Horses

“When God created the Horse He told him, “No animal will be compared with you; all the Earth treasures lie between your eyes. You will trample down my enemies and carry my friends.
On your back they will offer up prayers to me. You will be happy on the Earth and they will appreciate you more than any other creature because love of the Lord of the Earth will belong to you. You will fly without wings and strike without a sword… ”

An Arabian legend

We have been practicing hippotherapy in Centaur center since 2007. There are 7 horses (1 stallion, 6 mares)and a pony at our center.

	KHAROUNZHI / KHOUZHAN Born: 2002 Died at: June 20, 2011 Breed: mix of English and Budyonovian Mother: Khatanga Father: Zhemchoug Sex: stallion Color: chestnut Kharounzhi is no longer with us. He died of limphosarcoma. He was just 9. He was the FIRST HIPPOTHERAPY HORSE in the history of Armenia. He was the most amazing horse I have ever seen... Kharounji is his “passport” name. We all call him Khouzhan. Khouzhan is our main “doctor” in hippotherapy. Khouzhan is calm, friendly, and patient with new riders and especially children. He is the humblest and the most receptive of our horses. Learning new things takes him seconds.
Khouzhan’s distinguishing feature though is his phenomenal laziness. He may fall asleep while running. And even asleep he goes on running! Khouzhan is a glutton. If he is surrounded by many people and someone gives him sugar or an apple he will poke his muzzle into everyone’s hands searching for sugar and not even looking if there is sugar there :)
	SALMA First Parent 2012 - Milada Kilianova! (Czech Republic) Second Parent 2012 - Eva Simonyan! Born: 2003 Breed: local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: mare Color: dark bay Salma is the main hippotherapy horse in our stable. She found herself in our stable by accident. Or rather by destiny. Her owner who needed money urgently wanted to slaughter and sell her to meat-packing factory. With the help of our friends we bought the horse and saved her from turning into hum. She is a very smart, gentle and beautiful girl. Her mild temper, diligence to the children and right pace make her an ideal horse for hippotherapy. And Salma is just perfect to ride in the fields!
Salma is a very good teacher for new riders. She requires the rider's constant concentration and built-up condition. Just a second of carelessness and Salma takes the rider right towards the stable. Doing so she has such a serene look as if she just carries out an order of the rider :)

	GOKHT / GOLDEN Parents 2012 - Ani Chobanyan & Zara Budaghyan! (Armenia) Born: 2002 Breed: thoroughbred English Mother: Gyuldiste Father: Khatinets Sex: stallion Color: light brown Golden has a very strong family tree. All of his ancestors have been racers. He loves jumping over fences. His galloping is like flying. Golden does not like doing the same thing for long. After some 10 minutes of trotting he may stop and start shifting from one foot to another as if asking, “Can’t we do something else? Something new, I mean?”
Golden is a hopeless womanizer. He may fall in love with a female of any species, be it horse, cow, dog or human being. Any species does not mean any female though; Golden picks and chooses. When Golden fancies a female he looks at her side and neighs. If a female encourages him… she should start praying if she is someone smaller than a horse.

	JEFFA Born: 2005 Breed: mix of English and Budyonovian Mother: Fishka Father: Zhemchoug Sex: mare Color: chestnut Jeffa is Khouzhan’s sib sister. Jeffa is quiet famous in the region for having one eye like a human eye (white with a black spot) and another eye like a horse eye (almost completely black). No one can help admiring her beauty and grace. Her soul is as sensitive and gentle as her mouth. One harsh word is enough for her to get offended. When it happens she goes to the remotest angle of the horsebox, leans her head against the wall and looks at the shouter frowningly. She looks like a little baby then.
Jeffa is usually a good girl but from time to time she has “critical days “.And when she is capricious and does not want to do something there is no way to force her. In a word… she is a woman.

	SABINA Parent 2012 - Angela Hayrapetyan! (Armenia) Born: 2006 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Bagira Father: Strasbourg Sex: mare Color: sorrel Sabina is ginger. It says ginger woman is double woman. It is absolutely true in Sabina’s case. She is a terrible coquette. Sabina is actually very spoilt. She is extremely curious and naughty. She has the softest trot and gallop among our horses. She also is the fastest. Sabina is gifted in jumping and does it with pleasure.
While other horses know who is the boss here Sabina does not care at all. She “decides” how long she will work a day and when her time is over just stops and does not move. Then half shuts her eyes and gets prepared for a sweet nap, no matter that you go crazy on her!:)But she has what is called “spirit” and our riders forgive her anything for that. .
	SORBONNA Born: 2008 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Bagira Father: Strasbourg Sex: mare Color: sorrel Sorbonna is the youngest sister of Sabina. She is an exact copy of Sabina but is much more emotional and softer. At younger age Sorbonna was very much scared of flying objects (paper, plastic bag, etc.) in the wind. Seeing a flying object she would just “crash down” on four feet and shut her eyes (I do not see you, so I am not here). That of course was not comfortable at all when you were on her. We had to work hard with her and fortunately Sorbonna learnt to overcome her fear.
Sorbonna is fond of attacking dogs. But this happens outside only and when she is free. In the stable and under the saddle she is the most obedient and sweetest girl in the world!

	GZHELLA Parent 2012 and the Owner!- Arpi Khalatyan! (Armenia) Born: 2009 Breed: Mix of English and Local Mother: Jasmin Father: Golden Sex: mare Color: sorrel Gzhella is an affectionate and friendly little girl. When she was smaller she was so much like a deer that we would call her Bamby rather than Gzhella. She adores licking hands and faces. When she was smaller it was just a necessity for her. If one tried to escape from her passionate licking she may had grabbed one at the trousers or T-shirt and not let him/her go away. :)
Gzhella was born in our stable. We started her training since birth. Gzhella is going to be the first hippotherapy horse in Armenia that started to be trained for hippotherapy from the moment she was born!

	GALIZGA Born: 1992 Breed: thoroughbred English Mother: Gudura Father: Gabrov Sex: mare Color: dark bay Galizga was born in Georgia where were used mainly as a dam. She moved to Armenia few years ago to a private owner. When she got old the owner did not want to keep her anymore and gave her to our stable.
Galizga is a very friendly and calm lady. She is tender and soft. Galizga never fights for the fodder and water. Her patience and calmness deserve a great ovation. When we take her out for a walk there is no need to put a halter on or tie her; she follows us like a dog and never ever thinks of escaping to fields in search for sappy grass like other horses do.
	VASYOK Born: 1987 Breed: pony Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: stallion Color: white Vasyok is the smallest (by size) pony in Armenia! Though he hardly thinks so. He sees himself only as a horse, moreover as an undeniable leader of the herd. All the mares should be his and he is always ready to fight with big stallions to prove that. Only one thing can distract his attention from girls: a sugar candy! He loves any sweets but sugar candy is his favorite. Vasyok is 24 years old but is so vivid that everybody hardly gives him 24 months:)
Vasyok works only 13 days a year when we take him to the Republic Square for a New Year for children to walk on him. The rest of the time he just enjoys life! :)
Besides horses we also have 10 dogs - all involved in animal therapy. Their impact on our visitors at time is as effective as that of the horses. Other inhabitants of our stable are rabbits, hens and goats.

	DODO Parents 2012 - Allen Yekikian & Sose Thomassian! (USA) Dodo is around 5 years old (2007), mix of Caucasian shepherd. I met Dodo on a street in Yerevan. A little furry thing was sitting on the street and crying. His Mom did not have milk and the month old puppy was hungry. The shop keepers there told me that there were 6 puppies and all died, only this one survived. It was February, severely cold. I bought yogurt and started feeding him putting a finger in the yogurt and letting him lick it. The puppy followed me… Dodo is absolutely spoilt, has no manners, runs after horses, gets a big kick right on the face but in a moment when pain is over, does it again, fights with dogs, birds and goats, rarely obeys my commands...
But... He comes and sits at my feet when I am blue; he never abandons me in danger, and is my greatest companion during my long walks in fields!

	MUMU First Parent 2012 - Milada Kilianova! (Czech Republic) Second Parents 2012 - Sose Thomassian! and Allen Yekikian!(USA) Mumu is 4 years old (2008), mix of Caucasian Shepherd. Mumu grew up in a family and was kicked out for… he did not bark on strangers! That happened just after Mumu’s Mom who lived in our center was killed by the villagers; they poisoned her because she would bark too much scaring them! Mumu has “wolf eyes” of his mother. We took him hoping he would soothe the pain of a loss of the dog we loved very much. Mumu prefers to spend much time alone. Mumu is a modest, serious and friendly dog. He is extremely good with children: can stay motionless for hours letting them petting and rubbing him. Mumu loves sleeping, sour cream and piece.
He is absolutely peaceful to all creatures including cats. "Make love, not war", he would sing if he could :) The only exception for his loving nature is Dodo: the two dogs cannot stand each other and look for every reason to start fight!
	BIM Parent 2012 - Keegam Shamlian! (England) Bim is about 3 years old Caucasian Shepherd. Bim was born at Yezidi Kurds. His mom did not have milk and 1-2 months old puppy was thrown out in the garbage to find his food himself. His gastrointestinal tract was in awful condition and took a long treatment to recover. Then at three month he survived from enteritis. After 10 days of suffering and useless antibiotics we gave him a 50 years old cognac. Next morning he was running. :) Our visitors claim that Bim is mixed with wolf, deer and cheetah. He indeed has a muzzle of wolf, shape of deer and runs as fast and gracefully as cheetah. Bim is a very emotional dog.
He is the only dog I have ever seen that cries. He desperately needs to be petted on his head incessantly. And he never asks; he always requires it from everybody who comes to our center. :)
	MASHA Parents 2012 - Claudia and Janto Boehnke (Germany) Masha is 3 years old (2009) mix of Pomeranian. Masha is another survivor in our big family! Someone abandoned the puppy in a half-ruined cow-shed condemning her to death but there was another destiny prepared for her: we found her by chance Masha cannot live alone; she has to see people, dogs, and other creatures-no matter of what species-around her all the time. This little cute creature is the greatest territory defender among our dogs. She raises the boys up when there is another dog on our territory with non-stop barking and as soon as the fight starts she slips into the nearest hole and hides :) Masha is a dog with whom people get rid of their fear of dogs.
She invites you to play and accepts no rejection; she climbs on your knees and demands to pet her, and you can endlessly embrace and squeeze her, Masha will just be happy!
	DORA Parents 2012 - Allen Yekikian & Sose Thomassian! (USA) Dora is 5 years old (2007) foxhound. We found Dora on the street with the leg broken (she was run over by a car). She had a collar on her neck so had owners before who presumably kicked her out. She spent around a month with that leg and there was a danger she got gangrene and her leg would be amputated. Thanks to vet Artyom who did an extremely difficult surgery and 2 months of intensive rehabilitation later we managed to keep her leg and now she even does not limp. When we go out in the fields on horses Dora runs before us with the speed of a rocket searching for fox, rabbit, duck etc.
Then realizes we are left much behind and starts searching for us barking loudly and waiting for the whistle in return. Just let her run - as fast as possible, as far as possible - and Dora will be absolutely happy and satisfied.
	ASLAN First Parent 2012 - Vache' Thomassian! (USA) Second Parent 2012 - Nina Vardanyan! (Armenia) Aslan is around 2 years old (2010) mix of Caucasian and Turkmen Shepherds. Aslan is the only one among our dogs that was bought but not taken from the street. In a few days after Andrey (our trainer) bought him he discovered that the puppy had warms of his size. Two vets gave him no chance to survive. Third vet suggested they put him to sleep – the dog was torturing. But Andrey decided to struggle for his life to the end. The puppy survived… Aslan competes with Masha in loudness. With him around we need no locks and gates; he is a perfect guard. Although he barks really severely in reality he is a kind, lovely creature crazy for playing with Masha and Malish and fighting with Bim. Aslan however is the most obedient one among our dogs.
He is the only one whom you can call back even in the middle of a fierce fight with neighboring dogs! :) He is very careful with children and is a favorite of many of our kids for he resembles very much the lion Simba from the famous cartoon.
	MALISH Parents 2012 - Claudia and Janto Boehnke (Germany) Malish is 2 years old (2010)mix of Dachshund. She was born in Yerevan, in the living block yard. Some inhabitants of the living block hated dogs and kept threatening to call the Unigraph X to come and take the puppy. Then she changed two owners one refusing her in 6 months because she was stealing… bras from neighbors and second one because she would not bark on strangers! We had no other choice than to take her to our center. It was an unsociable, suspicious, scared dog, so skinny that one could count her bones. Now Malish is the most spoilt baby among our dogs. She is an energizer running nonstop all the day with Masha (they are like twins – playing together, eating together, sleeping together) thus ensuring the motion of the rest of our dogs who cannot help following the puppies in their crazy race.
She jumps on every visitor inviting them to play and will do anything for an extra portion of meal (eats equal to a Caucasian shepherd!).
	MICKEY MUK Parent 2012 - Anna Bahnan! (Armenia) Mickey is 3 years old (2009) mix of corgi. She was living in a neighboring house in Ushi. Her owners would keep her either tied on a short chain or in the basement because this tiny creature "was dangerously biting people"! Once they threw the pregnant Mickey in the basement and forgot her. The dog delivered, waited for food and water for a couple of days and then ate her puppies! Then her owner kicked her out shouting, "what kind of mother she is! She is a devil, eating her own puppies!!! " We took her in our big family. She is the loveliest creature you can imagine. Mickey is soft and tender. She has tones of love in her tiny body and shares that love lavishly with everyone. We call her Mickey Muk for she is crazy for field mice (muk=mouse in Armenian).
Amazing is the way she hunts for them. Mouse’s "house" has 2 holes. Mickey puts her muzzle into a hole and starts sneezing. The poor mouse terrified from noise and dust jumps out from another hole. Mickey catches her immediately. Once she had 3 mice a day!
	LALOSH Parents 2012 - Allen Yekikian & Sose Thomassian! (USA) Lalosh is around a year old (2011)mix of Caucasian Shepherd. Lalosh appeared at our place from nowhere, with a deep wound on his head. It happened at the second night after Nessie, our much beloved risen schnauzer died. Perhaps it is silly but I took Lalosh as a message from her and never had enough strength to send him away even though we had enough dogs at our place. His tail is cut so presumably he had owners before. We named him Lalosh (something like naughty) because he is too spoilt and playful. You absolutely cannot get angry on him, it is useless - he just ignores it.
He will come to you as slow as only he can, will rub his muzzle against your knee and you are done. Lalosh is extremely calm and extremely brave, does not fear even a bear, checked!
	LUCKY / KITSIK Lucky is few months’ old mix of German shepherd. She is called Lucky because she is very lucky. A stray dog, she was run over by a car, her back legs were paralyzed and the vet’s decision was definitely putting her to sleep. But the girl who found Lucky on the street decided to give her one more chance. Lucky survived, is using all 4 legs and is recovering - slowly, step by step. She now lives with us and we try to find permanent and a VERY GOOD owner for her. Though her appearance does not look like a German shepherd at all but in her soul she is! Emotional, loving, very devoted, very smart (I suspect she even has sixth sense). She loves girls and hates guys or rather are very much afraid of them. She has many small scars on her body and perhaps she was tortured by guys. But she is overcoming her fears slowly.
Lucky or Kitsik as we call her here is crazy for licking " dogs, people, rabbits, cows, horses - anything she finds! Lucky learnt to crack nuts as well as the rest of our dogs and now spends all her "free time" searching for nuts yet remained under the trees.
	RABBITS They are so lovely, so soft, that you cannot help petting them all the time. But touching them is strictly forbidden: they are too sensitive and catch different kinds of microbes easily. Nevertheless even watching them – how they eat, communicate, build nest for the future babies – is such a pleasure!
	HENS We have 3 hens and a rooster. The rooster looks after the hens and defends them from us and the dogs. Our hens are special – they never lay eggs! In the village usually if a hen is good at laying eggs she has all chances to live along life, if not she finds herself in the dinner menu quickly. Our hens realize that no one is going to slaughter them so why to make an effort? :)
	GOAT KIDS These cute babies are so curious and sociable! They are always ready to play and to be petted. They still drink milk so in the evening we take them to their Moms which are kept in a separate place (mother goats do not like to be disturbed by children all the time). In summer time they move to the mountains, to sappy grass.

We also used to have animals that are for different reasons no longer with us. They all were and are very beloved ones and we never forget them. And we do not want to write about them in the past time.
	ARJUK Arjuk just disappeared one day... Went to the mountains with shepherds, as he did many times and did not come back. We hope that someone somewhere keeps him. We hope that Arjuk is happy there...No words are enough to tell how much he was and is beloved... As a puppy Arjuk was very much loved by his owners. They allowed him to live in the house, pet him, played with him and spoilt him. When he grew up… they kicked him out for he was… too kind!!! He would not bark on the people entering the house but would move his tail and run to them to play and the owners decided that he was a “useless dog” and threw him out, instead bringing in a pit-bull. At our center this white bear (Arjuk means little bear) is most beloved by everybody just for that quality of him – endless kindness and love and care, especially for children. Arjuk is great for our little patients who come for hippotherapy: he allows petting him as much as they like, he plays with them for hours and due to his calmness and kindness helps many people overcome their fear to big dogs.
	JASPER Born: May 4, 2010 Died: Sep 3, 2011 Breed: mix of traken, English and local Mother: Jasmin Father: Poisk Sex: stallion Color: ginger He died in 10 minutes, was born in my hands and died in my hands... An absolutely healthy horse, from twisted bowels... He was just 1.4 years old, a wonderful foal turning to a perfect horse... Jasper is a son and an exact copy of our beloved Poisk. He is very spoilt and is more like a puppy than a foal. He plays with everybody: horses, dogs, and people. When he was smaller the aim of his life was to get as much milk as he could from his Mom. When someone rode Jasmin he would run next to her. When it was time of his next milk eating, he would run before his Mom and try to stop her with his body. Then he tried to pull the rider down and to enjoy his milk! At 1.4 years old he is so gracious, tall and beautiful and still a baby. He adores licking - hands, faces, shoulders. He has both the mild temper of his Mom and free, a bit wild temper of his Dad.
	NESSIE Nessie died at the age of 12, from brain stroke. She has been spent with us just 4 months but I have a feeling she has been with me all her life. No other dog will ever be able to replace you, Nessie... I miss you so much, every day, every moment... Nessie is the newest in our big family. Her story is perhaps the most dramatic one. I saw her by chance lying on the street with endlessly sad eyes and enormously big swelling on her belly (perhaps the reason why the 8-9 years old dog was kicked out from home). With a great financial support of the guys from “Save the animals” FB group of volunteers vet Mihran operated her. Nessie is a Riesen Schnauzer. That is a lovely breed – smart, emotional, very good to children and devoted to the owner. Knowing me less than a month she loves me more than all my dogs together. She follows me like a shadow, defends me from everybody, and even demands to sleep only with me  Nessie truly found her paradise at our place – with 8 young, vivid dogs making her feel young either, people loving her and our hippotherapy children crazy to play with this big, furry creature. Nessie has to be checked by vet every three months since the dwelling may repeat again. With the diagnosis cancer you never can be sure about anything with the future. But one thing we are sure about: the rest of her life she will live happily in a loving family.
	STRASBOURG THE SECOND Born: 2007 Breed: mix of English and Arabian Mother: Jasmin Father: Strasbourg Sex: stallion Color: sorrel Strasbourg was sold by the owner of the horses and place where we practice hippotherapy. We could not find the money he was asking for Strasbourg and buy him. His new owner is a shepherd, having other horses as well. Strasbourg gets a good hay, good care and all the mares. Though we are happy he is doing well we still miss him a lot... He reminds me the wind. No words are enough to express his beauty. Strasbourg is very sociable and adors playing. He loves being scratched on the neck and forehead. Else he loves chewing my shoulder or at least jacket:) We have started riding him. His trot and gallop are soft and comfortable and he behaves surprisingly very well (not like a stallion at all) when there are mares around!
	JASMIN Born: 2004 Breed: mix of English and Local Mother: Jasmin Father: Zhigan Sex: mare Color: sorrel The owner exchanged Jasmin with 2 cows. She now lives with a shepherd in a village of Aparan. She is an absolutely happy and beautiful horse, loved very much by her owner, always shining clean and well fed. And we visit her quiet often. Jasmin is a kind, modest and gentle woman with a wide back and not tall-a perfect horse for hippotherapy. She is rather indifferent to people and enjoys her company more than anyone's else. She sees people only as food carriers and takes their petting as a not very pleasant but necessary payment for the food they bring to her:)
	BERTA Berta died when she was less than a year old from enteritis, just on New year Eve. A sweet Caucasian shepherd with big, sad eyes. We saved her from so many things but were not able to save from one of the most severe diseases dogs can have... Berta is a favorite dog of every kid. She is an affectionate girl with wise and kind eyes. Berta is so lazy that one can trample her when she is lying on the ground and even pain will not force her to stand up and move away. She is a big, soft and furry toy.
	POISK Born: 1988 Died: June 4, 2010 Breed: Traken Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: stallion Color: dark bay Poisk died when he was 22. No words are enough to describe what an amazing horse he was and what terrible loss his death was… Poisk is the main stallion in the herd. He is 21 years old which is equal to around 95-100 years of a human being!!! However he is very well preserved. Poisk is very calm and well-behaved until he sees a girl. Then he immediately remembers what the main function of the stallion should be! He loves tumbling on the ground, especially in the snow and hates being touched on ears and forehead. Poisk died when he was 22. No words are enough to describe what an amazing horse he was and what terrible loss his death was…
	SORENTA Born: 2008 Breed: Local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: mare Color: light brown Sorenta now lives in the paradise - Enoqavan village of Ijevan. She is absolutely free in mountains with sappy grass. She had problems with legs that disappeared completely in few months in Enoqavan. Sorenta is more like a dog than a horse. She has no fear of people, goes to everybody, allows petting and feeding of her and plays with children with great pleasure. She is very patient and tolerant to the ways children play with her but has one weak spot: apples.
Once we took her out to play with a 5 years old autistic child. The boy had a big apple in his hand and Sorenta wanted to take it. The kid refused to give her the apple and ran away. Sorenta ran after him. They were running in the yard for over half an hour. The boy won and Sorenta got so angry that she started galloping around kicking in the air and sniffing. When we wanted to repeat the experiment in a week we found out Sorenta kept remembering the boy and started getting nervous and kicking before approaching the boy. We had to take her back for the child’s safety :)
	TORNADO Born: 2008 Breed: Local Mother: unknown Father: unknown Sex: stallion Color: grey Tornado appeared in our stable with Sorenta and now also lives with her in Enoqavan village. He is the main stallion of a small herd and is an absolutely happy horse. If Tornado had to choose which animal to be born he would deffinitely choose being a pig! He is mad about tumbling in the mud. We can wash him with shampoo and then tie him to get dry in the field. He will immediately find the only little muddy spot around and get all dirty in few seconds. This is the only disadvantage of him though. As for the rest he is a very beautiful, friendly and vivid horse.
	CHAPLIN Chappa died at 4.5 months old from enteritis. We fought for his life the whole night but could not save him. He loved running so much. I hope he now runs happily in the dog paradise... Chaplin is a spoilt, endlessly charming puppy. I saved him from being run over by a car and he followed me as if he had known me for a lifetime. He was one month old then. I brought him to the stable and never regretted it. Chappa is a great defender despite being so small. And he cannot stop playing with everybody and everything all the time. Life is motion. This expression is just about him! Everyone is happy to see him around but Funtik. They really quarrel like cats and dogs:)
	FUNTIK Funtik ran away with a big, black cat leaving her 1 month old kitten. That caused the rage of the entire village (what kind of mother she is, leaving her babies for a man!!!). Well, cat remains cat, especially the three color one. This cat is an absolutely charming creature. No one can help loving her, even those who do not like cats. She loves eating and is a great beggar for food. She runs to every new visitor of the stable and starts mewing lamentably as if we have left her hungry for the last three days. And it always works. Funtik likes to be petted very much so she is perfect for nerve-relaxing. She is very tender and loves to be the center of attention. So she is hopelessly spoilt :) Funtik opened a center of felinotherapy at the stable. She chooses her patients among our visitors, jumps on their knees and makes them pet her. She especially feels people having stomach problems or being blue.