Flying W Farms Prince Caspian

A person smiles while hugging a large black horse inside a wooden stable.

Person in a grey jacket holding the lead of a brown horse while standing outdoors with trees and a fence in the background.

A black horse with a long mane stands in a wooden stall, wearing a halter. An overhead light fixture is visible in the background.

Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Subject: Prince Caspian
Hi Fredericka!

It has been a year since Caspian arrived at the farm (actually it was on May 3rd, but I only just got time now to send some pictures).

We have accomplished many things this first year together. I am looking forward to riding him in the next month or so. It has been so rainy here that the ring gets too muddy to work. Thankfully, we did get some training in during April. Something I love about Caspian is he likes to play. It might be because he still is young, but we have fun running around the ring together; the only bad thing is he doesn’t realize our size difference so he can get a bit rough and I have to remind him who is boss. Caspian and Balthasar have bonded and are so cute together sometimes. Odessa likes to boss around the boys, too. Caspian’s birthday is on the 14th of this month, so we are hoping to get riding by the end of June. I’m getting really excited; I have a ton of training books, Parelli DVDs, and of course Carole and my trainer, Malisa to help me. My mom goes over to the barn with me EVERYDAY and helps me muck the stalls. I have her (and my dad) trained to do things so I don’t have to tell them what to do! lol Every now and then, my sister even comes over to say hi to the horses.

I just love the Caspian and Balth and Odessa. On my birthday, it started out kind of bad because my history teacher made me come in early to take a test that I missed because my family and I were in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. So I get the test back during the day and I got a C on it and my day just went downhill. Then some other things happened that I can’t really remember because the end of my day was so wonderful everything has erased from my mind. At the end of the day, we went to the barn, and the horses were out in the ring. They were SUPER muddy because it had been raining all day. They were just being really cute and then Carole brought out the hose for some reason and they were chasing each other to get in the water. Then I walked into the ring and Caspian just rolled in this HUGE mud puddle and we just laughed because we could not think he could get any muddier. Then Caspian wanted to play with me, but it is really hard to run in the mud because my boots would get sucked off. So I turned so he would know I didn’t want to play, instead, he cantered right next to me rubbing his dirty side along my right side (My mom did not want to let me into the car). I laughed! It felt like they knew I was bummed out because I had a semi-bad birthday. To top off the good day, it started raining again and a double rainbow showed up in the sky and the one looked like it ended in the back pasture. It was such a good ending to a bad day.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a one-year update and send some new pictures. We didn’t get to brush him and he hasn’t totally lost his winter coat, so you’ll have to excuse his dirtiness. J

Hope everything is going well with you!
Maria

A black horse rolls on its back in the snow on a cold day in March, 2009. A fence and bare trees are visible in the background.

A dark brown horse stands behind a wooden fence in a grassy area surrounded by trees.

Two people are washing a dark brown horse outdoors. One person holds the horse's head while the other uses a hose to spray water on the horse's body. The scene is in a grassy area with a fence in the background.

Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008
Subject: Prince Caspian

Hi Fredericka!
It's Maria. I just wanted to send you some pictures of Caspian. In the beginning of June, I gave him his first bath. He was sooooo good! He didn't move at all! I was so happy that he wasn't jiggy. My friend Chloe was holding him for me while I sprayed him and my mom took pictures. My sister just sat and read her book. When the vet came at the end of May he thought Caspian was four years old, I was like no he's only two! He was really good for the vet too. He got two shots on each side of his neck, so now he is up to date on his shots. He just loves attention, too! My mom's friends came over to see him and he was just loving all of the attention. And he has a mustache! My mom was laughing because she didn't know horses could have mustaches. He is really adorable. A couple Fridays ago, I came in the middle of the day and the horses were in because it was too hot for them to be out and Caspian was in his stall sprawled out sleeping. I walked into his stall and started rubbing his forehead. By then his head was up, but he just let me rub him. It was the first time I've ever seen him lying down in his stall while I was there so it was a big thing for me. I just love him sooooo much. Carole does too. He's really tall right now and is still getting bigger. His legs are really long. I like his legs though. Have you ever heard of the swirls on horses' heads corresponding to their temperment? Caspian has two swirls one right above the other on his forehead. I have no clue what that means, but Caspian is so sweet and curious and mischievous. Oh I just love this horse! Thanks so much for my baby boy! Tell Robin my family and I say hi and thanks for Caspian, everyone loves him!
Maria