30 hours old, and first steps outside!!

This is a simply beautiful filly - a clone of her dam in red bay clothing. Finale is looking magnificent as a young Mother, and is taking her job very seriously! She comes from a long line of solid mares with strong maternal instincts and fertility. A mare line like this is a rare gift that every serious breeder strives for..... or prays for.

For fun, I made these videos today!

This is freshly thawed semen of my old friend, Don Schufro. I remembered that my microscope has video capabilities, so I taped it for the mare's owner when we bred her. This is semen from 2003.

Our newest baby!

This is the first foal for our special young mare, FINALE (Furst Heinrich out of Reina H)
The Belissimo filly was born at 5 a.m. today, so here is shown at about 7 hours. She is very beautiful and spitting image of her Mother.

Big "Apollo" is charming all of us....

Although he does not have an official name, "Apollo" so suits him that I'm afraid it has stuck.
He is a shining example of the uniform quality of the foals of AMPERE, and out of what has proven to be an outstanding producer, Dream Rubina (Dream of Glory - Rubinstein)
Here he is at three weeks.

Hilltop Farm Acquires Devon Grand Champion

"Jane MacElree and Hilltop Farm are excited to announce they have purchased the 2009 Dressage at Devon Grand Champion Perfect Qredit (Quaterback-Dream of Glory)

from Michelle and Chris Coursin. Michelle had purchased Qredit from his breeder, Judy Yancey, as a young foal and sent him to Hilltop Farm after weaning. In 2009 Qredit had an undefeated show season that included Grand Championships at Fair Hill, Stone Tavern, and culminated in the Grand Championship at Devon. “Qredit has impressed us since his arrival at Hilltop and we are very happy that the Coursin’s have finally agreed to sell him to us,” says Jane MacElree.

A third-generation offspring from Judy Yancey’s breeding program, Qredit descends from her imported foundation mare Helena. “Qredit will offer new lines for our breeding program,” says Natalie DiBerardinis, Hilltop Farm’s Breeding Manager. “We are very excited to have the opportunity to continue to develop this special young colt and look forward to many milestones with him in the coming years.” (February 2010)"

I just love these updates on my babies - Herbie is 16 now!!

Hi Judy,

Just thought you would want to know that your Herbie Hancock finished 3rd in Oldenburg JR/YR Training level nationally for 2009. (He is in the breeders journal that just came out.)

My daughter, Amanda (now 12) rode him in her first year as a dressage rider, and Herbie's first year in recognized dressage shows as far as we know.

We love him - even though he can be a pistol at times! At 16 years old he can still have as much energy as the energizer bunny! We have attached a photo of one of his first Training Level tests with Amanda riding. It was at Las Colinas in July 2009.

Amanda wants to know if, by any chance, you have any baby photos of Herbie?

Also, I am looking for a nice, young dressage prospect for myself. You will remember I am tall and need a horse that will mature at least 16.2. I would love a younger 16.3 hand Herbie Hancock if you have one for sale!

Maybe we can come visit you one of these days. Your farm looks incredible, and your breeding program is producing incredible horses. Well done!

Your Texas friends,

Sarah Pape Hester

Amanda Hester

(and Herbie, too!)

FYI

I am "bumping up" this topic as we begin this new season of 2010: Let me make something clear about my "frozen" business... I am often asked if I can bring in particular stallion's frozen semen from Germany, Holland, etc. The answer is "Sure I can", but that is not the nature of my business. I do not offer hundreds of stallions....I only REPRESENT those stallions that I admire, am personally familiar with and wish to use in my own program. Many of you have taken advantage of my years of knowledge and success to help you choose a stallion for your mare. That knowledge can only come from hands on experience, which I do not have with all the hundreds of stallions who are available through frozen semen in Europe. I have always given, and will continue to offer personalized service, and you can be sure of getting my voice on the phone when you call. The difference between the way I do business and any other frozen semen import service in this country, is that Yancey Farms is the ONLY frozen semen importation service in the U.S. that keeps substantial inventory of most all of the stallions all year round. We can usually ship from one day to the next. I personally visit the stallions in my program, and adjust the roster from year to year, as I evaluate the offspring of the stallions. Some stallions are deleted from the list if I am not pleased with what I see. I have certain "HOT PICKS" for the year....this year's "HOT PICKS" are QUATERBACK, AMPERE, FLORISCOUNT and LIVELLO. Proven sires, such as ROMANOV, DON SCHUFRO, SIR DONNERHALL and FRENCH KISS remain high on the list. The young stallions FAREWELL III and FIDERTANZ continue to impress me with the quality of their offspring. Having CHEQUILLE Z again is super. I keep a few jumper sires, and can order anything you want from Schockemoehle's, Klatte's , Sosath's, Seifert's ..... CHACCO BLUE has been doing amazingly well both in competition and as a sire of top quality foals. I have been importing and shipping frozen equine semen since 1988. I have hundreds of satisfied customers, who experienced high conception rates in their mares, and have the foals to prove it. Feel free to call me during normal business hours with any questions you may have. You might want to check the FAQs page too. Thanks! Judy

Hmmm.... an interesting trend?

Frozen semen sales have already begun for the 2010 season, and I am seeing a new shift in thinking. As many of you know, I started my breeding career 35 years ago with outstanding quality Trakehner horses. I admire the blood, and when used WISELY, Trakehner blood can add type, legginess, forward thinking and hardiness. They are the only true warmblood that is a "breed" and subsequently they are genetically consolidated, so using Tk blood can oft times have a better chance of impacting the produce.
That said..... 3 of my long time clients that I consider significant breeders (2 Hanoverian and one German Oldenburg) have chosen the Trakehners that I offer , GRAFENSTOLZ and CONNERY, to add to their mare base this coming season. Both stallions are certainly outstanding and I am delighted that these breeders have taken notice.
I think it is shaping up to be an exciting season with breeders thinking "out of the box"!!