Hello all

[Jasja]

Hello all, my name is Jasja (I suppose if I would type Yasha, you'll all have an idea how it's pronounced). I'm 38 (when did that happen??? Wasn't I 18 only just yesterday...) years young, born and raised in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and married to an Aussie. As he could not adjust to small, crowded Holland (understandable if you're from rural Australia), we're in the process of trying to relocate to France.

Besides reading (and my husband), I also love horses (I have 2 wonderful, wonderful arabians), animals in general, travelling and spending some quality time with my friends and family.

[Jaimey, The Other Queen]

Hi Jasja! Welcome to the group! :O)

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Welcome Jasja!You are so lucky to have horses, would love to see a picture if you could post one? I take it they will be moving to France with you? There must be a story here..you in the Netherlands..your husband an Aussie..but making the move to France? Sounds like an adventure! :)

[Jasja]

My beautiful arabian mare Escala


My equally beautiful arabian gelding Eclipse, Eclipse is Escala's son :-)


Eclipse and I


Eclipse will definitely be coming to France with me, Escala however will stay where she is now. She's retired and happily living at my friend's farm in the north of Holland. Escala is very scared of the horsetrailer, so I won't be putting her through such a move anymore at her age when she's somewhere where she's very happy. I'll just have to keep visiting her now and again like I do now =o) .

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Oh Wow Jasja! They are BEAUTIFUL!!They look like they have had alot of love! I did alot of riding in my younger days,and love horses.when my daughter & I went on a resort vacation together last summer it was the first thing I lined up for us to do! I find riding so relaxing & peaceful..and feel as one with the animal..if that makes sense :)Thank you for sharing!!

[Pamela]

Ooooooooooo, Jasja - absolutely beautiful !!!!!!!!!

[Jasja]

They are as sweet as they are beautiful, I feel truly blessed that I'm the lucky person who has these 2 amazing horses in her life =oD .

In February of 2005 Escala had a terrible, terrible accident which had us (Escala and myself, myself only for moral support for my beautiful girl ;-) ) go through a recuperation process for almost 2 years (the first few weeks she was on good painkillers and antibiotics, and after that the recuperation process was completely pain free for her, or needless to say I wouldn't have had her go through it) to build her back to strength. I still remember getting the phonecall about the accident, one of the worst days of my life =o/

Anyway, Eclipse was only 2,5 years old when this happened and because all I could do for 2 years was walk next to Escala, I built an emotional barrier and I haven't ridden since. A bit of a shame, because I have a very good 9 year old horse now with good sport potential, luckily one of my friends is more than happy to be riding and competing him and I enjoy watching them from the sideline. I really should work on building back my confidence though, when we are in France somebody needs to ride Eclipse after all. The funny thing is that I know Eclipse like I know my back pocket which makes it really easy to help my friend because I just understand and feel Eclipse more than I ever understood and felt any other horse =oD . Eclipse was trained by an amazing Dutch reining rider, and I learnt so much just by listening to and watching him.

[Jasja]

Jan riding Eclipse in the early stages of his training (teaching him how to keep his own balance and maintain the correct body position so his muscles are trained correctly) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELfDZo...

Can anyone tell that I really do love my horses... (and bragging about them...LOL) O=o) . Once I start talking about my sweeties, it's pretty hard to stop me...sorry... =o/

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Jasja wrote: "Jan riding Eclipse in the early stages of his training (teaching him how to keep his own balance and maintain the correct body position so his muscles are trained correctly) :

http://www.youtube..."

Thanks for sharing Jasja! you do indeed have beautiful horses! Eclipse seems so intune with the people who care for him :)

[Anne]

Just beautiful. If i could post a picture of my Arab stallion, whom I lost in 1965, I would, but i don't know how to post here. He is on facebook along with many other pictures of Arabians.They are the worlds most beautiful horses.

[Jasja]

Once you know how to post a picture, it's not to difficult Anne. This is what you have to type (minus the 2 exclamation marks that I will put in so you can see the text instead of trying to link to something that's non existant)If you have a picture online on the www somewhere (eg facebook), you click on your picture, then right click, go to properties and copy the URL) :



And I have to agree with you on arabians. They are amazing animals. Not only are they very beautiful, they also have wonderful hearts and are incredibly intelligent. If you've bonded with an arabian horse, it is a bond that will last a lifetime.

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Anne wrote: "Just beautiful. If i could post a picture of my Arab stallion, whom I lost in 1965, I would, but i don't know how to post here. He is on facebook along with many other pictures of Arabians.They are..."

I didnt know you had an Arabian stallion Anne! I knew about your lovable Dachshunds..would love to see yours too!