A pedigree!

I got her papers today! I'm soooo beyond excited I cannot even begin to explain! I can register her now! Even better, there's an amnesty program going on right now and I can do it for a LOT less money!

I had to go to the post office with the registered mail slip to pick them up. I actually squealed when I opened them up and realized everything I needed was there. My kids thought this was some kind of game. I held the papers up and our 4 year old started "woohoo"'ing with me. The two-year old joined in the shrieking.

I had to call my mom and tell her of course. She was excited, too.

It started raining while we were out and was pretty much pouring by the time we got home. I unloaded groceries and was in the process of putting them away. Walking past the back door, I see Anya there. Wet. So I slid open the door and said, "Anya, you have a barn. Go use it," and shut the door. I put away the things in my hand and realized, "she wants to see the papers!"

So I pulled them out and went to the door again. I slid the door open and unfolded the papers and held them up so she could see. I swear to you she laughed. It was a happy, giggly sound. It was almost a nicker, but...not. It wasn't a nicker. It wasn't her nicker anyway. It was like a laugh! I kept the papers inside so they didn't get wet and was showing her and laughed at her laughing. She started up the steps. "Nooo, noooo, you can't come in." She stopped, but stuck her nose in the door and touched the papers with her muzzle. Then she backed down and said, "I just had to touch them." I told her what a pretty girl she was and gave her an apple. I went back to putting groceries away and looked out the window a few minutes later and she was standing in her barn.

So being the curious type that I am, I had to start looking for pictures of her parents now that I had their names and their owner's name. Her sire is Ivory Man. Her dam is Money Makes Me Sparkle. Google didn't fail me. I came up with pictures of her sire, who is actually a cremello. No idea exactly what that means because I've never cared too much about the color thing. (I'm not a science fan and that brown plus gray always equals a spotted somethingorother just doesn't interest me.) Basically, he's really light/white colored, which was an "ohhhh!" moment for me. She may be a palamino, but she's not very golden. She's much more white than gold. Her new winter coat seems especially so. Maybe she's just really sun-bleached. Still, it's kind of nice to know that runs in her dad's side of the family.

I can find a lot of Ivory Man's offspring, but not too much on the pedigree before him. I plan to keep looking.

I can't find anything about her dam. I do have a few pictures of her standing next to Anya as a brand new filly, but nothing that really shows her well.

The mare was purchased in foal by the people that I got Anya from. But then they sold Anya, and the mare.

I have a feeling that the people I got her from had gone all the way to Kentucky (oh yeah, that's where the parents were from) to buy this mare who was in foal to Ivory Man. They breed TWH for a living, so I can see they'd want to bring in some different bloodlines to their herd. But my guess is they were banking on a colt and not a filly. A colt would grow up into a stallion to breed with their existing broodmares. A filly...well they already had broodmares, and as I understand it, it's better to continue the line via the stallions rather than the mares. So in that scenario, it would make sense to me that they would sell the mare-who-didn't-have-a-colt as well as the filly-who-they-hoped-was-a-boy.

I had an impossible time getting her dam and sire's names from the people we bought her from. Getting these papers is the first time I've seen them. It's nice to know more about her, but it doesn't make her worth any more to me than she was before I got those papers. I really feel like she deserves it though.

Now, to pick a name for her registration papers!