Raven

JONES' HAWK'S RANTEN AND RAVEN

Welcome to the world of

This web page is devoted entirely to one special little horse named Raven.

The story starts with a little red mare named Jones' Little Orphan Annie. Annie was probably our best producing mare on our farm of about 45 miniature horses despite the fact that she came from no bloodlines of great significance. Annie was one in a million. She had produced four beautiful foals for us as of August of 1999. I note this date because this is when the first ideas of Raven began.

We were at the AMHA Eastern Regionals in Wilmington, Ohio, when my mom and I were stalled next to our dear friends of Limestone Miniatures, Janet and Mike. They owned a stallion (and still do) named Champion Farms Nighthawk. "Hawk" is a son of Lazy N Red Boy but his value goes far beyond this fact. Hawk possesses the amazing ability to sire outstanding foals whose quality far surpasses the norm. Not only are his foals of the highest quality I have ever seen in my 21 years of breeding miniatures, but nearly EVERY foal is such. Great sires have come and gone, but I truly believe that Hawks astounding siring power can surpass them all in due time and given the recognition. So, we are watching the show, and we just keep seeing one Hawk baby after another, champion after champion. If you have ever seen LM Hawks Billy The Kid, you will know what I'm talking about. Just true Arabian beauty through and through. So needless to say, I was dying to get my hands on one of these Hawk kids. Well, much to my dismay, they were all either sold or not for sale not surprisingly. So, I proceeded to whine and whine and whine to Janet and my mom and we worked out a deal that Janet would breed my Annie to Hawk the following spring even though they do not stand Hawk to outside mares. GOOD GOD IN HEAVEN! I could not have been a happier person!!! This is the point where Raven was named. Yes, approximately a year and a half before she was born I decided that this baby would be named Raven no matter what sex it was because of the similarity with Hawk. Get it? They are both birds.

So, in February of 2000, Annie delivered Dink, a beautiful red filly. So, 30 days later, off Annie and Dink go to Kentucky to meet Annie's new boyfriend. Well, Annie instantly fell in love with Hawk (geez, who wouldn't?), and history was made.

Now, at this point I am now counting down the days till Annie is due with MY OWN HAWK BABY!!!! MY RAVEN!! It was a long, long winter, and every night I prayed that everything would go okay and I also prayed for a BOY! Yes, a boy. See, with horses, if you don't already know, most people want fillies because they are worth more. But this baby was going to be too special. This was going to be our new herd sire.

Well, at 2:10 AM on March 15th 2001, Raven finally came! I was at school in Pittsburgh so I wasn't there for the delivery, but my mom called me shortly after and told me that Annie had delivered a beautiful red and white filly! I was so excited and thankful that everything went okay that I wasn't all that disappointed that Raven was a girl. Needless to say, I did not sleep the rest of the night. I just wanted to drive home and see her. But I had class. So, on Friday right after class, I flew home to finally meet Raven. And I am not even kidding when I say that the moment I laid my eyes on that little girl, my heart melted. It was like I had had a child of my own. I knew my life would never be the same from that day on. Call me strange or whatever, but nothing in this world means what that one special little horse means to me.

Jones' Little Orphan Annie

Champion Farms Nighthawk

This is Raven at about two days old. She didn't really look like much at this point, but I knew what she was going to be.

Look a little bow-legged? Well, most all of Annie's babies were like this when they were born, but they all turned out with absolutley perfectly straight legs, so I wasn't worried. Besides, it was Raven. She was destined for perfection.

This is Raven the morning after she was born. She was a beauty right off the bat.

Here's the girl after her first clip. She is quite the entertainer!!!

I might be partial, but is this not the most beautiful animal you have ever seen? She blows my mind and melts my heart every time I look at her.

We aren't spoiled one bit !!!

And now her show career starts !!!!

This is Raven at the North Park show in Pittsburgh, PA. She got a first and a second in her class and our other filly, Drizzle got the other first and second. Can't complain there.

Alright. I'm just going to say it here. All year long Raven had to compete against our little black and white filly Jones' Justa Little Drizzle. Now, altough I am still a firm believer in the fact that Raven is clearly the best miniature horse on the planet, not all the judges agreed with me. So, even though Drizzle beat Raven 7 out of 11 times, I must point out that Raven always came in second when Drizzle got first. So, its a win/win situation for us altogether. But believer you me, Raven will be giving Drizzle a run for her money next year!!!

This is Raven at the 2001 Julep Cup Show where she placed FIRST in AOTE Mares !!! I was absolutly estatic ! She competed against mares of all ages and sizes in that class. I was so proud of her. She was an absolutely perfect lady. (Drizzle got a 3rd here....hehe)

And here's the last picture taken of the queen bee for the year. This was taken at the 2001 AMHA Eastern Championship Show. Raven did EXTREMELY well at this incredibly tough show. She got FIFTH in her weanling fillies 26" - 30" class (Drizzle got Reserve Champion and actually tied for first!) where she walked out in front of many of the top trainers in the country. One of the judges here placed her first too. Then she got a RESERVE CHAMPION in the AOTE Mare class !!! Let me tell you, my knees were shaking and I almost couldn't walk out of the ring when this happened. It was an extremely tough class and she was one of only two babies in the whole class. Once again though she performed for me like she knew this was it and it was time to pour it on. She was absolutely amazing ! It is no wonder she is my everything. I honestly think she knows that and she does everything she can to please me. Then she also got a SEVENTH in the Amateur Junior Mare class (Drizzle got third) against yearlings and two-year-olds that were professionally trained and conditioned all year.

Photo by Stuart Vesty