stable. She chooses her patients among our visitors, jumps on their knees and makes them pet her. She especially feels people having stomach problems or being blue.