Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville. Photo by Elisabeth Johnson.
Sallie Johnson sent in these photos from Chattahoochee Hills Summer I last weekend. Don’t miss the photos of Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville in Tate’s first competition since competing at Burghley last fall. Sinead and Tate handily won their open intermediate division. Incidentally, these photos of Sinead and Tate were taken about an hour before she fell from On Cue, breaking her ribs and shoulder blade and collapsing a lung. Tate looked great in his first outing of the year, and we know Sinead will be back in action soon. Many thanks to Sallie for sending in the photos. Go Chatt Hills.
Nyls and I trying to hold it together at Southern Pines this year. (photo by Crow’s Toes Photography)
Anybody who knows me will tell you that dressage isn’t my strong point. I’ve blamed it on a lot of things throughout the years, namely that it’s “boring”; that my upper-level horse isn’t a very good mover anyway, so it doesn’t matter since he’s not going to win that phase; and that studying dressage was for weenies. All of these are really legit reasons, right? No … not really.
Nyls also struggles with dressage, which is partly my fault and partly a symptom of his personality. Characteristics that make him an unbelievable cross-country horse, such as having wicked fast reactions, an ability to anticipate the next step in a combination and a bull-headedness that will conquer any scary horse-eating jump, also make him more than a little difficult to ride on the flat. He is the king of memorizing movements in a test and therefore just anticipating like heck and not even waiting for the cue (ahem … lead changes).
However, I finally, finally, finally took the plunge this year and told myself that I had to buckle down and learn this stuff. I was sick of having the casual throw-away score, and despite Nyls’ disliking of the phase, I knew he could do better. Eventing lets you forget sometimes that your dressage wasn’t great, because you can end on the high note of a brilliant cross country or a clean show jumping, but I’m on a mission to change that.
So, yesterday, I competed at my very first recognized dressage competition at Dressage at Lexington. Of course, I had a few misgivings about attending, but I have to say that for the most part, they were complete stereotypes that turned out to be incorrect.
Nobody was prissy … everybody was actually really friendly! Misguided assumption number one: I would be surrounded by Dressage Queens who would sneer at my weird eventing horse. Nope! Actually, the people I met rivaled the friendliness of eventers. If I was putting the finishing touches on Nyls in the aisle way before tacking up, people would walk by and coo at him, petting his head and complimenting our turnout. The volunteers checking your number and your bit were by far the nicest people ever. (Weird fact: only 30 percent of bits get checked? Huh.) Despite the fact that I was wearing my Dapplebay shirt that says “Live Free & Jump XC” along with my Dubarry boots, nobody raised an eyebrow. The judges and scribes were all smiles as my horse continuously behaved as though he had never seen a judge’s booth before.
The feedback on your test movements is very detailed. A student of mine took her 5-year-old OTTB and did two Training Level tests as an equivalent for Beginner Novice, where she currently competes. While her tests were very consistent and quiet, the judge picked out things that I feel she probably would have gotten away with a little more in a BN test. This was great! The more detail you can receive on how well you completed a movement, the more you can improve! My tests were similar, with very particular indications of exactly what was correct and what was incorrect about each movement. Lesson learned? DO NOT let your horse get crooked at any point in his body at any time during the test; it will be noted.
You won’t be alone in a crowd of Dressage Queens. There were actually quite a few eventers wandering around in disguise! Sharon White, Skyeler Voss, the whole Morningside crew and many more were in attendance. You can probably pick us out of the crowd because our braids are smaller (and on the correct side) and our horses’ tails are shaped.
It’s easy to choose a test that has equivalent movements to your current level in eventing. For example, to practice for my Advanced movements, I competed at 3rd Level. My student, who competes at Beginner Novice, found Training Level to be comparable You can even move up a level in the dressage and see if you’ve got the stuff for the next level up!
There is great value in riding two tests in the same day and getting feedback from two different judges. Especially for the nervous-type horses, riding two dressage tests in a day is something we don’t ever get in Eventing Land, and I can tell you that my second test was a whole lot different than my first one. It really helped Nyls accept his fate settle into a relaxed state. The other bonus is that you get two perspectives on how things looked from two different judges within two hours. One judge very much liked my walk work, and thought I lacked impulsion elsewhere, whereas the other one was a stickler for straightness through the body. Both were good at marking how to improve from there.
So, we finished our day in Dressage Land, scoring a respectable 67% on each of our Third Level tests and placed in each division. I was quite pleased to score well and place, but I was mostly happy that Nyls felt the best he has ever felt in this phase, and his focus was unequalled. I did register him for life with the USDF, which probably means I will be returning to this strange land and willingly!
Christine Brown and Rivella at Poplar Place. Photo by Becky Young.
An estimated crowd of 1,000 people attended Christine Brown’s wake yesterday at her home in Versailles, Ky. Christine will be laid to rest this afternoon at Pisgah Presbyterian Church in Versailles wearing the purple cross-country gear she donned so many times to compete her beloved Dutch Warmblood mare Rivella. A lifelong equestrian and accomplished eventer in Area VIII, Christine and Rivella competed through the intermediate level before the mare sustained a career-ending injury in 2010. Just 44-years-old, Christine passed away last Wednesday when she fell while jumping her 5-year-old Shire/Hackney gelding Sammy alone at her home, severing her spinal column at the C5 vertebrae upon impact. She is survived by her husband Stuart Brown, a partner at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, with whom she shared 18 years of marriage. They celebrated their anniversary last Monday, just two days before Christine passed away.
While Christine was truly an eventer at heart, she was much more than that — a devoted animal lover who rescued countless dogs, cats and horses; a tireless volunteer to Area VIII; and a cherished wife and friend. Kathleen Sullivan, one of Christine’s dear friends, said Christine’s big heart showed in the way she constantly saved animals from abusive situations. “Every day Christine was saving something,” Kathleen said. “Once she found a puppy tied outside in the freezing cold, shivering inside a dog house. She knocked on the front door and tried to buy it, but the owners became upset and refused. So she found a kid in the neighborhood and gave him money to go buy the dog for her. She also rescued Big Jim, a skinny draft horse she would drive by every day and see standing in a field with bad grass up to his eyeballs. That’s just who Christine was.”
In addition to dedicating her life to rescuing animals, Christine also served the local eventing community with gusto. She served as USEA Chairman of Area VIII for several years and committed much of her time to the Midsouth Eventing and Dressage Association, were she sat on the Board and various committees, as well as acted as Vice President of Eventing. While she did not have children of her own, she spent countless hours trailering aspiring young eventers in Area VIII to events, single-handedly helping them accomplish their riding dreams and goals. “There are probably 20 kids in Area VIII that owe where they are today to Christine stepping up and being like their mom,” Kathleen said. “She was one of those people who was always there when you needed her. And now no one can believe she’s gone. She must have more people who adored her than anyone else I’ve ever known.”
To honor Christine’s legacy, her friends and family are spearheading an effort to raise $10,000 to dedicate a portion of the new Dedicated Horse Path at the Kentucky Horse Park in her memory. “Her section will be marked with a special plaque, and her section will overlook part of the cross-country course,” Kathleen said. “This will benefit everyone who ever rides at Rolex in the future, as the Dedicated Horse Path will have good footing that gives the horses and riders a safe way to go between every barn and arena.” Donations for the path can be sent in Christine’s name to the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, 4089 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511. Click here to donate online, and please include Christine’s name in the comments section. For more information about the Dedicated Horse Path project, click here. Christine’s full obituary can be viewed here.
We asked members of the eventing community to share special memories about Christine:
Christine and Ava
Maya Studenmund: “I met Christine when she brought Rivella down to Buck Davidson’s in Ocala. We became close quickly even though she didn’t stay long. She had the most wonderful laugh, and she’d always say, ‘Maya, you crack me up.’ I can hear it now. She loved her mare so much, and I would always joke with her that she should really send her to me. I had ridden Rivella a bit for Christine when she became sick in Ocala, and I loved the mare too. When I was pregnant with the twins, I called her to tell her the news, and she said Rivella was pregnant as well. Rivella ended up having a beautiful filly named Ava, and I had named my girl Ada. We laughed a lot about us naming our girls almost the same thing. She was the most kind and generous person. She was always laughing and positive even when she was sick, when Rivella was injured and when she couldn’t compete after she drove all the way down to Florida. She was so excited about Ava; she already had her jumping ditches in hand as a weanling. She was an amazing horse woman and an amazing friend. I know I could have counted on her for anything.”
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Lynda Clary-Burke: “One special memory is meeting Christine and exclaiming how much she and her good friend Amy Wise looked alike. I’ve told them both over and over they could easily pass as sisters! Those smiles! Thank you for recognizing that Christine was important to many people, not so much for winning ribbons, though she did. Instead, Christine was happy, had countless friends who will continue to love her, lit up the room when she walked in with that amazing smile, worked hard at everything she did, and loved her husband. Ever see her eyes when she looked at Stuart? We’re all going to live differently because Christine Brown lived among and is gone, but not that smile.”
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Sheri Wood: “I worked at Kentucky Equine Research for awhile as a graphic designer and met Christine through Mark Llewellyn. He had written an article or Equinews magazine about older horses and needed a photo to accompany it. Christine was so warm and friendly. Tt really showed through her interaction with her older horse in the photo we took. I always enjoyed seeing her lovely smile whenever I had to work with that image. My thoughts and prayers are with Christine’s family during this difficult time.”
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Anastasia Curwood: “I only knew Christine for the last four years of her life, though I feel lucky because of it. She lived her life with gusto, intelligence and generosity of spirit, all of which became obvious upon getting to know her. She was kind to people and kinder still to animals, so it seemed that I was always hearing about her latest rescue project through our mutual friend. I will miss her, and my heart breaks for the humans, equines, canines and felines who were close to her. I wish peace to them all.”
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Cassidy Reese: “I was lucky enough to stable next to Christine at several events around Area IV and VIII back in the early 2000s. Her words of encouragement and friendly smile were always present around the show grounds, and I feel lucky to have met her.”
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Mary Fike: “Wednesday we lost a vital member of the Midsouth Eventing and Dressage Association family. Christine Brown was a bright and infectiously positive person, and all who knew her called her friend. She served on the MSEDA Board for many years before stepping into the role of Vice President of Eventing. During her time with MSEDA, Christine spearheaded the development of the Hall of Distinction, chaired the Education Committee, was an active member of the Gala Celebration, developed the Silent Auction into a very special fundraiser, and devoted her energy and passion to all other MSEDA projects. It is with heavy hearts that we extend our deepest condolences to Christine’s husband, Stuart, and her family and friends. Christine will be sorely missed by all of us.”
Many thanks to Becky Young for sending in these wonderful photos of Christine.
Shannon Lilley always brings us wonderful reports from California, and she’s back today to report on the California training sessions held last week at Woodside. David O’Connor taught the riders listed on the Summer/Fall Training Lists, as well as non-listed riders. Take it away, Shannon!
Jen McFall and High Times. Photo by Shannon Lilley.
Hello Eventing Nation! David O’Connor has been in California enjoying the beautiful weather the past three days but, more importantly, teaching training sessions to both listed and non-listed riders. He taught dressage lessons Thursday, show jump lessons Friday and cross-country lessons Saturday.
The sessions took place at the Horse Park At Woodside, which is an incredible venue that hosts a variety of events — horse shows, dressage shows, events and reining competitions. For instance, this week there is a dressage show finishing on Sunday, and the well known West Coast reining competition Reining by the Bay moves in Sunday. Amongst the bustle, David gets his own arena to teach.
The show jumping exercises were tough to start, but developed the horses tremendously. It was great to see the horses learn as the riders became more proficient at navigating them through each one. Out of all the sessions I watched, the West Coast riders for the most part looked even better than the last sessions we had out here. The listed riders have developed their top horses more, and the young ones they have in the works were almost unrecognizable; they have improved so much.
Andrea Baxter and Fuerst Nino. Photo by Shannon Lilley.
Some of the notable pairs I saw were:
Lauren Billys and both of her horses. Ballingowan Ginger is going to do her first three star at Rebecca Farm, and with the fine tuning from David, they should be fantastic. Her young horse has made huge strides as well.
Kristi Nunnick and R-Star made the exercises look simple. The horse has so much ability, but the two have developed quite a partnership, making child’s play of it all. Her young horse, Astro, has come a long way since he first came out and looks like he could make a name for himself rather than be in Rosie’s shadow.
Kelly Pugh is sitting on two lovely horses who are both up and coming. Her young horse, Condi, is going to be a contender someday. He has all the ingredients to be world class.
Jen McFall just came off an eighth-place finish at Jersey in her first three star with her own High Times. They polished some of their show jumping techniques yesterday and look quite good. Her wonderful husband gave her his horse to help her advance her career, and he is going to be a special one too.
There were many other young riders and adult amateurs who rode with David and relished the opportunity. While some of the exercises were challenging, most showed a lot of grit and powered through, making themselves better riders and their horses better educated.
Unfortunately, I could not see all the groups and could only be there one day, otherwise I would report on more. However, overall the West Coast riders continued to show that we can hang with the big kids, so to speak. With our great courses and the opportunity for high caliber instruction with David in the future, we will continue to progress our way to the top. Go Eventing!
Christine Brown and her mare Rivella. Photo by Becky Young.
An estimated crowd of 1,000 people attended Christine Brown’s wake yesterday at her home in Versailles, Ky. Christine will be laid to rest today at Pisgah Presbyterian Church in Versailles wearing the purple cross-country outfit she donned so many times to compete her beloved mare Rivella. While Christine was truly an eventer at heart, she was much more than that — a devoted animal lover who rescued countless dogs and horses, a tireless volunteer to Area VIII, and a cherished wife and friend. Compiling the tribute piece I will post later this morning has been incredibly humbling; this woman truly made the world a better place. Rest in peace, Christine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx5j7p6tLgI Elisa Wallace and Corteo at Chatt Hills
ERS-Eventing.com provides riders with an interactive online portal that showcases product information, demonstrations, tutorials and reviews from fellow competitors and top international riders.
Will Coleman stands with the Area II Young Riders at a dinner sponsored by Cavalor. Photo courtesy of the Area II Young Riders Facebook page.
I’ve just received confirmation from Megan Kepferle, Area II Young Riders co-coordinator with Pam Medlin, that the selectors have approved the Area II teams that will compete later this month at the North American Junior & Young Rider Championships. Abigail Wilson and Fernhill Flag and Hannah Krueger and Pinney North will scramble with Area IV to form a 2* team. Unfortunately, Marina Royston’s horse Illusion of You sustained a minor injury last week that will keep them off the 2* team. It’s devastating timing for Marina, and we wish her all the best as the horse recovers. The 1* team will be Chase Shipka and Victory Shetan, Madeline Parisan and Hope to Star, Morgan Booth and Lucky Little Spy, and David Pawlak and Just Bailey. Caroline Day and Malibu will compete as individuals in the 1*. Congrats to all the riders selected for the teams!
The Area II Young Riders have been hard at work this week at The Fork, where they’ve been participating in the final training camp before shipping out for Lexington on Monday. Will Coleman has graciously stepped in to assist in coaching the team after Sinead Halpin fell at Chattahoochee Hills last weekend, sustaining a punctured lung and broken shoulder blade and ribs. “Sinead is really sad to miss it and is looking forward to take over the reins from Will after she’s well,” Meg said. “She can get up by herself now, and she’s feeling more comfortable every day.” Area II scrambled to quickly make a decision on who would coach the team following Sinead’s tumble. On Monday, Will agreed to assist Sinead. On Tuesday, Bobby Costello helped teach flat lessons on the first day of camp. Will flew in on Wednesday to officially begin his duties and meet the team, who flatted again that day. Thursday saw a jump school, and all the horses had their final gallop this morning.
“Sinead’s fall was really unfortunate, but all the parents and riders have stepped in to help make sure we’re sending a well-prepared team to Championships,” Meg said. “Once Will came in and gave everyone a pep talk and told them he was a former Young Rider himself, the mood definitely changed. That was the missing piece, and now everyone is getting very excited to leave on Monday.” Meg said Will’s strategy at camp has been very similar to David O’Connor’s approach to High Performance training sessions. “Whatever they’ve been doing has made them the best in Area II and gotten them this far, so he’s not looking to come in and change what they’ve been doing,” Meg said. “These final days have focused on tweaking little details to help them perform the best they can in Kentucky. The team has responded really well, and I think they know what’s at stake.” Go Sinead, go Will, go Meg, and go Area II Young Riders!
While we didn’t have our traveling writer/photographer extraordinaire Jenni out in force last weekend at Barbury, we were blessed to be able to access incredible amounts of information through the Barbury International Horse Trials FB page! I absolutely love when social media gives me the inside scoop on happenings around the world, and Barbury did a fantastic job of letting us feel like we were actually there.
Huge congrats to World #1 Andrew Nicholson, who pretty much at this point seems close to unstoppable (Michael who?) and brought home first prize for the second year running on the same horse, Avebury. Also phenomenal was Piggy French who added only 0.8 time penalties to her dressage score to win Section B of the CIC3*, narrowly topping US rider Clark Montgomery, who placed second. Rebecca Howard also kicked butt finishing right behind Clark, so go North America!! Haven’t read the full report? Check it out HERE.
For now, enjoy these photos collected from the internet for your enjoyment. All of the photos are from Barbury FB page, unless otherwise noted.
Rebecca receiving her ribbon (photo courtesy of Jessica Montgomery)
Clark & Glen on XC (photo courtesy of Jessica Montgomery)
Clark and Rebecca celebrating their 2nd and 3rd place! (photo courtesy of Jessica Montgomery)
Clark receiving his 2nd place (photo courtesy of Jessica Montgomery)
Stickability! CIC2* winner Flora Harris & Amazing
#saveoftheday for Althea Bleekman….she made it!
Recovered!
Casual Mr. Nicholson with Avebury
Over the corners
Laura Collett & Rayef
Mary King & daughter Emily take part in a cooking demonstration!
Well, if you’re like me, you’ve been spending the last few weeks in a slightly blurred haze of sweat, sunburn, and over heating every day. If you’re really like me, you’ve managed to give yourself a little bit of heat stroke a few times already, and it’s totally doing wonders for your brain cells. However, how is your horse handling the rising temperatures? We’ve already discussed the different ways in which you can successfully fail at summer, but how is it possible for you to make your horse hate the summer months just as much as you do?
Horses, just like people, are greatly affected by the changing temperatures. In fact, since they are doing the vast majority of actual exercise, they probably hate the 1pm blazing sun ride more than you. Over heating can completely ruin your horse’s summer, and make him feel really gross and sick. It can result in dehydration, lethargy and general malaise. Severe heat stress may even result in diarrhea and even colic. Sounds like your horse could feel just like you do at the end of a day riding 10 horses in a row! To help you with this, here are my top eight tips on getting your horse to really resent you this summer.
Top Eight Ways To Ruin Your Horse’s Summer
ALWAYS turn your horse out during the hottest part of the day. He/She probably would like to be in the stall when it’s nice and cool out, so he can nap inside. Also, horses love it when they are harassed by flies all day! The think of it like a sauna, in a healthy way.
If you get to turn them out in the sun, for goodness sakes be sure there is no shade. Yuck! Trees get in the way of grass growing, and we all know where your horse’s priorities lie with that one. Run-in sheds are also really expensive, so there is no need for that.
In the barn, keep the air nice and stagnant. Fans just blow dust all over the place, and electricity costs money. Plus, when you have all the fans on full blast, you can’t hear your music or your friend one stall over when you are having a very, very important conversation!
Ever heard that you can lead horses to water but you sure as heck can’t make them drink? Then why bother leading them to water at all! If they won’t drink, there isn’t any point. Just leave the same old water out in the field, preferably in the sun so they can have a nice steamy tea of dirt and bugs.
Electrolytes are OK. Not great, just OK. I mean, it’s just salt and vitamins and stuff, so if your horse really needs that, he will just lick his salt block or eat some dirt. They’re always eating dirt anyway, so why waste your money on electrolytes?
Most importantly, continue to work your horse during the middle of the day. 12-1pm is the ideal time, because the sun will be directly overhead, and you can work on your tan lines. We’ve already talked about how important those are, and you sure wouldn’t want to get uneven ones because the sun is on one side! Besides, it’s not like the horse cares that it is at least 10 degrees hotter at that time of day. He’s a horse. What does he know?
Have you got a white horse, or a regular horse with a big old blaze down his nose? Don’t worry about sunburn, that’s just for people! You shouldn’t use sunscreen (because of the aforementioned incredibly important tanning happening), so why should your horse?
That old pony you’ve got around the barn (everyone has one) who has Cushings probably won’t care that her hair is in winter mode and it’s 95 degrees out. Old horses, just like old people, get cold easily. Plus, there is nothing grosser than clipping in the summer time, can you imagine all the places that hair will stick to on your sweaty body? No thanks!
*Please note that these are all in jest, and do not by any means follow any of the suggestions above. In fact, do the exact opposite. Seriously*
Eventers are a resourceful bunch, as demonstrated by Emily Henderson’s solution to the lack of hills for fitness work where she lives in Largo, Fla. Emily now takes her 8-year-old Thoroughbred to swim in the AquaPacer at Amber Glen Equestrian Center’s rehab facility three times a week. Many thanks to Emily for sharing her story, which will hopefully help other eventers who are struggling without hills. Go Owen!
Owen gets his workout on in the AquaPacer.
From Emily:
What do you do when you live in Florida and have no hills to trot or let alone any land to walk on? You stick your horse on a treadmill and fill it with 800 gallons of course! Owen, my 8-year-old Thoroughbred, and I spent nine weeks in N.C. this past spring with the ever so fabulous Holly Hudspeth and competed a handful of times at prelim under her watchful eye. What is it that they have in N.C.? Oh yeah, LAND AND HILLS. Owen came back to Florida fit and muscular and full of it, which was wonderful! But how to keep it that way … that was my issue.
I am not ashamed to admit that we got eaten alive at Chattahoochie Hills in May, and therefore are spending the summer getting ridiculously fit (thats right, both of us) by taking lessons, learning and jumping the you know what out of skinnies. There is not a hill within 100 miles of us. I understand that a lot of eventers these days have their horses swimming, and it got me thinking. Dilemma — a lot of these pools are too far to drive weekly.
And then it was fate! A local barn, Amber Glen Equestrian Center, opened up a rehab facility at their farm. They’ve got a Theraplate, cold water laser therapy, and the Aqua Pacer! It’s like a fish tank with the floor of a treadmill, to put it simply. Owen walks in, the doors close, he starts walking and then it fills with water. I will admit that I was skeptical, but then after 15 minutes with water above his knees, the big huge nostrils arrived. He was puffing! Silly guy.
Owen at Southern Pines in the prelim rider division. Photo by Brant Gamma.
Research studies show that the AquaPacer at certain speeds and water depths can be equivalent to two days of intense fitness work. Crazy, right? Owen gets to “swim” three days a week, lucky guy, and alternates between knee deep water and chest deep water. The knee deep water makes them lift their legs as if they are doing cavalettis and really gets those hind legs moving! The deeper water makes the horse PUSH … like a hill, right? I like to think so.
I wanted to share this with our eventing community because I know for a fact that I am not the only one with less than stellar land for fitness work (nothing against the barn I am at, there are just no hills or huge open fields where I live!). There are ways to make it work; we just have to search and ask others! Enjoy this little video of Owen loving life, and maybe spooking at the water in the AqauPacer.
Pine Island Girl (TB), and her filly, Fuerst Fury, on day one
Many people ask me how my farm, Rocky Start Stables, got its name. I came up with the name in my business class in college. We had to write a business plan, and it was the name I chose. I planned to do a lot of retraining of off the track Thoroughbreds (funny how I stuck with that plan!) and it just seemed like a fun play on words. However, when the real world threw me into starting my own farm, it seemed even more apt. My husband had land that had been in his family, and we had to start from the ground up. Rocky Start just seemed to fit.
Fuerst Rendition, 2004 Hanoverian stallion, competing in the Prelim at Full Gallop. Photo by HoofClix
Besides riding, training, and teaching, there is a bit of breeding going on at Rocky Start. In 2008, I was given the chance to obtain an extremely well bred 2004 Hanoverian stallion, Fuerst Rendition. He is the only US bred son of Fuerst Heinrich, winner of the 2003 World Dressage Young Horse Championships in Germany. Fuerst Heinrich passed away at the age of 7, so his offspring are difficult to find. The catch to this great opportunity: The stallion was 4 years old, unbroken, and possibly unsound. Did I really want to take the chance?
Fuerst Rendition, or Renn, had been stepped on by his mother. His left hind fetlock had to be reconstructed at Virginia Tech, and he was only given a 15% chance of ever being sound. When I met him as a 4 year old, he was a gangly boy and not much to look at. He did, however, move beautifully. I was concerned about taking a stallion that was unable to prove himself performance wise. He had the bloodlines and the movement, but what if I couldn’t get him sound? Luckily, the owners had bred 3 mares to him, and they offered me their best mare. If I had one foal as a start, maybe I could get his name out there…slowly.
Furest Love, owned by Catherine Schumak, by Renn and out of a TB mare, winning the 3yo FEH at The Ark last fall. Photo by Jordan Armstrong.
To make a long story short, I turned Renn out on a hill for about 6 months before trying to bring him into work. A friend and I broke him to drive first. We had him pulling a tire and rim all over the place to try to build his hind end strength. This seemed to be the key, as I got him going under saddle a few months later. He has some issues with his hips being uneven, due to his hind fetlock being bigger than the other. I just have to keep him managed with body work. I don’t know if he will ever be able to physically deal with a big career in eventing, but I do know, he makes some beautiful babies.
My lovely TB mare, Pine Island Girl, dam of Fuerst Fury.
Breeding has definitely been an eye opening experience for me. There is a lot to it, and it is a risky business. On July 10th, it will be coming up on a year since I lost my first baby girl, Mia. I still tear up every time I think about her, and I pray that I will not have to go through something like that again. Although, as every breeder tells me, it’s part of the game. If you want to make the fabulous ones, you have to deal with a lot of heartache.
Twiggy and Ellie Mae, happy to be home.
Life definitely has a funny way of working out. After I lost Mia’s mother, I was a bit gun shy of breeding for myself. For a few years, Renn bred a bunch of outside mares, but I was too afraid to breed for myself. Finally, a week before I lost Mia, I took my favorite mare, Pine Island Girl (lovingly known as Ellie Mae), to Greystone Veterinary Services to be bred to Renn. On July 6th, I brought Ellie Mae home with the hope that she was pregnant.
Another of Renn's babies, Fuerst Encounter, owned by Jamie Linscott, pictured as a yearling, out of a paint mare.
It has been a long year, hoping and praying that the pregnancy would go well. I made the decision months ago that Ellie Mae would be going back to Greystone to foal out. I wanted to be sure she was in the best hands possible. On June 6th, 8 days early, Ellie Mae gave birth to a beautiful, leggy filly. Everything went well, and mama and foal are doing great. After a lot of thought, I have decided to name my new little girl, Fuerst Fury (lovingly known as Twiggy for her long legs!). She is gorgeous, well put together, and very friendly.
Twiggy again.
I do not plan to have a huge breeding business, but I definitely enjoy bringing along the babies. I have another TB mare, Miss Ten Oaks, bred to Renn for a fall baby that I am very excited about. Renn’s progeny all seem to be stamped with his lovely movement, laid back personality, intelligence, and his beautiful head. The oldest group is just turning 4, and I am excited to follow their progress. Being someone who does not have a lot of funding, it is nice to know that I have the chance to produce my own special horses. I still plan to keep bringing along OTTB’s, as that is a big passion of mine, but I think it will be fun to have some purpose bred horses to bring along as well.
Miss Ten Oaks, aka Oakley, is bred to Renn for an October 2013 baby.
