Confusing For SURE

We had a COLD walk today but no ice. I was joined by Sarah, Bethany and Hannah along with Ruth, Diane and mom. Joan passed as today is co-op for her and she had much to get ready. The other reason is this evening they are celebrating their Christmas. Bill and Bethany along with their two boys made it yesterday afternoon before the big ice storm. Our driveway is now clear of ice and snow so tomorrow morning Karin and I will be picking up at least 1 load of mares from Middle Grove.
One of the mares we will be picking up is Ayanna. Ayanna was born March 21st, 2010. Lily gave birth to her second filly by Raven and this one we were keeping no matter what. Rachel Sauder took the picture below. Ayanna was a very big filly.

 Below she is just 1 day old. 

We were so impressed with this filly's movement. Below is a video of her amazing movement Oct  2nd, 2010.

It was hard to wait for her to grow up. She was taken to Middle Grove after weaning to learn manners from the grumpy brood mares except that kind of back fired. As she is Lily's daughter and Lily is and was the boss of the herd Ayanna grew up thinking she was important. She is just 2 years old in the picture below:

Notice how high she gets off the ground and this was without trying, she was just leisurely trotting around the arena. Even at 2 years old she had such lift.  Rhoda worked with her a little then we took her back out to Middle Grove to grow up a bit. At 32 months old she was tall, very baroque and had a thick long mane and tail.

We brought her back to the Hanna City farm Jan 2013 so Rhoda could continue training her.

She was then started under saddle.

By June 7th, 2013 Rhoda had her bowing and laying down when cued.

 She and Rhoda worked well together. 

Because she grew up at Middle Grove, she learned to swim early (Lily loves the water) Below Rhoda is riding Ayanna across the lake while Alicia is riding Jenis across the lake. 

She was bred to Evan and June 8th, 2014 she delivered a gorgeous filly. Ayanna was a wonderful mom for her very first foal, guarding her from the other mares, sure someone would try to steal her precious baby away.

We named the filly Violet. 

By the summer of 2014 we were taking taking her to shows and trail rides. Below she is at Jubilee State park.

 In  March of 2014 Ayanna performed at the IL Horse Fair.

She was not bred back to Evan until 2015 and April 3rd, 2016 gave birth to a big baby boy.

Ayanna performed at the 2015 and 2016 IL Horse fairs.

She was then bred back to Evan in 2017 and is due April 23rd, 2018.  We can't wait to see what this amazing mare produces in just 3 and a half months. What is interesting is that her full sister Rosalie AND her mother Lily are both also due in April. Lily was bred to Valiant and Ayanna and Rosalie were both bred to Evan.  So Lily will be a grandmother to Rosalie and Ayanna's foals. Lily's foal will be a half sibling to Rosalie and Ayanna and an uncle or an aunt to their foals. Ayanna and Rosalie's foals will be 1st cousins and also half siblings as the sire of both is Evan. Confusing for SURE!

Rhoda sent a couple pictures from beautiful Hawaii:

 She is wisely staying in the shade in the picture above. Lee snorkeled on this beach and loved it.