Introducing DBD Lori Endres (17 Jan 2008)

I have loved horses since I was 9 years old when my best friend and her family got their first horse. The love just grew from there and it took many many years before I actually owned my first horse. That is an American Paint Horse called DBD Lori Endres. She is a sorrel and white Tobiano filly and was a few weeks old when I first came over to USA in June of 2001. It was my husband's idea to name her (this was my name at the time before I remarried ... I wasnt too keen on the last name but that is what she got landed with LOL). I have always believed that it is unlucky to change a horses name so that is how it stayed. No I am not really superstitious but this one just niggles me.


This is one of the first photographs that I took of her a few days after I arrived. There were 9 horses (1 stallion and 8 mares) in the barn and four foals aged between 3 weeks and 3 months old. I have never had the opportunity to be hands on where horses are concerned. I had ridden all my life but had never really been in a position to care for one myself and had never been around a Stallion or Foals. It was a daunting task and this was the beginning of my learning curve which still grows to this day, I learn a new lesson just about every day on this paint horse farm LOL. This filly was a real livewire, very lively, independent and intense, not very affectionate at all .. unless SHE wanted some loving of course .... then she would try to make it look like it was your idea not hers.

It amazed me daily how quickly these babies learned and I made lots of mistakes along the way but they are very forgiving creatures. Whatever I showed them they normally picked up the first time. We had 4 mares out in the 5 acre pasture but the rest of the horses were stalled and the only place I had to give them any exercise was the roundpen, and they loved to be out there.

Up until my arrival Larry had been reliant on people's (family and friends') goodwill with getting the horses cared for with regard to their feeding and keeping the barn in shape. Richard, our one neighbor was great with that and with helping me to learn a few of the ropes so to speak when it came to handling the stallion, foals and mares. Larry had ridden his whole life until the swimming accident in 1982 which left him quadraplegic, so his experience in this new horse world was invaluable to me if I was going to stay alive LOL. He has seen and done it all, there is very little that he hasnt experienced himself and has a solution for.

My first winter here in Indiana was a big shock for me. I was born in Zimbabwe, a country in southern africa, and our temperatures very rarely went below freezing and other than a few snow showers that I had experienced in London England just before coming to the USA, I had never seen snow. I have to say that not one season has been the same in the 7 years I have been here, every winter has been different, as every summer, spring and fall. I have learned to hate mud though, that is one constant LOL.

To be continued........

I hope that you will all enjoy this journey back into my more recent past with me. It is giving me a chance to look back at some of my old photographs and remember things that I have already forgotten about, and reinforce some of the lessons that I have learned since coming to this American Paint Horse Farm.

Abraham believe me I am going to pick your brain unmercifully during this process LOL, thank you for everything up until now and in case I dont say it enough for all the help in the future.