New coop for Christmas!!

I am way excited to have a brand new, hand built chicken coop for my girls, in time for Christmas! It's a gift from me to me! Now they are safer, close to the house, have more sun and the watchful eye of Phoenix, my Dutch Shepherd.

Today I planted a tree.......

In memory of one of the most special horses to grace my life.

This Magnolia tree marks the grave of my very first Kiger mare, CHEROKEE SPIRIT.

She passed away on the evening of the 27th, probably from heart failure due to her Florida induced COPD that she had suffered from for many years. Antonio and I were both with her at the end, and I am witness to her strength of character and heart. I know it broke mine........

She leaves me with my all time best and most favorite riding horse of my life, my Cherokee Twister. She also leaves a full Kiger daughter, Cherokee Spirit's Shining Glory by Cherokee Warrior as well as a number of other geldings in other ownership. Her grand-daughter, Cherokee Morning Breeze by Twister, had the privilege of being with her Granny the last few months of Spirit's life. Spirit was our most treasured Nanny and will likely not ever be replaced. I only hope that she had time to tell her little grand-daughter all the wonderful stories of running wild and free on the ranges of the high desert in Oregon. I am sad for me, but happy for her that she is now running free again.
Thank you, Spirit, for teaching me so much.

My how APOLLO is maturing! And will be moving soon.

And we are excited that he will be joining his ??uncle, cousin??, QUETZAL by Quaterback out of Reina H (Apollo's grand dam), owned by Karen Reilly in Pa. Congratulations and thank you to Karen.




And still such a sweet boy.

He is coming 2 in Feb., by AMPERE out of my good producing mare, DREAM RUBINA (Dream of Glory - Rubinstein)

Good news from some old friends!

I think that many breeders will be happy to see that LIVELLO

and HILKEN'S BLACK DELIGHT will back on the roster this season!

We have already secured our supply of doses and will bring them in for next season.

Thank you for your continued interest and inquiries about these two nice producing stallions!

GATSBY and his big day out! And earns his First Premium Award!

Yesterday we had our little trip to the KWPN NA Keuring at Pennock Point Sporthorses here in Ocala.

Tyra Vernon came all the way down from Wisconsin to share the day with her boy!

We were all proud of him, although he was a bit timid inside the covered arena - not his usual big moving self. Cookie came along to photo the event and document Gatsby's success.

GATSBY YF is by JAZZ out of DREAM RUBINA (Dream of Glory - Rubinstein; dam of stallions QREDIT by Quaterback and W. ELLINGTON by Wynton.)

Am so happy to hear from ARRICK HARPER and Sue Black

Remember our 4 y.o. ARGENTINUS gelding out of HEARTS AFIRE by HARPER? He is a homebred of 4 generations. It is always so special to hear from them again.
"Judy

I took Arrick to his first show. He did very well with scores up to 71+%. He is settled in and gained back all the weight he lost growing and the trip up here. I am really looking forward to next year. I hope he matures this winter and will be able to do the 5 year old test next year. I am really pleased with him. You did a wonderful job of breeding not only talent but a great disposition and willingness to work. Also, Ilsa (Schwartz) did a great job with his training. Here's a picture from the show so you can see what he looks like."

Thanks again,

Sue

A nice Sunday ride with TWISTER and his little daughter!

Who better to give a newly weaned filly confidence than her DAD! This is Cherokee Morning Breeze out of Cherokee Diamond Isabel ..... but a spitting image of her Dad, no?

News from "HOT JAZZ" by HOTLINE out of TAMARINDE

I am always so delighted to hear news of any of my kids, and finally I get to see Tamarinde's first foal under saddle! a 4 year old now. Owner/rider Linda Parelli writes:

"Jazzy" continues to develop very nicely. Just had three days with Walter Zettl (the first time I've ridden Jazz with him) and he was so excited about the prospect of this young horse. Not only is he willing, calm and confident, he is talented!

I'm attaching a few photos from one of the days, but I'm sure there are some better ones and I'll send them to you too. (Had to include one with the mountains in the background, not always my house!)

Thank you for breeding such a fine horse.

All the best,

Linda

Now, aren't you glad I introduced you to AMPERE?! ;-)

Oldenburg Foal News, 28AUG11

Vechta, Germany

The bay colt A La Dressage (by Ampere x Sandro Hit x Donnerhall) broke all records and became the best selling foal ever at a German Elite Foal Auction. A Swiss buyer paid 200,000 euro (about $288,000!) for the colt at the 2011 Oldenburg Elite Foal Auction in Vechta, Germany, and broke the previous record of Sabeltanz, which sold for 127,000 euro

The consistency of offspring of this young stallion AMPERE is remarkable. He gives his type, his suspension, freedom, sparkle and color. His first sons will come to KWPN stallion licensing next Winter - can't wait to see them. The young man we have here, APOLLO, has proven to us how classy and smart the AMPERE offspring are.

As a matter of fact, we have a new shipment of AMPERE semen coming this month, in preparation for early breeders ( and before the price goes up!)

Femme Fatale and Peaches have a day at the barn

Our two special yearling fillies needed a new photo shoot. Cookie likes to haul them up out of the field occasionally, primp a bit and photo/video!




FEMME FATALE (the exquisite bay) is Furst Romancier -Donnerhall - Rubinstein - Grenadier - Akzent II. She is my only yearling warmblood filly and is offered for sale.
PEACHES (the cream dun) is one of my "specialty" breedings. She is by the Lusitano VENENO. Her dam is by the Andalusian Gaucho III out of Mirage, one of my first Kiger mares. She is also available.

Two very fancy girls with very different bloodlines. Thanks Cookie.... that was fun.

Two stallion relatives from same dam line - 26 years apart!

HARPER, born 1985, Trakehner by MAHON (Mahagoni - Habicht) out of HELENA (Herbststurm - Pregel), and QREDIT, born 2008 by Quaterback out of Dream Rubina

Helena was dam to REINA H (Rubinstein) , who was dam to Dream Rubina (Dream of Glory) .... dam of Qredit.

So, QREDIT is out of HARPER's ??niece???
Still, blood will tell, and that mare Helena was one in a million.

QREDIT at his H-O-T inspection !!!

July 31,2011 at High Point Hanoverians in Md., QREDIT (Quaterback out of my Dream Rubina) made a solid presentation.











A happy Michael Bragdell, rider, along with Oldenburg Verband judge Dr. Evelin Schlotmann and me.... with a very hot a tired young stallion, Qredit!
Many thanks to Susan McAdoo for the photos.
Qredit is the 4th licensed stallion from this mare line, starting with my foundation Trakehner mare, Helena (Herbststurm - Pregel). She had two sons licensed, Hadrian and Harper. Qredit looks so very much like a big "Harper". Helena's daughter, Reina H by Rubinstein had the licensed son Sirringo by Sir Donnerhall before her untimely death. Her daughter is Dream Rubina by Dream of Glory, dam of Qredit. A wonderful family legacy. So, he is the 4th generation from the inception of my breeding program, and I couldn't be more proud of him!

A few photos from our Oldenburg Verband inspection

Well, it was a very strange year for us. Our 28th inspection from the Oldenburg Verband .... and only TWO foals to present!



But they are two very NICE foals! Fillies both, HEARTSONG MOON the black filly by HOHENSTEIN out of homebred FINALE (Furst Heinrich out of Reina H) and HONALEIGH the liver chestnut filly by BELISSIMO M out of HEIDE VON BRANDENBURG , aka "Stars" (Quaterback - Sandro Hit)

Both fillies were premium awarded. That day, Honaleigh really shined, was in perfect balance in her growth stage, and was also given the Foal of Distinction ribbon and named best foal of the day.
We had a lovely, albeit hot, day. There were 13 foals presented and 6 received premium. The quality was very good. Antonio, my right hand for 29 years (!) now, ran without complaint in the heat

And some people wonder what I do!

Another awaited shipment has arrived and my little shippers are busy at work! Here are today's orders ready for Frenchie, our Fed X partner, to pick up.

BRETTON WOODS and CHARMEUR semen is here and ready to go.

Arrick Harper wins big again at Spy Coast show!

My 4 year old homebred son of Argentinus maintained his winning ways in the Spy Coast Young Horse Series yesterday. Rider Ilse Schwartz reported a brilliant score of 8.0 in the Suitability class, with the 2nd place horse coming in with a 7.25.
Arrick placed second in the Dressage test with a 69.5%.
So, we are well qualified for the finals of this series in December. And Ilse reports that I have won another tote bag!! Yay!!!
Again, all kudos to her for her solid training of this young talent,Arrick

Oh, HAPPY DAY !! Look what we have!!!

Day # 2 for Heartsong!








This is my new little heartsong........ by HOHENSTEIN out of FINALE by Furst Heinrich who was out of my dear REINA H by Rubinstein, who was out of my foundation Trakehner mare, HELENA "E" by Herbststurm. I thought it would be wonderful to get a filly, to come full circle back to my Trakehner roots. All year long we waited for a COLT to come, but when she started bagging up early, my hopes were renewed! I thought "Surely the SUPER MOON would bring a filly!" And so she did! At 1:49 a.m. out came this wonderful black all over filly.........
A breeder's dream .... well, for sure THIS breeder's dream! 34 years from beginning with HELENA to seeing her great grand daughter born, still so much in her image.

My "Peaches" makes her show debut!

Please notice the BLUE RIBBON in Gareth's hand!!




So it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning - watching Gareth Selwood handle one of my youngsters in the ring. Kudos to him for transforming Peaches from a pasture kid to a young lady.
PEACHES is by the Lusitano stallion VENENO IMPERIAL out of Isabel by the Andalusian stallion GAUCHO III. Isabel's dam was one of my very first KIGER mares, Mirage! So, Peaches is one of my "specialty" breedings, and she competed in the IALHA breed show. (She still wanted to come home with me!)

Arrick Harper and Ilse in their qualifying ride

Since Arrick Harper was a baby, I had dreams of him going to the Young Horse Championships ...... I don't know - just wanted him to BE someone and DO something. I felt he had such athleticism and talent.
So, now, he has his first qualifying score, and it is still so early in the year for a 4 year old. He also has done super in the first two Spy Coast Farm's Young Horse Shows, and is also qualified for those finals.
This ride was last week in Wellington.

Cherokee Twister

It has been a long time since I have shown you my #1 guy.... this is my buddy and riding partner, Twister.

Hard to believe that he was born here 11 years ago last month - my first Kiger foal from the wild. And my lifetime partner.

Look at this perfect beauty!!

Born yesterday, March 1st ........ a precious filly.

This is HONALEIGH by Belissimo M out of lovely "STARS" (Quaterback - Sandro Hit - Paradiesvogel)