Bloomington Farm

USTINOV (Libero H / Nimmerdor)  the sire of Indiana Bloom has been awarded the KEUR predicate at the KWPN  stallion show in Holland today.  This award is given only to  outstanding stallions who have proven themselves as a breeding sires.  Under Caroline Muller he has competed  successfully at the 1.50m level and several of his oldest offpring are currently excelling at the same level. His breeding value is the highest of his age group.  Indiana has the same conformation as Ustinov and seems to have a lot of talent.

Look at what I just bought!   I had Prelude what could I have want more.  No, I didn't need another mare,  I have more quality mares than I would ever dream of owning but when opportunity knock at your door, how could you say no!

I am now the proud owner of this awsome KWPN prestatie ster mare TABELLE S. Tabelle is the dam of Andretti S which is the up and coming star  International GP jumper of Laura Kraut. Andretti S has been ranked 199 in 2014 with the WBFSH as a 9 years old. Laura said in and interview that she is preparing  Andretti to replace her number one star CEDRIC. 

Tabelle S comes from the very well known breeder in Holland familie Van Straaten who has produced approved stallions and many international jumpers.
Tabelle S family is a long line of performance mares also successful at keuring and EPTM.

USTINOV the sire of our 2014 colt Indiana Bloom was the stallion with the most offpring at The Dutch Sport Horse Sale is held in September in Weert.

Quote: '' The strength of the last ten editions was the carefully selected collection, where the quality and health of the young talented jumpers had the highest priority to meet the demands of the international sport. The auction guarantees a strong collection to raise interest of international buyers. Over 90% of the collection was sold abroad. In 2014, the selection committee has again joined forces to select a collection of potential winners that answer the market demand for high quality horses. They will have to meet with the demands that the international sport requires. ''

In the top stallions that was represented as sire of these 31  highly talented youngster between 4 and 6  years old , only one stallion had more than 2 offspring.  USTINOV was the stallion with the most offspring.  They were sold respectively 64,000 , 94,000 and 165,000 Euro.  Ustinov is the stallion with the highest breeding index for his age group and is  very popular in Holland as he transmit his jumping talent.  I have the chance to own one of his son  Indiana Bloom which show willingness and talent even as a yearling.  For him jumping is easier than going around and he is offered for sale. This picture shows him at 14 months old. Go see the sale page

 ALL FIRST PREMIUM IN THE KWPN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
KEURING RESULTS: This year the foals class were big with  more participants than previous years.  

We our proud of our two participants: Our Jordiada Bloom made the KWPN TOP TEN  list in NORTH AMERICA. With a score of 75/75 she was seventh. Strangely Jefferson who did not really canter hence didn't have a chance to show himself as he should,  had a 74 which was the same score as the 10th.  He had 76 for conformation and 72 for movement which gave him a 74.  So officially we have one in the top ten but since Jefferson had the same score as the 10th I don't see why he shouldn't be there.  Anyway they were  outstanding so congratulations to both of them!

  Here is Jaylaba Bloom  at 5 months old. She is quite a beauty  and elegant filly now.

We had three foals to present to the keuring this year but  have a trailer for two mares and foals. All three were registered as we waited to the last minute to know which one we would take.  To our opinion the three are above the standard of the breed and are quality to be First Premium  but a choice had to be made.  We choose Jefferson anf  Jordiana because the two dams get along  together better.  

To our delight, both  were First Premium with good comments from the judges. From the '' KWPN-NA Report from the Road :  Bloomington Farm brought two nice jumpings foals , Jefferson Bloom and Jordiada Bloom. Both foals were well develop, long lined, balanced and easily earned their First Premium''

Unfortunately we  had no pictures from the keuring but here are some that we took a week or so before. 

                                                     JORDIADA BLOOM

                           JEFFERSON BLOOM            

There is a schooling show every Monday at Upper Scotch Farm in Maxville where Exodus  Bloom  is being  boarded. One week is a dressage show and the other week a hunter/jumper show.  As the first show was a success I decided to participate to all of them and Exodus never ceased to amazed me.  Last week in the hack walk trot  division he won all his classes and was the Champion of his division.

He is getting slowly in shape and has lost weight which is better.   Yesterday in the dressage show he scored a 71.9% !!! 

Again the judge comment on him saying he was the best quality of the class, very elastic and has great  potential . I can see that, in the hamd of a professional he would go higher and faster but he is an amateur dream being so easy to train, such a good nature, willing to please and I don't have to explain long, he just get it. 

Exodus was for sale since he was born and I had many people interested in him. But he is paddling so this is the first thing I was telling  when I had a call so people didn't follow through.  Strange enough his paddling is getting less and less noticeable even for me, I am so picky on details. Anyway this had lead me to keep him until now and I so enjoy him that I have decided to hold on to him for a few years.  

I have to move on  so next week  canter will be added and some small jumps I guess. I don't expect anything which will be a relief in a way as every one is expecting as good or better and this gets me a bit nervous. I prefer when there is no expectation,  I do this for fun and I want to keep it like that but he is so good. 

Exodus Bloom now 5 years old was taken out of the pasture last week to start resume his training.  He was  backed as a 3 years old for 3 weeks and last summer did trail ride  July and August and back to the field.  He is a big horse and need time to grow.

This horse  is simply fantastic. First I have to say that I was an amateur rider having lost interest in riding a long time ago  prefering to devote myself to breeding.  But this guy from the moment he was born had trigger something in me.  He is the one  who gave me that incentive to go back in the saddle. His look, his personality, everything in him was special.    I love this guy and I am not in a hurry to sell him and when I do, I want to be sure he will go to a forever home. He is not only beautiful but so  loveable , a fast learner with not a mean bone in him. 

Anyway on July 2nd we  pulled him out from the pasture to bring him to Upper Scotch Farm.    He is fat and out of shape but still a joy to ride.  Today there was a schooling show at the stable and just for fun I was encourage to participate.  I was concerned and hope not to make a fool out of me;  I never rode a dresssage test neither participate in a dressage show but I thought it would be a good experience for both of us. No stress as there was no expectation of result, all l I hope was  to get around the ring without big mistake or drama. After all it was only a walk trot dressage class at a schooling show. 

Geez I love those dressage test where they  tell you  what went wrong and what you should improved.  On the second test I applied their recommandations and got a second place out of 10 participants; I  didn't expect that but Exo was so good!.  Then came the suitability class which he  won and we ended up Reserve Champion of his division.  I know he has a lot of potential and keeping him will never get him to reach his potential but this is the story of most talented horses who end up in amateur hands. So it get me to wonder.  This is a unique horse I know, and I am the lucky owner ... shouldn't I keep him if he makes me so happy?   

BORN ON MAY 5th, a s splendid  filly by Quality Time  out of Feather Bloom ( by Mr Blue) .  

Our second foal is the long waited colt of Flower (Nabab de rêve / Calvados)   Jefferson Bloom was born the same date of his sire  Arpil 30th!  He is the most beautiful foal ever. I just love him. Here he is at just few hours. Another early one at 320 days!

Jay at 3 weeks!  Boy she has changed a lot.  She is not the small delicate filly anymore. 

FIRST BORN OF THE SEASON !
Anime (Indoctro / Emilion) gave us a Capone I with LOTS of blinks and the nicest personality.  Jaylaba Bloom was born on a cold night on March 31th at 319 days.

We had to buy a foal blanket for her. She is tiny but strong but need to be kept warm.  We were not expecting her so soon. 

                                 HARMONIE NUMBER ONE AGAIN AND

                 THE WISIADA-FISIADA STAM  BEST DAM LINE IN HOLLAND !

The ranking of the breeding index of 2013-2014 is out and  not only did Harmonie maintained her position as the leader  for  11 consecutive  years  and Prelude is again is include  the top 200 with offspring in sport, but  her  dam line  has been declared  the top mare line in Holland.

The Wisiada-Fisiada stam of  Martien Liefheber  is  the 2013-2014 top jumping mare-line. 

Here are the top 300 jumping mares with offspring in sport from this mareline:  

 Harmonie Preferent Elite Sport Prestatie , Grand Prix jumper  by Calvados Keur  out of  Electra 

Electra  Preferent Prestatie Sport  National jumper  by  Voltaire Pref out of Uranda  Ster Sport  Internation jumper

Prelude National jumper EPTM   Keur Sport  by Calvados Keur  out of Electra,   

Manet  Elite EPTM Preferent Sport  1.40 m   by Colino out of Harmonie,

Wildcard EPTM topper , Sport  1.40 m by  Carnute  out of Harmonie

Shocking Elite EPTM 1.30m  by  Litho out of Nostalgia (daughter of Electra),

Unisound  Keur  Sport by Litho out of Prelude   

Also interesting to note  is  the sire of Prelude first  foal Unisound ,   Litho by Landon is  out of Harmonie and being  a private stallion of Martien Liefheber  he  only bred a very few mares.  But out  of 8 offspring 6  went on to  a performance career from   1.30 level  to 1m60.

I am expecting two foals this season from this wonderful mareline:  a Capone out of Harmonie’s daughter and Nabab de rêve and a Quality Time out of Prelude’s daughter and Mr Blue.  How exciting this foaling season will be !

                                                                ELECTRA (VOLTAIRE / LE MEXICO)

December KWPN Royal Dutch Sport Horse International magazine  features an article on ‘The Grand Breeding Power of Voltaire’. On the first page there is a picture of  Electra (above), daughter of Voltaire but also dam of my mare Prelude and her full sister Harmonie.  Under Electra's picture here is what they wrote: '' Among Voltaire’s valuable daughters is Electra, whose offspring include the renowned mare Harmonie (s.Calvados).'' 

As you all know by now we have two fillies out of  this mareline,   Feather Bloom (Mr Blue out of Prelude)  and Flower (Nabab de rêve out of Harmonie ). These two are often mistaken when they are looking at us from a distance as they have similar face marking and attitude  but it ended there.The Nabab is tall, more elegant  as she looks quite a lot as her sire Nabab.  As for Feather she is a stocky  big bone old fashion mare and as a matter of fact looks quite a lot as ... I will let you have your own opinion.

  See the similarity?  Of course this is a 2 years old filly compare to an older more muscled  stallion but still,  would you think this could be her sire? This is Voltaire her great grand sire. They have the same color and marking but more to it,  they share the  same genotype.  Voltaire  has stamped her great grand daugther with the same characteristic. She looks more like him than her dam and grand dam did. 

Bennie Braun the owner of Unisound ( the oldest  daughter of Prelude) was very excited to tell me he had just bought  Domino by Quidam de Revel out of my mare  Prelude.   Domino  is 5 years old and successfully competing for his age level. Bennie had the chance to follow Domino through out  the competitive year  and was impressed on how  good he was developing so he decided to buy him.  

Bennie was mentioning how Harmonie  is a star in Holland and  as well as her full sister Prelude and family.They are  regularly articles  in different horse  magazines which illustrate  how important this mareline is .    

I have just seen the result of the  2014 KWPN jumper stallion first round which was on the web today and   two stallions out of this mare line have been accepted to the second round :  Gigolo SIH by Mr Blue out of  Manet , (daughter of Harmonie) and  Galileo by Nabab de rêve out of Vamp Elite Sport  again another daughter of Harmonie.

Interesting  that both fillies that I have the chance to own from that mare line  have similar bloodline.  Flower  out of Harmonie is by Nabab de rêve and Feather Bloom  out of  Prelude is by Mr Blue.  

This is exciting news and here are some video of Domino.

I received recent news on  Harrison who jumped out of his 5'5'' pen from a near standstill and scared her owner  to death.  Her trainer had never seen that before! They have to be careful as she said he will jump over anything if he thinks he can! But most important she loves him dearly and quotes ' have never worked with a softer yearling…..if they could all be like him, huh? I can't thank you enough for breeding such a wonderful horse'.

 Isn't that super  nice of her?  I guess we're all the same, as breeders  we want to produce the best sport horses possible but there is nothing more rewarding  than having  them  appreciated as  they should.  She has high expectations for him and was approached by a trainer to buy him but as she said ‘ he is NOT for sale’.  I can’t wait to see if Anime will give me another one like him as she is in foal to Capone  which is also a  Contender son. 

 LOOK what Wagrusa has delivered!!!

Indigo Bloom was born on the wee hours of the morning on  July 12 after 340 days of long waiting.  We are so happy with this result.  Wagrusa always give strong and healthy foals and this one is no different except he looked as he was already one week old and acting like it.   He is well develop and  has good conformation.   

His sire Ustinov  is  the last son of  the great Libero H and was  Champion of his performance test.  He is   known to give elastic,  scopy  and careful offspring with good technique. 

Highly regarded in Holland he  is leading   the KWPN breeding index with 154 for stallion with 80 to 89% reliability. He is  approved in 6 differents  Studbook ; Hann, ISH, SI, Old, SWB, KWPN.  

                                   Shown on this picture at 6 days old. 

 WISTFUL ridden by Ashlee Bond placed SECOND  today in the Spectra Energy Cup - 1.60M in Spruce Meadow !

This mare is a daughter of Wagursa H's sibling named Beatle. Beatle was an international jumper and competed under the name of Grand Star/  Be a Grand Star. He was  honored with the KWPN-NA CROWN predicate  after reaching the top 500 jumpers (361e)  list of the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses.   

Shown here  at the $50,000 Grand Prix of Showpark a World Cup Qualifier where they were 2nd last October.

Wagrusa is in foal to Ustinov (Libero H / Nimmerdor)  and expected to foal July 12, 2013.  Watch for this foal!

                                                                   Photo Tish Quish

                                                             What do you think about this cross? 
                                                                                       

                                                ANIME      (Indoctro/ Emilion           CAPONE I   (Contender / Ladalco) 

They are our  first confirmed breeding  success  of the season 

This foal should be born on April 15, 2014.  This is great news.

We are staying with Contender blood as the colt Anime had in 2012 was just stunning and so  right for her. 

Capone is sure a great stallion and he  really caught my eyes when  he came back to competition at age 15.

t

This is the new home of Harrison Bloom ( Contendro I / Indoctro / Emilion).  Isn't it beautiful!  He is owned by Deborah Davidson from Walton Nebraska and Hary should leave for his new life in June.  He has the best owner a breeder can ask.  Congratulaitons Deb ! 

HARMONIE  AGAIN  !!!

WOW   Harmonie (Calvados /Voltaire) the full sister of  Prelude has done it  again.  She is for the ten year in a row  NUMBER ONE KWPN jumper broodmare with the highest reliability with a breeding index that can only be beaten on the stallion side by Heartbreaker and Animo.  With an index of 170 she  has the highest reliability in all the top 4 top 200 list and she leads the most prestigious of these top 200. 

 In the past year there was two lists; one for the broodmares with offpring in sport and the other one witout offspring in sport. 

Now this year the most  prestigious with the highest reliability requires to have at least 5 offspring in sport.

 In this category we find Harmonie with  seven offspring in sport,  her dam Electra with seven  and one of her daughter  Kwartet Ster with seven. 

Harmonie has the highest breeding index of her category ; 170 with the top reliability of 70%.  You can't have  higher for  broodmares as  unlike  stallions they do not have hundreds of offspring.

In category of one to 4 offspring in sport we also find our Prelude in the top 200 with 2 offspring in sport and her daughter Unisound  

This is a strong mareline and I feel so lucky to own three mares out of this mareline;  Prelude the full sister of Harmonie which is included in the the top 200 mares with 1 to 4 offspriing in sport with an index fo 147 50% reliablitiy as well as  her own daughter Unisoud  148 with 56

 CABARET, the second daughter of Prelude is turning 6 this year and  has been sold to Belgium.  Before  starting her training at Stall Knijnenburg she had two foals,Gabaret by  Spartacus in 2011 and Hip Hop by Ticallux Verte in 2012.  Here is a video of her.   I hope the new owner will provide the opportunies  she deserved. 

This is

Harrison Bloom  our dear little bugger has been sold to a nice home in  Nebraska. Harrison is the first foal of Anime.  We were expecting a smaller version of her as Contendro I is known to produce small  but he is sure momy's son.  He will be tall and as handsome as her mom and dam  for sure.  For now he has turned out as a furry bear  hidden in his long winter hair.  He will  stay with us until June so it's nice as we will  have time to get use to his departure.  Being our only foal this year, it will be harder to let him go.  

Anime didn't take last year but the semen might have been questionable.  I will stay with Contender bloodline for her as I like what this has produced with Harrison. Anime will be bred to the International jumper Capone I for a 2014 foal. I expect another nice foal with this cross.  

Harrison at 8 months with his winter coat!    

DRAGON BLOOM

Dragon Bloom by Rousseau out of Zalanta (Flemming /Goodtimes) has everything to make us proud!  He was bought by my sister as a yearling and he is now turning 5 this spring. 

He has been backed and slightly trained as a 3 years old and let to play and grow before he  started his formal training last June with Roberta Morris.  As I wrote earlier  Roberta was part of the Canadian Pan American Game team who won the Silver Medal in Guadalajara in 2011.  My sister is an amateur and at first Roberta said  Dragon would be a perfect horse for her as he seems to forget mistake and give a chance to his rider but it was not long before she  said  he would be a perfect horse for her too !  She was amazed by his willing attitude, readiness to work, his learning curves and his maturity for such a young horse.  

So now,  my sister will keep  the ownership but Dragon Bloom will  be trained and considered as  ROBERTA MORRIS GRAND PRIX PROSPECT  !!!   

Right from the beginning my vet who is also a dressage rider told me he had the potential to be a Grand Prix Horse... wishfull thinking I would say as how can we know the future of such a young colt.  He was sure balanced, elastic,  he had good gaits with a LOTS of charisma but I mean is this enough to judge him as such? 

But everywhere he went he was a star! I was lucky enough to have a few horses that stole the show and Dragon was one of them.  He is the kind of horse that loves company and  is so cute and  sweet that he attracts attention in a stable.  He  has what it takes to become one of a kind.  He wants to please and has the conformation to do it easily. EVERYONE is proud of him, me as the  breeder, my sister as the owner, Roberta as the trainer and rider of this future show horse! 

All I can ask is to produce another one like him with his mom Zalanta who seems more to enjoy la vista bella than motherhood!!!   I was not lucky so far and can only hope that 2013 will bring a 2014 new Dragon to enjoy! This is my wish  for 2013.   

The foal report of the sibling of  Flower, DUTCH DESIGN by Dollar de la Pierre and out of Harmony (full sister of my mare Prelude) has been released:

A uniform collection of sufficiently to more than sufficiently developed foals with good jumper conformation, nobility, and presence. The foals have an attractive front end. The topline is sometimes poorly muscled. The hind leg is generally straight. The walk has more than sufficient scope and elasticity. The trot has more than sufficient scope and power.

The foals pick up the canter easily and show good balance. The quality of the dams was average. The collection consisted of ten foals which were invited by the KWPN, and two which were submitted by the stallion holder.

Dutch Design can improve conformation and the canter. He can also contribute scope to jumper breeding.

I am sad to report that Harrison Bloom was not part of the keuring this year because of a  a skin condition that last 3 weeks.  Only a few days later he would have been nice enough to be presented but this was the worst timing ever.  I was sure he would have been a first premium but would he have been in the top five was my question. Next year will be a very busy year so I am not sure I will be able to bring him along as Flower and Feather will be ready for the studbook inspection.

So now it is official, 2012 is the worst year ever!  I didn't make it to the keuring AND after many unsuccessful attempts only have one foal to show next year. 

 Great news!  Our first success of the season confirmed  at 17 days.  Wagrusa H is in foal of Ustinov.

Ustinov is a great son of Libero H out of a Nimmerdor mare.  His offspring are now starting to compete in the young classes and showing tremendous potential which made him the leader of the breeding index for his group of age. 

Grand Champion of his stallion selection he shows no score under 8.5 for his jumper component and 8.5 for his canter and is now competing at 1.50m. No registry was indifferent to his talent and was approved in five  including the Hanoverian, Oldenburg and Irish Sport Horse.

We are expecting another great foal from this mare but we have to cross our fingers as in breeding so many things can happen.  However this is a major step considering our poor result so far.  I hope this will only be only  the beginning of good news!

I have just received pictures of Epsom Bloom  today!   His owner says about him  : '' Epsom is great to ride. So scopey and honest and easy. He is eager to learn and pretty serious when it comes to work. He is great to work around. He is quiet in the barn and does not act like a stallion. He is so handsome. I hope he is a jumper but would be happy either way, hunter or jumper. We jumped small cross rails the other day and he jumps like his daddy!!! It's awesome!!!

One week later she send this picture of him jumping his first course!!!

                                     Presenting      

             '' HARRISON BLOOM''

Here are pictures of our new colt Harrison Bloom  at one week.  We don't see how long his legs are in the field but the first comments from everyone: Never seen such long legs!  Now he is all unfolded, his fetlock are up and strong and I can say he is quite a beautiful colt.  I haven't put the halter on as of yet but don't expect any problems from him; I can hold him myself while giving him some homeopathic products.    

ITS A COLT!!   Anime (Indoctro / Emilion) had her foal at 12:35 AM on May 22, 2012 a week before her due date.This was a long wait as we have been trying to  breed her for the past several years with no success but last year she caught on  first try with Contendro I.  She must have been waiting for the right guy and I think she was right.  I am very happy with the result.

She did stay slim despite being in her late gestation but had  not been very active by herself so for the past month I took her out for a two km walk  on the road. It was good for her but good for me too!  As little as this was it must have helped her tremendously as she delivered her foal in seconds and her placenta followed right away.  She stayed quiet for a while but baby Contendro wanted action and was trying to get up but could not as his umbilical cord was still attached and was holding him down.  He was a bit immature even at 331 days and when he finally got up on his feet,  his fetlock were too weak but  this didn't stopped him in anyway.  He was balancing himself with every step and found her milk bar soon enough. 

 Anime had huge contraction and took some time to get back to herself but she was a wonderful mom right from the start. 

Anime is a loner and there are very few horses that she likes enough to hang around  with the exception of the very young ones.  Therefore, it was no surprise to see her bonding with her baby.  She is sooooo calm, so easy so confident, she is a real role model for him.  

Boy it's incredible how only two days can make a difference in the development of a foal.   His fetlock are almost fine and he is running aroung like crazy.  He has the longest legs a foal can have and he can spin and sit on his butt.  

At first he looked so tiny but  Anime is almost 17.2 hands... he will be quite big as he already have problems to go under momy belly. He will be dark bay as her mom and dad with three socks and no white in the face.  

I have just been aware of a mistake regarding my address which explained why I had not received email for a while. Anyway  I have a new address hoping it will correct all the problems I had so far. 

Bloomingtonfarm@xplornet.com

 If you have tried to contact  me but have not  received any  answer please try again, this time you should reach me and if not, please phone me.  I am sorry for the inconvenience. 

AGAIN... HARMONIE  NUMBER ONE

New breeding index for 2012 is out and the dam of our future broodmare prospect Flower (Nabab de rêve) and the full sister of our top mare Prelude, is  once again  Number ONE jumper broodmare with offspring in sport in HOLLAND. 

HARMONIE  has been leading this most prestigious ranking for the past  10 years now.  With 6 offspring in sport doing so well,  she is hard to beat. The older daughter of Prelude  is ranked 11th with one offspring in sport. When imported Prelude had a breeding index of 161  was ranked 17th on this same ranking being  10th the year before. 

We plan to do embryo transfer on Flower and Feather Bloom  ( Mr. Blue X Prelude) this year.  We have several stallions in line for them but our final choice has not been determined yet.  It is not an easy choice. I hope I will have great news to announce this year as breeding for the past two years has been quite a deception.  However I can not wait to see my one and only foal coming in at the end May by Contendro.  I have a feeling this will be a filly but ... I have 50% chance of being correct, right?!!! 

      HARMONIE (CALVADOS / VOLTAIRE)

Just came back from the Stallion Show in Den Bosch.  Very interesting and informative.

I had the chance to see this stallion, Extra Powerr, son of Apropos n' Liefhebber.  This is another daughter of the amazing full sister of Prelude, Harmonie.  This Elite mare had an outstanding EPTM of 85.5 and Extra Power was a full representative of this mare line.  The picture I had was showing good form and he performed as expected.  His first few jump at lower level were nothing exceptional, he could have open his haunches more but this improved at greater heights and wow the crowd. I had no doubt then that he would be accepted to the performance test and he did. 

I had the chance to talk to his trainer and there will be another stallion from this family that will be presented next week at Zangersheider by Colino from a half sister of Prelude and Harmonie .

This mare had a EPTM test of 86.5 and score 90 at her inspection for jumping. Talent is running in this family. 

  THE ROYAL DUTCH SPORT HORSE
NUMBER ONE AGAIN

The results are official.  The FEI / WBFSH has deemed the KWPN the world’s leading studbook for jumpers for the  eight consecutive year and the world’s best studbook for dressage horses for the third consecutive year!

In addition, the Royal Dutch Sport Horses are excelling as eventers, as evidenced in the WBFSH rankings: after finishing 11^th last year, the Studbook climbed to fifth place this year.

More amazing this year is the fact that 5 out of the top 8 horses were KWPN in jumpers as well as in dressage. Wow!  They are not only keeping the lead but improving the rank upon it. 

           
          A  Mr. Blue son is number one jumper
        BMC Van Grunsven SIMON (MR BLUE/POLYDOX)

At 15 Hickstead might not have been a young horse anymore but his heart didn’t admit it.

He was at the top of his art having dropped to second place as the best jumper in the world with only a few points behind the leader.  Maybe this is what killed him.  Maybe he knew he could not sustain the same rhythm forever.  Being a STAR, a legend in his own time, maybe he decided to leave like a STAR.   He didn’t want to slowly disappear,  gradually be forced to retire because he was not performing as before  and with time  be forgotten. 

So his famous heart decided it was time to leave in a grand way and at his best; everybody would remember him, even the one that didn’t know he existed before.His spirit left his body in the grand stand,  just after his round, after being applauded by his so many fans...  Everyone stopped breathing, the moment was suspended, the show was over… Hickstead was gone.

And as a STAR he deserved a tribute right there; nothing could be as before and they all gathered together for a moment of silence knowing it was the end of an era.

Only a STAR can have such an impact on each one life.    Before he has been  known to the equestrian world only; now he is known all over the world.  It was a hard moment to see,  him struggling to his last breath but I believe this is what he wanted. 

Everyone remember Marilyn Monroe… everybody will remember Hickstead.

                           REST IN PEACE HICKSTEAD

 BREEDER OF THE YEAR

Martien Liefhebber has been named  2011 jumper Breeder of the Year in Holland . Here is  IDS international magazine reports:

‘The 2011 jumper Breeder of the Year is Martien Liefhebber, a determined man of persistence and vision. By breeding outstanding performance mares, he has produced a series of national and international jumpers. As a result, his mare HARMONIE (Calvados) ranks number one in the KWPN Breeding Values.  As the crowning achievement on his work, his home-bred stallion Dutch Design was granted KWPN approval last spring.  For breeding many international sport horses, predicate-rich broodmares and approved stallions, this prominent personality has been chosen as the 2011 Breeder of the Year. ’

Harmonie is the dam of Dutch Design and of my 2010 filly by Nabab de rêve; Flower.  Harmonie  is also the full sister of my top mare Prelude also a product of  M. Liefhebber. Prelude had a fantastic 2010 Mr Blue filly; Reserve Jumper Champion foal  in the KWPN North American tour. She  has been retained for our breeding program.  Prelude is unfortunately not in foal this year but we will try again next year.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Photo courtesy of the KWPN site.

Here is a small video of Exodus Bloom free jumping two weeks ago.    Of course this is a small jump but he shows  good form and great attitude.  Exodus has turned two this year and as a foal was First Premium in dressage and hunter and Reserve Champion in the North American tour of the KWPN-NA.  He is loveable, we just can't wait to have him under saddle.

Unisound  had a minor injury while   competing in 1.50m in Europe and since she needed  a couple of weeks off, their owners decided to breed her.    As sad as it is I think this is a good decision.  Unisound is a valuable mare, one of the very few from such a long line of proven sport mares and as a breeder I can’t say I am not  happy  she has the opportunity to  produce offspring to  continue this line. 

Unisound is the first offspring of Prelude as a 4 years old  before she went on to a performance career. Unisound  is 7th in Holland in the top 500 jumper broodmares with offspring in sport with a breeding index of 165.   Unisound  will be bred to Emerald. 

Second offspring of Prelude, Cabaret  is 4 and has given birth last March to a Spartacus foal. 

We were not lucky with Prelude breeding this year but we still have hope for a 2012 foal out of this superior mare. 

IN FOAL TO CONTENDRO I

We are  proud to announce that our  Indoctro / Emilion mare Anime is in foal to Contendro I.  Anime is an athletic  but huge mare.  She stand 17.1 1/2 hand so we wanted a smaller stallion   and Contendro should produce something very special . Can't wait to see this one.  Her due date is May 31, 2012.

 IN FOAL TO ROUSSEAU

A FULL SIBLING to DRAGON BLOOM COMING IN 2012!  (updated on November 1st, unfortunately Zalanta has slipped her foal)

We are delighted to announce that Zalanta has been confirmed in foal to Rousseau.  This will be a sibling to her first and only foal Dragon Bloom.

This cross has brought us so many compliments as  Dragon is attracting a lot of attention even more since he has left the farm to go on training.  Her owner is saying that there is rarely a day going on without some enthusiastic remark on how beautiful he is, how friendly or how fast he learned.  His trainer say about him that he is exceptional. 

This stallion is a good match for her  and I expect some consistency as both Zalanta and him have similarities.  

If he is as nice as Dragon I know I should hold on on him and sell him under saddle but ... I am in this  business to sell foals,  we will see. There is still a long way to go before he is on the ground! 

 But I am really happy today!

Olympia's  new owner, Rebecca  is so thrilled with her.    Olympia has been with the same owner from age 2 to 11 years old where she was trained and ridden solely as a dressage horse. She was good for  her amateur owner and she won the Silver Stirrup Award in her category. She won most of her class at training, first and second level.  When we bought her she was tried on a few jumps  and we where  amazed to see how good she was.  She jumped a 4' vertical and it looked easy.  She never hesitated even on the very first jump. I remember looking at her and I could see in her eyes that she was wondering  what was going on as this was not normal after all, there was an obstacle, shouldn't  we turn before?!? or stop....  oh well,  if this is what you want you silly people, I will do it!  Because Olympia is such a willing partner, great work ethic. !

 We thought she would make a nice hunter but she was bought as a breeding mare.  Unfortunately she was not easy to breed and only had one filly, Ella from Bratt Z. Ella seems to have her qualities.   I would have never  let her go to someone that I was not absolutely sure of the good care  and I found the  perfect home.  The proof is in the pudding;  Rebecca is keeping her 15 years old TB that had tremendous talent but made you paid for it.  Unfortunately he was found with arthritis and could not be ridden anymore so she  is keeping him  for life.    We knew then that Olympia  had just found a forever home.  We are so happy to see how much fun they have together.  Here is what she wrote:

‘...Olympia really is so great, I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have found her!  As much as I love my gelding, he was just so crazy all the time and I could never do anything like hacking or jumping without being afraid of him exploding and me falling off.  With Olympia, we go for rides by ourselves down the road and jump and she is always SO good, never spooky or crazy like him.  It is so nice to be able to ride on a loose rein and just relax!  We had so much fun jumping her on Friday and your description of what she is thinking is so right!  I think she thinks we are silly for making her jump over things but she does it willingly anyway!  Her style is so clean too, it feel like she's done it all her life, so very cool to think she really has no experience with it.  She is a natural!  I think she really enjoys her work and is always very enthusiastic to be ridden which is so nice….’   

Thanks Rebecca!

We met an awesome guy yesterday, Tom Sherry.  He left Campbellford, Ontario eleven days a go.   With his friend Tripper a Jack Russel and  his two horses f ( Clydedale/ Hackney cross)  he is heading to  HALIFAX!!! 

Jacques was in his tractor going  in a hurry to bale the remaining of some fields when he saw this chuck wagon coming down the road. Even if he was in a hurry he could not resist and went down his tractor to stop him.  

Tom is fully equipped to be self sufficient! He has his own chemical toilet, his cell powered by solar system, computer just ask he got it.  He is making around 30-40 km per day.  He wanted to go to Halifax but because of the ferry he could not see how he could make it with the horses and the bridges were out of question being high traffic.

It would be a shame to go so far and not being able to make it. So Jacques offered him to trailer his horses on the ferry and maybe a towing could bring the Chuck Wagon on the other side.  He should be at the ferry in St-Jacques Tuesday and will call us so Jacques will join him there.  What a trip and such a nice guy! 

Here are some update of Dragon Bloom (Rousseau / Flemmingh) out of Zalanta.  He has been under saddle for about a month now and is showing great work ethic. Very focus for such a young horse, he learns FAST. 

If you want to see some more pictures goes to PHOTO GALLERYand click under his file.

Sure hope that Zalanta will produce another one like that with Rousseau.  She was bred to him and we should know on June 22 the result.

WAGRUSA H IN FOAL TO CHINCHIN 
First successful breeding of the season!  Wagrusa H has been confirmed in foal to Chin Chin this morning! This is a super cross that I have been thinking for a long time. Chin Chin is a proven stallion not  only in sport where he was twice representing his country in the Olympic but also an impressive producer of good quality offspring.  They are not only outstanding for their talent as jumpers.  When we have a look at  stats of the  lower beam traits of his offspring it is impressive.  His score are as good as the best of the dressage stallion such as  Florencio, Don Shufro, Uphill and has better score than Jazz for the canter!!!  He gives long stride, elastic trot  with powerful impulsion and good balance.  But he is better known as a jumper sire of course  as he has produced  outstanding Grand Prix jumpers such as the great mare and producer of the fabulous Qerlin Chin who produces too numerous outstanding horses to name them all but  and , the Approved KWPN and Grand Prix jumper Phin Phin, Triomphe de Muze and so many others. 

Wagrusa is a Star mare from a good mare line. Her uternine brother is an Approved KWPN-NA Crown stallion.  The Crown title is giving to stallion who were in the top 400 GP jumpers of the World Breeding Federation of Sport horse. Wagrusa had four foals so far, one in Holland bought by VDL as a stallion prospect and three in North America. Her second foal unfortunately had to be euthanized after he broke his  elbow at 3 weeks old in a pasture accident.  Her third one by Clinton was in the TOP FIVE  of the KWPN-NA tour and the last one by Hickstead was First Premium too and both were sold at a very well known show stable. 

DUTCH DESIGN APPROVED!!!

Dutch Design ( Dollar de la Pierre out of Harmonie by Calvados)  the  uterine sister of Flower ( 75% same blood as Dollar de la Pierre and Nabab de rêve have the same sire in Quidam de Revel)  has met all  my expectation and  been APPROVED  with  the KWPN in Holland.  Seven stallions met the very strict requirement of the KWPN  and  Dutch Design formerly called Definitely a  Liefhebber  did an excellent performance test. He  was second overall with an outstanding score of  82.5 , one point difference with the winner. He was the only stallion with a 9 score and this was for his scope. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO HIS BREEDER Mr. Liefhebber

The first foal of Prelude, Unisound is now 10 years old.   I have been on the lookout for more info on her and   two days ago was my lucky day.  I received an email from her actual owners; Bennie Braun and Nathalie de Groof from Holland.  Bennie phoned this morning to give  some update on their wonderful mare!!!  How nice of him!

They had the chance to acquire Unisound   last year directly from her famous breeder and good friend Mr. Liefhebber  in Holland ; Unisound was in foal to Darco. Their new owners have decided to started her back to  competition and here is a picture of her this fall on a 1.40 m class after she had weaned her foal.  

She  started to compete the  1.40 m class at the young age of  8   and  she  has been very successful up to the 1.50 m. Since she did her come back she  had place herself in all her classes with clear round.  Now she is being  prepared for the big 1.60 m class.  They know how privilege they are to own her and I understand why!  

I am all excited; it is so great to have this kind of news.  Mr Liefhebber was the  breeder of this mare but owning her dam is the greatest thing that ever happen to my breeding program and I just love to hear about her offspring.  

And this is a video of Asjemenou N’Liefhebber.  Asjemenou is Unisound’s Keur  6 year old  offspring. Here is a picture of her on the right. You can see how the second generation only proves the solidity of a good mare line. She will be without any doubt the fifth  generation of mares with success in sport to continue this performance mare line. Asjemenou has been 2 times winner of the 6 year old class in Vidauban (France) with her new owner Edwin Smits under her new name Ashley II. For results check: www.dm-timing.com 

And as a four years old Asjemenou has produced this beautiful filly by Cornet Obolensky: Evolution, shown on the on the left. 

Prelude is only 14 years old and has a great grand daughter to continue her legacy. 

Epsom has left the farm two weeks ago to move on to his new life. He was being boarded here untill ready to go home. It was his first experience  on a trailer since he was a weanling with his mom so I was not sure how he would react.  The shipper had asked me a lot of question, was worried because he was a stallion, wanted  to give him some tranquilizer to make sure he would be easy to load and travel but I was not very keen with this and didn't think he would need it.

The trailer was too big to come down to the house so he parked on the road which is about 500 feet away.    Epsom was in his paddock and I took him right to the trailer. The shipper was looking at him while we were coming and said how a good looking horse he was. 

I asked him to please be patient as this could take a while; maybe 15 minutes before he would get into the trailer.  I didn’t want to rush or  force Epsom into this  as I wanted him to have  a good first experience. 

The shipper was nice and said he had all the time in front of him.  The ramp was narrow and  and up about 2 feet high with two big wings along the side. We waited a few seconds and since Epsom was very calm I asked him  to walk on  and he went on the ramp to the trailer without any hesitation!    

The shipper was so amazed; he said he had never seen this before, a two years old stallion with no trailering experience and no tranquilizer, going so smoothly.  He congratulated me for the good job I had made on him;.

Her owner seems to be very happy with him and here is what her owner wrote me:

‘ ...Epsom  likes having a friend. He actually jumped out of our one field when he was by himself. He cleared a four rail fence so easy it was unreal. He jumped it great! Lol. Better grass on the other side.  He did not bother the other horses at all. He went straight for the really green grass. He has been really well mannered.  I am happy with him and happy he jumps well!... ‘

She send me pictures of him eating in his new fields which must have a good  two weeks difference advance on  ours.  He looks happy and I feel the same for him!

It is always nice to hear good  news. Thank you Chrissy!

Did I  say how much I admire Prelude bloodline?   Here is another piece of information about the quality of this mare line.  On this date The Horse Telex International website has listed 27 mares with 4 generations or more  of non-stop direct performance mares. Only two mares  have 5 generations. 

A very restrictive list of  27 mares… but 18 are regrouped in 4 families of more than 2 mares.  The number one with  9 mares is the famous Qerlin  BWP 34 mare line.  This mare line includes the well known Narcotique de Muze and so many.

On the second position is the fokfamilie 1784 with 4 mares.  This is Prelude’s mareline and the mares listed are no other than her own daughter and sister of Feather Bloom:  Unisound  and the  sisters of Flower: Manet, Vamp and Wildcard. All these mares have competed successfully at 1.35 m or more.  

The  above info was taken on April 7, 2011 but might be update by the time you see it.   Here is the link       http://www.horsetelex.com/lists/sportmerries5gen.php

The KWPN 2010-2011 TOP 500  broodmares with offspring in sport  has just been released .  Harmonie the full sister of Prelude is still in the top, leading the list.  Prelude is now in 22nd (BV 159, 58%),  and I am proud to count her first offspring Unisound as an addition to this prestigious list. Unisound shown on the left is in the 7th position. This is what it is all about: succeeding in producing high quality performance offspring.   Unisound is a keur sport mare  competing at National level like her mom with a breeding value of 165 (56%). She has produced her own keur mare. Prelude being much younger than Harmonie, her offspring are just starting to come up. 

Unisound bloodline is particularly expressing the  inner quality of this mareline as her sire Litho  is a son of Harmonie.  

Prelude's second offspring Cabaret will be turning 4 this spring and has given birth to a Spartacus offspring on March 25, 2011. After weaning she should go on sport. After Unisound Prelude  had 5 offspring mostly  by ET  that are too young to compete.  Cabaret has not been presented to her studbook inspection;  her owner is only interest in sport which is too bad as this prevent Prelude from some predicates title. We  will have to work on this with her American offspring and let the European one excelled in sport which I am sure they will succeed.  

I just came back from the KWPN meeting in California. This was not an easy trip; had a migraine and my driver’s permit was refused at the rental car office.  This was a 3 hours and a half drive and I needed a car!!!   I had renewed my license two days late and they did not accept the papers of extension that I was told to hold on as prove of validation!   So after having to go through my migraine in the nearest hotel I could find, I started my long journey using taxis, bus and train to miss half of the meeting; hard to believe but it all worth it.

The DG Bar ranch were great host and the sponsors especially   Rabo Bank were generous which made this meeting  a first-class event.  I met a lot of interesting people and very dedicated breeders. It was very informative

I had the opportunity to talk to Cor Loeffen  from the KWPN. Cor is a jury member and used to be a member of the stallion committee.  I was wondering how come Harmonie’s son by Dollar de la Pierre had not been chosen for the Championship at the Stallion Show last month in Holland.  I had looked again and again at the videos of the third round stallions and it appeared to me that Believe in Liefhebber now renamed Dutch Design ( good idea) was,  if not the best, one of the very best of them all. In my opinion he had to be part of the Championship. 

 I learned that the Championship  is exclusive to  stallions having a  KWPN sire, which make sense as this is a KWPN show. If Dutch Design would have had a KWPN sire he would have made it to the Championship. 

Here is the site for the video of Dutch Design (Dollar du Murier / Calvados) 

This answer pleased me as I was starting to think I had lost my objectivity.   He added that Dutch Design is actually going very well right now.   I mentioned I had his sister by Nabab de rêve; he considers Nabab as the best sire in the world right now. 

The meeting ended with a Dinner Awards ceremony.   I was given  an award for Feather Bloom being Reserve Champion jumper foal in the 2010 KWPN North American tour.

My return trip was so nice;  Peter Ruig from Paard Hill farm was gracious enough to provide me a lift to the airport. This voyage was great with the conversation of Peter and Judy Reggio sitting next to  me. This   trip back to the  airport looked  like a breeze!

I would also like to thanks Ken Mellish from New Perth Farms and Laura   who were  very helpful to give me rides from the hotel to the DG bar.

It started badly but ended up great!

Dragon Bloom has left the farm last week to start his new life as a riding horse;  Dragon was sold as a yearling but has remained with us until now. He was such a trooper, getting into the trailer with no hesitation.

We are very proud of him and we had wonderful report from his owner. She comments : ' His trainer find him so easy  that he just can't believe he is being paid to train him.'   He sure attract a lot of attention, and this is just  fine with him as he always thought he was a STAR anyway.  He is just an happy goer, curious, bright and lovable.  We could not have asked for more with this cross so why not do it again. 

Zalanta will be bred to Rousseau hoping for a another little dragon running in our pasture next year...  

 Here  is the last picture we took of him  last November.  

Our first decision of the breeding season will be Prelude  Keur Sport by Calvados, to Plot Blue  by Mr. Blue . There are very few offspring of Plot Blue right now.  He is  available in North America for the first time to a very limited mares.  This will be a very unique foal bringing  outstanding Holland's genetics to Canada. Prelude's breeding index is 161  and she is  ranked 16th in Holland for the TOP 500 of the best jumpers broodmare with offspring in sport, the most prestigious index. Her full sister Harmonie has been  number one for the past several years. 

'' Definitely A Liefhebber '' renamed as Dutch Design, a son of Harmony has made it to the third round at the Stallion Show in Den Bosch!!!  It might seem still a long step to go to become an approved stallion but he is on his way.  Saturday they will decide which one will be superior enough to be accepted to the stallion performance test.  Then if he succeed we will know only in the spring or the fall if he had been accepted.

I don't have a picture of him but I bet he looks just like his mom!   For now here is a picture of Harmony and Dollar de la Pierre, mom and dad!

           HARMONIE                                                                                                                                                              DOLLAR DE LA PIERRE

I am taking the fillies for a two kilometers daily walk. We have the chance to live on a very quiet road with lots of space, trails with large pounds and all kind of animals such as foxes, wild turkey and  migrating birds in the summer.   It gives the the horses exercises and a chance to be apart from the herd to explore some new surroundings. Some are a bit wary and others just love it.

Firecraker particularly seems to enjoy it more than the others. She is always eager to go even if she is a bit tense leaving her friends at first; she wants to go. She stay alert,  keep a very dynamic walk going away as coming home. If she was the one to decide we would be away for a long while! 

This is such a special filly. She will stay with us for her first years then will leave for her new home to get ready for a career her bloodline has predestined her.  I just can't wait to see how she will be under saddle as she is such a determined girl,  I do believe she has the heart of her dad Hickstead.  

I have to say that I am proud to own Wagrusa, she  has the touch to throw good looking horses. Both Epsom and Firecraker are the one who received the most comments for their beauty. The sire of Epsom, Clinton is without any doubt a good looking horse but Hickstead with all the extraordinary talent that he has, may not be the most striking sire.  Firecraker looks just like him but managed into staying quite beautiful. How can she do that? She is really stunning even being 9 months old as you can see on this picture. 

I would like to breed Wagrusa  again with Hickstead but I am afraid that I might have use my luck with him, his semen being so poor and not knowing if Wagrusa is still as fertile as she was.  I have still yet to decide which stallions because there is to many possibilities for her.

FINALLY!  Flower has made it home.  This was an awful long journey.  She was in quarantine in Holland since December 3^rd and was send to Frankfurt before taking the flight in the middle of the night.  She arrived home safe and sound yesterday afternoon but with a small cough and a sneeze.  Nothing to worry about; a good night rest and some homeopathic product seems to have worked  wonderfully as usual. This morning she was much better.

We decided to add some power to her name as she certainly deserves it; she will be called Flower Power! 

Flower is a very special filly indeed.  She is royally bred being the daughter of Harmonie, THE  best jumper broodmare mare in Holland for the past several years. With an index of 184 she has been leading the list of jumper broodmare with offspring in sport for the past several year. As a three years old she had amazing EPTM score; walk 73, trot  70,  canter 75, free jumping 90,  jumping under saddle:  85, riding test 70,  training report 90, character 90, Stable behaviour100 .  She became a successful Grand Prix jumper  and is also the full sister of our wonderful mare Prelude and   one of the best daughters of the International jumper and renowned KEUR stallion Calvados.  

Harmonie have ALL  the predicate a mare can have:  Elite, Preferent, Prestatie, Sport!  No predicate has eluded her.  Being 21 years old and not bred this year, Flower is likely her last filly.  She has produced such good sport horses that her breeding index has skyrocket to the top.   

There is nothing ordinary in her bloodline.  Flower  sire is  Nabab de rêve.  Nabab de rêve is one of the best sons of Quidam de Revel and was ranked this year in the fifth position as the best sire of jumpers.  He is an International jumper and an excellent producer of top jumper.

This filly will join our broodmare band in 2012 as we expect to do embryo transfer with her.

Here is the last picture we took of Forever the day she left for her new home.  Her new owner is quite happy with her. Here is what she wrote:  

 ‘ You have done and amazing job with Forever!!  She is so well behaved. I love her!!!  ... Forever is doing well, she is eating and playing.  I think she seems pretty happy.  She has a great character and is a very confident young lady, very cool!!

Thank you Carol !  I am quite proud and happy for my little Forever!  It is always nice to have such good comments.  She seems to adjust very well to her new home. Here is a video they made while they came to see her this summer:  Check at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd2AhzhhPfg

Forever Bloom has been sold! Congratulations to Carol Lindsay from Lin-Mar Farm in Ottawa. We always wish our foals to go to the best possible home so I am thrilled to see that she will be in such good hands.  She is leaving today and as much as it will be heartbreaking to let her go I know that she will be happy in her new home as you can see Carol genuinely love her horses.  She will be missed by all of us but especially from Kyra and Samantha as she had a special place in their heart!  

Our three fillies were weaned this past week-end and it went very well.  Feather known to be very vocal has lost her voice this time but they all  settle quicker than anticipated.  Nabella was with them for the first two days and was a great help as she considers them to be her own.  After two days we switched her with the two  yearling Ella and Exodus and our Shetland Tuckson.  Ella and Exodus  are so  kind and smooth  I knew there wouldn't be a problem and there was not.  They all get along so well.

As for the mare Wagrusa was the worse like usual.  She had to be in her stall for 4 days to calm down because she would have jumped over anything to be with her foal.  We let her out today with the other mares and she only called once or twice.  I was so relieved.  I can say now the weaning is over and we can all relax!   

 Prelude and Wagrusa has gained their full weight so it was easy to cut down on their feed as they could take it now.  They really look good and healthy.

                                           TOP FIVE RESULTS
                                            FEATHER BLOOM
RESERVE CHAMPION OF THE 2010 KWPN-NA NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

We just learned that FEATHER BLOOM was listed in the KWPN-NA TOP FIVE JUMPER FOALS  for the 2010 North American keuring tour.   Two out of her class were in the TOP FIVE; same as last year with Epsom but this time Feather was the RESERVE CHAMPION  JUMPER FOAL.  We are proud of our little girl that is on the good path to follow the legacy of her mare line.  

This picture was taken the day after the keuring with her  fuzzy braids and close eyes, she looks tired but she well deserved to have a picture taken with her ribbons!!! Feather you are the best!

 
TWO FIRST PREMIUM AND BEST YOUNG HORSE

We are back!  First I would like to thank warmly Reza and Jane from Empire Stable who were so gracious with us.  They offered to shelter our horses and opened their beautiful  house to us so we could rest and prepare for the keuring.  They were marvelous host, and a special thank to all their staff, which were all so nice and helpful.   

I always love to braid the horses myself but I am so slow, nobody with their right mind would ever think of hiring me to do this job. I succeeded to finally do the two fillies but thanks to  Chantal for doing Wagrusa and especially Prelude’s manes at the very last minute!

Last year this Ontario Keuring was the last one to be scheduled. The judges affirmed the jumper foal class was an exceptional one because of his quality; this class was unique as being the only one of the entire North American tour having all First Premium.  Epsom had ranked second in that class and ended up in the TOP FIVE in North America.

Well this year the Keuring was the first of the tour but the jumper foals set the bar high:  they hit it big by having once more all First Premium!

There were real competition there and it was clear from the start that it would not be an easy one. I knew Feather’s athletic power wouldn’t leave the judge indifferent but I was not sure if she would have been the type they were looking for as she is different from the ones which usually make the Top Five. 

Feather Bloom received her First Premium and my questioning about her type was answered in a grand way:  with her First Premium she was First in her class and received the Best Young Horse Award.  Her sire the fabulous Mr. Blue is not really  known to produce foals that do well in Keuring; their true values are being shown in the jumper ring where they do so well. But with such an outstanding mare as Prelude this filly had it all. The judge’s comments were positive all over the board from her elastics gaits to her good conformation. 

Firecraker Bloom received her First Premium too and was fourth which was  also outstanding considering the quality of this class. The Second in this class was a fantastic colt by Wittinger out of a Cornet’s mare. Very nice foal. Congratualtion Allison.   Third was the full sister of the winner of the jumper foal’s class of last year by Numero Uno  who made it third in the TOP FIVE.  This mare has produced three First Premium ranked in the Top Five list and is now own by Reza from Empire Stable.   Firecraker Bloom was presented as the ‘mystery one, a real piece of conversation’ and compared her to her sire as she was making sure to attract all the attention.   She manages to leave her dam behind to canter proudly around the ring twice.  She looks a lot like her dad; we think he might not only have given give this filly his color and conformation but also his heart and this is what make Hickstead so special.  I have no doubt that he would have recognized her as her own daughter and would have been very proud of her.   

So we came back with our hands full of ribbons and pride for our two girls.  As much as they have been so well taken care of by everyone during their stay at Empire Stable, they were glad to be home.  We took them out of the trailer looking tired after their 6 hours trip but their energy level went several degrees higher when they saw Forever Bloom waiting for them; poor Forever she was the one being left behind because we could not take them all. Boy oh Boy! They were   happy to get together again and they fooled around, run in the field full blast and played for a good 15 minutes before settling down.

This is always stressful for me this Keuring venture as I always want everything to be perfect and of course it is never meant to, but I have to say that it has been rewarding so far as we always came back with First Premium.  We might be a very small farm and we want to stay as such but these ribbons are a tangible prove that our efforts are not vain in our attempt to produce the best sport horses in North America.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and good words, these were extra.  

The picture above was taken this morning as our Champion was taken a well deserve rest.  We had no time to take any picture at the Keuring which is too bad. I took some this morning but this is not the same as being on site.

Forever has all the attention now that the other foals are at the vet farm  for breeding and she enjoys every minute of it.  I can see she misses her  playmates however and she really enjoys me being around.  When I leave she
follows me;  if I don't stop to look at her she will call me!  Geez, another  Dragon this one.  She is so friendly, there is nothing she likes better than  being brush and touch and talk to .  She is starting to loose her baby's
hair so she doesn't look the best but she is the best!  Isn't she cute?

Zalanta (Flemmingh / Goodtimes) was bred to Uphill yesterday and we have high expectation on this cross.  Zalanta was 3rd in the 2007 KWPN-NA Keuring TOP TEN as two years old.  She has already given us Dragon Bloom which is developing into a stunning two years old. He was a First Premium foals and selected to the Championship at the Iron Spring farm keuring.   Now we have to be patient and wait two weeks but I have to say I am very optimistic.

I am overwhelmed with  the opportunities I had so far.  From what I thought was a once in a life time chance with Prelude, here comes another one. I was not looking for another prospect but how can you say no to such an opportunity !!! 

Harmonie the full sister of Prelude is very well known in Europe.  She has been  a very successful international jumper in Europe and is listed as one of the best offspring of Calvados.  For the past several years she has been leading the ranking for jumper broodmares with offspring in sport in Holland. Her breeding index is a staggering 184. Click here for the list.   She has received ALL the highest predicate a mare can have in Holland: Elite, Preferent, Prestatie and Sport. 

Despite the time off from her broodmare duties to become an International jumper she  has produced a Ster level L mare, a ZZ level  SBS Approved  stallion, an Elite, Sport, Preferent International jumper, an Elite sport ZZ level jumper, a Z level jumper  and a 5 years old Elite mare.  Her three 2007 ET offspring has just passed their EPTM test with very high score of   75.5, 81.5 and 83.5, her  2005 filly received a 85.5 score and 87 for her 2003 filly.  She is quite a superior mare who doesn't seem to know how to produce anything but athletes so there is no wonder why she is the number one right now. Her dam Electra was a National jumper and her grand dam an International jumper.  Her fillies have followed her step and  produced keur, Elite, approved stallion and again very high EPTM test.  

And no… I didn’t buy this mare but the next best thing :  one of her 2010 ET filly by Nabab de Rêve. Nabad de rêve is a son of Quidam de Revel and he is currently 5th in the WBFSH jumping sire ranking.  Nabab de Rêve was very successful as an international jumper.  In 2002 he was elected to the equestrian press Horse of the Year. Nabab de Rêve is a proven sire of great jumpers and is known to give to his progeny much power, good technique and a great attitude.

On the sire side of this filly you  have only top sires and international jumpers :  Nabab de Rêve / Calvados / Voltaire / Le Mexico

This is a picture of Harmonie... I know she looks like Prelude. In fact  both Prelude and Harmonie look just like their sire, Calvados without any doubt. I am undecided as of yet if I will keep her in Holland to be prepare for her EPTM test as a three years old or bring her  home as soon as she is weaned. 
                
                   

Firecraker Bloom has been sold. She will be joining her uterine brother Epsom Bloom  at Derby Down Farm were she will have the opportunity to develop her full potential.  As much as we are sad to let her go we have no doubt that this is the best as we have high expectiations for her. We really do believe in her dam Wagrusa as a producer of top horses and the best way to prove this is to give her offspring the opportunity to be train in the best hands and have the exposure they deserve.

Congratulations to the new owners; Louise and Christina Serio, Jennifer Burger and Jennifer Rowland.

        FIRECRAKER BLOOM 

Now Feather and Prelude are finally home.  We pick them up yesterday night and I think they were very happy to be home.  Prelude must have lost 200 pounds and  was so hungry.  As for Feather she is …. so beautiful!  The week she was here was so intense in care that I didn’t pay much attention to her look.  And of course she was premature so maybe not the most striking filly.  But boy oh boy, has she changed!  And to think that this filly was such in a bad situation that we almost lost her.  She is a very bony filly with big hocks and joints. This type of horse usually becomes very big but we will see.  Her eyes are particularly remarkable, very big but soft and confident.  I am very happy with her.

We let them in the paddock for 30 minutes as this was the first time that she was out since she was born.  You can see the difference it makes as she looks like an oversized new born.  She didn’t have the coordination and the assurance that you would expect of a month old foal.  But I am not worry as this will come fast enough.   Prelude ate her hay and grain with much appetite, it was good to see.  I am so relief but of course we have to monitor her and her foal closely. 

             FEATHER BLOOM

Here is a close up of Jenni's filly funny blaze in this picture taken when she was 6 hours old.  Do you see the back of a sitting dog looking at a shooting star?  This filly has a lot of ''je ne sais quoi'' which makes you being fond of her very fast. It might be charisma, I don't know but I really like her a lot.

First I was shocked at her blaze which I found quite different but then I started to like it and then to love it.   I still have no name for her... the one I had didn't hold the road.  It has to be something a little bit funky and start with an F…. oh well…. Funky Bloom maybe?

Jacques went to see Feather yesterday at St-Hy and they are now optimistic and hopeful that she will be able to come home soon. She is able to get up without any help but they still are trying to find the right dosage of medication so she can be treated at home without problem.  They will take another series of x-rays tomorrow to check her joints just in case.  I just can't wait to have her  to pamper  and give her the peace and quiet that she desperately need. During the night when it was quiet she never had seizure, only during the days with lots of action around. 

     

Some names  come  naturally but others need more time. Prelude's filly is  smooth, calm and she has this silky light coat.  She is so trustful, she let anyone comes near her as  if it was her friend. She never stands up right away when we come in her stall. She makes me think of a teenager that you want to wake up at noon!  She takes her time, stretch, yawned and waits before she decides to get up. She starts to run in her stall and bucked but always smoothly.   I was expecting her to become more wary of people as she would get more aware of her world, but she is not.  Well, mind you, she is only one week today so she still has time to change but so far, so good.  I think her name will be  Feather Bloom, it seems to fit her well.

I will take pictures of her next Saturday. For now here is a picture of her at 3 days  while she is sleeping! This is her main occupation!

WOW  The past two weeks have been the  most intense weeks of my breeding career!  I went through the best and the worst.

The best: A  wonderful vet; Ingrid Bill. I feel so privilege to have her. Not only is she only ten minutes from my farm but it takes her 8 minutes to be here when I urgently need her… even in the middle of the night. (She must sleep in her car, all dressed up just in case!)  She is so dedicated to her work; I wish every breeder would have the chance I have.

The next best thing:   Two much anticipated fillies!

On April 24^th after 340 days of long waiting, Wagrusa’s foal decided that it was enough and he had to get out! NOW.  And he didn’t take the time to prepare himself adequately as being so much in a hurry he presented himself upside down!  The feet were in the wrong side facing the sky!  We immediately put Wagrusa on her feet and started to walk her as I was calling the vet.   As she was coming into the driveway (8 minutes later) the foal had repositioned himself and was ready to get into business.  The foaling went well after that but Wagrusa retained her placenta and the few days following the birth very intense. She hit a fever up to 106 F and she went lame. She had numerous lavages, antibiotics, shots up to seven one day and ice to keep her legs from foundering, temperature taken every hour.  Ingrid found a specialist who came right away to trimmed her feet. Thanks to Mike Meriam,  the next day the lameness was gone!

And of course,  she had no milk, none that we could see or extract anyway but her filly … (YES IT WAS A FILLY but no time to celebrate!!!)  was taking her responsibility very seriously.  She was suckling and suckling nonstop.  She was working so hard on it that we thought she would get exhausted.  But she never gave up.  Never!  She systematically refused any milk’s substitute. She was suckling 55 minutes and sleeping the rest of the hour. And she went back again and again.  She had this attitude: ‘’Just leave me alone and take care of my mom, I know what I have to do!’’ And she proved she was right as she was thriving, being so full of llife  and energy. She was unbelievable!  If she keeps this attitude later on in life she will win all her class for sure.  

Above is a picture of her at 6 days!  Doesn’t she look healthy and full of life?  She was just the perfect filly in such a hard time, she has to be proud of herself. Her  name was a no brainer as  it came naturally to me: Firecracker Bloom   ( ok she earned every single letter of her name but the rule of the KWPN oblige us to take one off) so she will be called officially :  FIRECRAKER BLOOM!  

Now after a week or so of this regimen and as Wagrusa was coming back to herself  I was finaly starting to have some much needed rest when Prelude in foal to Mr. Blue started to show signs of being very uncomfortable.  She was restless and her foal was moving as I had never seen that before.  I mean this was crazy, her belly was bouncing on the right, on the left like if there was a big fight going on inside her or some ET wanting to escape!  And she was straining so much. The vet examined her but there was nothing wrong, no twisted uterus thanks god. We gave her some medication and everything went normal.

Three days later, at 323 days of being in foal, she seemed to experience another period of  colic but much milder this time.  I stayed at the door to watch her, her belly was still very low and I couldn’t see any change that would make me think she was ready to foal. Her vulva was distended as it was three days ago and I was wondering if I should gave her some medication.

Then I heard Jenni her stable mate, whined. I looked at her and knew right from that moment, just by  the way that she was looking at Prelude that this was no colic, this had to be  the real thing.  I waited maybe 5 minutes but nothing was happening, no water breaking.  I decided to go in and put on gloves to check her vagina… Oh God!  A red bag delivery!

Everything went very fast from that moment; I cut the placenta, found the legs, cut the amniotic membrane and grab the legs. She went down and I started to pull.  She really helped me out on this one as I was all alone, she pushed as much as I was pulling and here she came… a filly!    Alive!  She was born on May 6^th at  9:15 pm.  I toweled her, took the mucus out of her nose, dip her navel. My cell had died on me just when I tried to call the vet so after I felt everything was in control I ran to the house, call the vet and 8 minutes later she was there! 

The filly was big but weak. She could not get up without help and could not drink. She had an hernia and was premature.  I had to stay up all night to pull the colostrum and feed her out of a syringe.  She was just the opposite of Firecraker!  She was sleeping 55 minutes out of the hour. But I could not let her go that long as she would only accept few ounces at a time. I guess Firecraker was my inspiration to continue, I did as she did, never stopped and it paid off;  19 hours later she was able to stand up all by herself and started to drink from Prelude.

Jacques had been gone for two days and when he arrived at noon, he took my place so I could have few hours of much needed sleep. At four in the afternoon, she had won the battle and she is getting stronger and stronger, what a relief! 

 I have not decided a name for her. I will give her some time to see her personality as for now her energy is geared on getting up and finding some milk.  But I saw her tried one or two little buck today and she did not fell !  As for a picture I will wait a little bit so she won’t be mad at me for having  shown pictures of her while she was not ready to !!!  You know how the ladies are!

The Annual KWPN-NA guide shows the family album of Firecraker.  Open it at Hickstead page and you will see on the right page her sire, Hickstead and on the left side her uncle, Grand Star, her mother’s uterine brother.  Hickstead is an International jumper, ranked number one in the prestigious WBFSH and the jumper Gold medal  winner at the 2008 Olympic game. Grand Star was an International jumper with the Crown predicate given for his outstanding performance for being ranked in the top 400 jumpers in the world.  

I have been blessed so far with two outstanding fillies. I feel that all my wishes and hard work have paid off. I am so happy.   

The new breeding index of the TOP 500 SHOW JUMPING BREEDING VALUES of MARES WITH OFFSPRING IN SHOW JUMPING SPORT has just been released in Holland and Prelude is still in the TOP 20. 

She has moved up one rank being now 16^th..  Her dam Electra is 13^th and Harmony her full sister is still holding the TOP rank with a breeding index of 184.  Prelude at 161 has increased her reliability to 58%. Mare has much less foals than stallion so the highest reliability a mare could wish to attain is no more than 69% but just to be listed in these 500 TOP MARES is a great achievement in itself  and something that any owner can be very proud of. 

Prelude only offspring old enough to compete, Unisound is also included in this very coveted list of the TOP 500 SHOW JUMPING BREEDING VALUES of MARES WITHOUT OFFSPRING IN SHOW JUMPING SPORT.  She was upgraded to the 34th rank with a breeding value of 168!   

Prelude is in foal to MR. Blue in late May.  I just can't wait ... and hopefully it will be a filly to keep.  There is no more Mr. Blue semen available for sale so this foal will be even more precious. Mr.Blue has one of the very best  KWPN breeding stallions right now with a breeding value of 160 with high reliability (84%) .

Reza the new owner of Enzo called yesterday saying how glad he was to have him close by and Enzo has settled well in his new surroundings. Enzo will  stay in his stall until tomorow morning and will then  join his new playmate Estrada in the paddock. 

Well... little did I know how Enzo would manage this new situation!!! Here are the updates:

This morning Reza received a call from the barn manager where Enzo is being stabled, calling for help as he did not know what to do.  Enzo and his one month older playmate Estrada were having a blast together and Enzo decided that it would be even better if they could play outside the paddock.  So he proceeded to jump the fences with his new friend tagging along!

Thank God they did not hurt themselves and did not break anything; in fact they did not even touch the fence!   They were caught and put back in the paddock but they had too much fun with this new game and each time up and out they went again over the fence. After the third time they called the owner.   The manager  told him that if didn’t believe him , he could come and see for  himself.  So he did. He went over to the barn and saw with his own eyes… as they did it again and with quite a good form as reported by Reza!  They had no choice than to switch paddock with the stallions hoping they won’t try to jump the bigger fences… and that the stallions won’t get any ideas from the colts!

For now the stallions are in the colt’s paddock and the colts in the stallions paddock that hopefully they won’t try to jump… Thank you Reza for keeping me updated on Enzo. However I have to say that I didn’t expect he would be so much trouble!!!

 
Enzo who has been sold in September, left our farm yesterday to be send to his new owner in Toronto.  Enzo was a bit reluctant to leave his 'lifelong friends’ as this was a whole new experience for him. So we enlisted the help of Tuckson our Shetland to encourage him to go into the trailer.   He will stay overnight in the good hand of Tracy from Longwood Farm and leave tomorrow for Toronto. 

I wish you all the luck Enzo but I have no doubt that he will make the joy and proud of his new owner Reza.  He will be missed by all of us specially Samantha, our 13 years old neighbor who comes every day with her sister Katrina to help 
feed the horses. She really loved Enzo and he was her favorite. She took pictures and gave him some treats before wishing him good bye. 

Our trip to Holland for the Stallion Show was quite interesting.  We had a chance to meet the former owner of Prelude where Harmonie is staying. She is in foal to Nabab de Rêve. They are really nice people and we were quite happy to have the opportunity to meet them. Sadly we had to pass their invitation to visit their stable but this will be on our schedule for our next trip.

It was interesting to see Wagrusa's family doing so great at the Stallion show.  One of Wittinger son was accepted for the Perfomance test  and Wittinger himself made a double clear round and placed 3rd in the jump-off  becoming the overall Grand Champion of the  GMB Stallion Competition  2009/2010. Wittinger comes from the same dam line as Wagrusa.  Carusa, the dam of Wittinger’s mother  is the sister of Wagrusa. 

The Stallion show was very informative as always. We attended the College meeting where famous broodmares and their offspring were presented and the breeders shared their experience and knowledge.  I could not make it to the tour as I was sick the last day of our trip but Jacques went and had the chance to sit with Bart Henstra in the bus!  I would have loved to be there.  He really enjoyed the VDL visit with Janko who made it as always very interesting.

 What I love the most in those stallions’ shows is to be able to judge the stallions and compare my assessment with the comments of the judges. We were pretty close so quite proud of ourselves especially Jacques as he is a wonderful rider but don’t show as much interest as I do in bloodlines and conformation.

Prelude was freed from her quarantine quarters and slowly introduced to the herd.  She could see the other mares from her stall and I could sense for the past few days that she was getting anxious to meet them.

 She was first introduced to Nabella. Nabella greeted her well and seemed happy to have a new friend.  Jenni was ok but wanted to make things clear:  she was the boss.  As for Olympia everything went smoothly. Now Wagrusa!

Right from the start Wagrusa felt that Prelude had to earn her place, as she did when she arrived.

      Prelude with Nabella ...                                                                                                                                                    ...   and Olympia  

It has not been as easy for her with Jenni so why would this be different for Prelude.  They might speak the same language and come from the same country,  she still had to earn her degree! 

So for now I will let Wagrusa and Prelude clarify the situation over the fence for a while and Olympia will nicely keep company to Wagrusa.  

                                                                                
                                                                                             Prelude free and happy!

 PRELUDE IS  HERE!  

One of the greatest mare in Holland has finally arrived home  in the middle of the night, directly from Toronto after a 7 hours flight from Holland that landed at 4 PM yesterday.  She did it like a pro.  

She had been paired with two young crazy 3 years old that had not been handled much in their life obviously as they needed to be tranquilized during the trip.  The groom was thankful to Prelude as she succeeded in keeping one of them in a more manageable way during the trip. But as soon as they got out and into the trailer one of them put a fight and got trapped over the front bar of  his trailer. It took 4 men to get him out of there and again they had to give him some tranquilizer.

As for Prelude she took it all in stride. She ate, drank and went in the trailer like the sweet girl she really is.  Sympathetic was the word people use to describe her.  She is a very interesting mare with a curious  inquisitive eye.  

I am really starting to love those chestnuts mares. Here is a picture of her in her first morning in Canada.  She was greeted with Canada famous snow!!!  

                                TWO FIRST PREMIUM!

We just came back from Prima Keuring with Epsom and Exodus,. We could not bring them all and we had to make a choice but they both made us very proud.  

Epsom class was presented as the best of the entire KWPN tour in North America. The judges mentioned how pleased they were to see such high quality with the mares and added that the choice of the stallions really complemented the mares which are really what breeders are striving for.  I can not think of a better compliment.  

Epsom class was all First Premium which was unique in this tour. He came second. They said he was a lovely, lovely colt, very elegant with long legs and long lined. They liked him a lot and they mentioned that the first and the second were very similar in type and this was the type they were looking for. We were very pleased with their comments. 

As for Exodus he must have made history of being the first colt to win a First Premium as a hunter and dressage colt in the same class.  It all started about a month ago when I called the KWPN-NA office to ask if it was possible to change his class from dressage to hunter. Being by Sir Sinclair he was registered as a dressage colt but he really showed more of a hunter type and I wanted to move him to the hunter section. They said only the judges could change this and to wait for the keuring to discuss with the judges.  So upon our arrival I ask the office clerk at Prima if they could contact the judges for me about my decision to change the class and was told they had taken good note of it.   

Well I never heard of anything and I presented him as scheduled. He was presented with comment about his more horizontal look and his lower action in the trot (exactly what a hunter type should be ) and  gave him a First Premium as a dressage colt considering his high quality!!!  Well, this was not something I was expecting and I ask the judges what was going on.   

They had not been told by anyone of my request and  agreed that he certainly could be a wonderful hunter but was  also a First Premium dressage colt.  I could decide at his studbook inspection in which category I would want him to be.  So he is a First Premium quality colt  dressage/ hunter, aren't we talking versatility here? 

Such a sad, sad day.   

We had to euthanise Durango today.   As a three weeks old he unfortunately  broke his elbow.  We tried all we could  to save him but it was not enough.  After three operations and a long period of hand walking, Bowen therapy we thought he was getting better.   

However we saw his conditions deteriorating in the past few weeks.    Arthritis has stolen the quality of his life and he was in constant pain...we had to end his journey.  It is so unfair and as much as I know this was the right decision,  it is  heartbreaking.   

Jacques and I decided we would be with the vet for his last moment.  I went to get him in the field and for the first time he wasn't eager to come with me. They all followed him to the gate and Dragon was scratching his neck and back as we were walking.  Durango  stoped several times and this was to much for me. I thought I could handle it but I could not. I gave the shank to Jacques for his final moment and ran home to cry. 

Durango had a hard time in the Hospital when he had his accident. He was only a baby  but so so strong a real Swazaneger , all muscle and bone , so strong that I never could hold him between my arm as I do when my  foals are born; he was getting away even at one day old.   At the vet hospital there was a warning on his stall:  Beware, dangerous foal!  He was not happy at all, and would kick and bite anyone coming near him.  He came back to us as a wild wild foal, and he almost broke the arm of Jacques who had to go to the hospital. 

But it was not long that we discover his real personality. A sweet, sweet  little thing.  Our daily walk became the highlight of my day.   We would pace along the road or in the wood and he really enjoyed it. At the end he was following me like a puppy dog, nobody could have guessed he was once considered the monster of  St-Hy.

We decided to bury him in a remote part of our land where there is a small meadow surrounded by woods.  We use to go there as well, from time to time, so he knew this place, now it is his final resting place. R.I.P. Durango.This will be your home now and forever.)

Adieu my sweet little Durango,  you will always stay in our heart and we will never forget you.    

Dragon was vet check today.   During the examination twice the vet exclaimed: Amazing!  At the end she asked me if the owner was willing to train him to his full potential.  I asked to what level she thought he would be able to reach and her respond was: ‘ Grand Prix’.

Of course this is the goal of every serious breeder to produce offspring able to perform at this top level, but it is a long and difficult road that very few have the priviliege to attain.  However, it is encouraging coming from the mouth of a vet who is also a dressage rider.  I always have been proud of Dragon, his attitude first has given me the best moment of my breeding life but his quality has also been recognized where he got First Premium and was tied in the Championship of Iron Spring Farm huge keuring with a foal who went on to win the Champion dressage colt at Devon the following week. I knew I had a special one here, right from the start.  

Anyway the vet was impressed to see such good balance and engagement of his hind legs especially at this awkward stage  yearling's have to go through. I am really proud of him.

This vet had also made good comments on my broodmares band. While student at the vet school, she was shown a picture of a 24 years old Hanoverian broodmare taken as an example on how a broodmare should looks like when well taken care of. Even at this old age, she was in good shape and certainly didn't show her age. Well she told me that my broodmares could have also been used as such example. How gratifying !  

Well this was a very busy week as Dragon Bloom was sold to my sister Julie.  She realized she couldn't let him go and had to buy him before a serious buyer came to see him.  She knew there are very few like him. Dragon has this special personality who easily bond with you and makes you feel special. He loves peoples and peoples love him.   He will stay on our farm until he is ready to be trained so this is great as we will have the possibility to continue to enjoy his loving attitude. Congratulations Julie !

Epsom Bloom has been sold to a wonderful family in Pennsylvania, the acclaimed hunter/jumper trainer Louise Serio and her daughter Chrissy are delighted to add Epsom as one of their future Grand Prix prospect. It is so comforting to find a good home after all the care and concern we are providing them. 

Epsom is such a loving colt  with tremendous potential. I have no doubt that he will make the joy and pride of their new owners. Congratulations to Louise and Chrissy Serio from Derbydown.

 Jenni has been confirmed in foal to Ferro today!  This is great news as she is 21 years old now and if she had not got in foal we would have retire her but she seems to have decided to continue her career.  She is such a great mare. So as of now we have two mares confirmed in foal.

On the downside, Nabella is not in foal...Well, I did not dance enough I guess... I really love her  foal  from Sir Sinclair but with the CEM going on it is just too risky to try to import fresh semen from the state. Ferro or Johnson would be good combination and their semen are great  so I have to decide soon. 

Anime has pulled a check ligament and has to be on rest for 6 months so she will not be presented at her inspection this fall as planned. This is such a pity... so we anticipated our plan and she has been bred to Chin Chin. This should be an amazing cross and I am very excited. We will know next week the outcome.   

Olympia has given us the only filly this year and she is a pale chesnut.  She looks like a deer. Olympia is the broodmare that anyone would dream of owning.  She was a maiden acting as if  this was her 10th foal. She knew exactly what to do. She broke her water at 10 to 10 PM on May 22, 2009 and 20 minutes later everything was done. She licked  her for 5 minutes, took half an hour break and then just dedicated all her attention to her baby. She is quiet, patient and has a ton of milk.  This little girl was born earlier than anticipated and needed to unfold.  Olympia is just great with us and the baby as she does everything to help us.

GREAT NEWS  TODAY. Our vet has confirmed that Wagrusa H has been 14 days in foal to Hickstead. This was a great relief as this semen is quite expensive with no guarantee. We are so proud of her.

Wagrusa H is our best mare. She was imported from Holland in 2008 and comes from a very good mare line. Her siblings include Approved stallions and high level jumper . His brother from the same mare was a Grand Prix CROWN Approved stallion. She is a young mare but already has 3 foals on the ground and her  first one was bought by the famous VDL in Holland as a stallion prospect. Wagrusa H is a predicate mare; Star and Prok.  We expect this foal to be a Grand prix prospect and hopefully a stallion prospect.  

Here is our third of the season. Jenni has given us a wonderful colt from Padinus at 2 this morning. He is black with a blaze and two hind socks. This one will need a few days to unfold but he sure will be gorgeous.

And here is our second edition!  Exodus Bloom was born at 7:20 PM on May 17. By Sir Sinclair out of Nabella (Rolls Royce) this little guy looks like his sire. Same color, same head, same buttock and soooo smooth and friendly.  We were kind of hoping for a look alike of his dam but hey, it is a good thing that we choose a pretty  good stallion as she doesn't seem to give much of herself.  But we will see, they can change so much.

Wagrusa and Epsom had to jump into the trailer for a three hours drive to St-Hyacinthe Vet Hospital where they have a great repro team. She should be bred to Hickstead on Tuesday I guess.

Epsom made us so proud of him. He was a bit reluctant first but with a little help he went right in. At the Vet clinic the resident comments on how nice he was. He said  he had seen about 300 foals this year and this one was by far the nicest one...well, we won't argue!!! Thanks.  

 I miss him already... maybe Nabella will do me a favor and foal tonight so I can use my newly spare time on her.

We were informed Dragon Bloom has won the Prize for being the Best Offspring of the 2008 KWPN-NA keuring tour resulting from the 2007 KWPN-NA Stallion Auction. We were thrilled but not that  surprised as he really had good score.  Still, Dragon never fails to amaze us! 

Our foals are not even on the ground yet and we have to prepare ourselves for the next year. We have taken our first breeding decision of the year:  Hickstead.

We had been following this stallion  for the past 3 years and  he never stopped to amaze us. He is such an athelete,  one of a kind champion.  We believe he will be a wonderful combination with Wagrusa line.  She is tall, very athletic and comes from a very good performance mare line.  The result should be spectacular.  

The decision of the KWPN to approve Hickstead was the final incentive.     

Now... there is a long way to go before we see anything running in the field and a lot of thing can go wrong. But here we are, taking this first step by reserving the semen and hoping for the best!

Wish us all the best as this will be one and only attempt!

Our two weanlings has been separated from their mom today; Dragon has been calling but Wagrusa was the only one to call back.  Zalanta and Durango didn't care at all. These two share the same lack of interest on this separation. In fact,  Zalanta seems to enjoy not having to share attention anymore. They settle easily .

Our only breed show of the season was the ISF keuring in the State but maybe we should have pushed our effort to make it to Devon. It would have been quite a long drive but Dorado ISF who was tied fifth in the Championship with Dragon at the big ISF keuring, was First at Devon USDF Prospects in-Hand colt class.  FIVE foals in Dragon's class were in the TOP TEN at Devon with the lowest score being 77!  Quite a class indeed! No question why we were so impressed with the quality of the foals presented at Iron Spring Farm!!!  

FIRST PREMIUM FOR DRAGON BLOOM

We came back from Iron Spring Farm keuring with First Premium for Dragon Bloom. We could manage to bring only one foal with his dam Zalanta.  Dragon was just fantastic. We had a lot of good comments on his behaviour. I took so  much  time to braid his mane but he stay quiet and patient up the end. He is so easy to handle.

A keuring is a good opportunity to have independant opinion on our horses. They found him very expressive in his movement and conformation, refine, lean, light footed and with good use of his  hind legs.

Selected for the Championship the jury added that he was a very leggy foal, lean in the leg, good shoulder, very willful, long line and that he had a good rectangular body.

Well that was a lot of qualities for our little one and we were quite happy on our way home as we drove 13 hours, taken a 2 hours rest during the trip. Zalanta and Dragon were the best, they even lay down while on the road.  !