Winter Begins?

Late October brought our second pre-winter snow in as many years. The horses seemed as surprised as I was to see white on the ground so soon! It is always entertaining to see the weanlings respond to their first snow, and Nova looked like she was walking on eggshells those first few steps until she realized it wasn't going to swallow her up. Tanzer is shown sporting her trace clip, the first time in five years that we have broken out the clippers. Katje looked amused, if mildly inconvenienced by having to dig down to the grass. The white was a beautiful contrast with the scarlet leaved maples on the drive. My only hope is that this early shot of winter isn't a hint of rough things to come.

Wintanzer Begins her Dressage Work

After four months under the amazing young horse trainer Fred Harrison, Tanzer has been slowly transitioned to the capable hands of FEI rider Margaret Hawkins for the next phase of her education. Margaret, a friend for many years and an incredible rider, is bringing Tanzer along slowly with an emphasis on moving forward and into the bridle. It gives us great joy to see this young homebred making strides in her early dressage training. Tanzer will have the late winter and spring off to have her second foal. After foaling she will go back under saddle with the goal of completing her Mare Performance Test and entering the show ring in dressage in 2013.

Kastiana is Under Saddle!

With our focus on breeding it has been several years since we have had horses working under saddle. Most of the babies have been sold as weanlings, but we retained three special fillies 'for ourselves' including Windtanzer, Sagan, and Kaareltje's first homebred filly, Kastiana. We are pleased to announce that our overgrown arena is getting regular use again. Fred Harrison rode Kastiana for the first time this week and has been back on her twice. What a thrill to have two promising youngsters in work. Even better to see that Anna has her sire's incredibly quiet and willing nature. She acts like she has been doing this all her life. Fred did ask if we had an extension ladder for mounting?! Luckily the gentle giant didn't mind standing next to the fence-line so he could reach the stirrup. Sagan is next - but we have a year and a half to go. For now I am just getting used to the smell of saddle soap once more. I have never been so happy to clean tack!

Tatiana is Back in Foal to Kaareltje

Good news came today from California. Tatiana, the lovely Dutch mare owned by Lio Lomas Dutch Warmbloods, is back in foal to Kaareltje for a summer, 2012 foal. Her son Grimmauld was sold to an amazing young FEI rider just shortly after birth, and we are hoping for a filly from this match made in heaven to add to our breeding program. Thank you, Dr. Deborah Harrison, for once again 'working the magic' with our very limited frozen semen from this rare and dear stallion who has for the last year been enjoying his retirement.

Sagan and Handler 'Hit the Arena'

Sagan reached another milestone today in her young horse development. She entered the arena wearing a saddle for the first time and walked and trotted in hand and over ground poles taking confidence from her friend and handler Calea. The pair have been working lightly together several times a week through the summer, and after a month off to relax are back in action. Sagan, now 1 1/2 years old, is a quick learner who enjoys new mental challenges and we have high hopes for her to be shown in hand as a two year old.