 
~ BLMs 2008 ~ There's good news and bad news. On Friday, Scoop won his warm-up First level Test 3 class with a 68%. He did great but I knew he could do better. I had only ridden the test one other time back in May when I qualified so it was nice to ride the test again before the Championship class. The bad news, it rained all Friday night and all Saturday morning and our Championship class was outside. I was actually lucky because I didn't have to ride in the rain like most of the class which started at 8am. I didn't ride til after 1pm but it was super muddy. The splashes were so high, they echoed behind me a couple strides away. Scoop had some terrific trot work with both trot lengthenings and his free walk scoring 8's (from both judges) with 7's for everything else. So far so good but then the mud did not suit Scoop once we picked up the canter. He couldn't keep his lead behind. I think he aggravated an old injury in the mud. Canter scores were 4's and 5's. We still ended up with a 63% and either 12th or 13th place. Pretty good considering. Even more fun was my daughter Geri joined me and was super at cheering for Scoop! He's still our bestest boy. :-) October 2008 
~ Looky, Looky! ~ I won a pet portrait at a silent auction from Olga Wagner. She did a great job, don't you think? Alot of her work is donated to charity to help animal rescues and causes. Check out her website at Wagner's Cat Claws Studio Fall 2008 
~ My choice for Rosario! ~ So I have to tell you the funny story how I finally decided to breed Favre to Rosario. I guess you could say that I have to give you the Full Scoop (Favre's 2nd baby). Ha! :-) Anyway, I had bought Rosario semen the year before with Favre in mind but decided to breed to Balou first (thus Bling) to support the Hanoverian Jumping Program. This year, before it was time to breed Favre again I started looking at other stallion options (I love to look). Soon afterwards, I went to a very small local art gallery and there was an abstract sculpture of a horse titled, 'Rosario'. Okay so my thinking went back to Rosario. Later again I strayed and started looking at other stallions and as I looked through some baseball signup info for my son was a reference to 'Rosario'. Okay so God has put it in writing for me twice. I did not stray again and Favre is confirmed in foal to Rosario for an April baby. Of course I only recall this story because Dante Rosario of the Carolina Panthers just caught the winning touchdown pass in the opening game against San Diego. Okay, a little quirky but someone is trying to get the message across don't you think? :-) So, I've mixed all my perfect ingredients for my recipe. Now let's bake it and see what we think when its ready. Hopefully it's a touchdown! Isn't this exciting! September 2008 
~ Bling Named Top Filly at her Hano Inspection! ~ Bling really showed off at her Hano inspection. We were so excited that Dr. Ludwig Christmann who has been the managing breeding director in Germany thought that she was the "perfect package". He was impressed with her movement for a jumper foal and had this to say about Bling: "So this is the type of movement you get nowadays when you breed jumpers. This is a top filly. You all saw her. Very good conformation, really good type, she has presence, beautiful head and neck, excellent topline, correct in her legs and excellent in her movement. So what else do you want? ... Best foal so far. This is a Jumper breeding program and Balou du Rouet is a son of Baloubet who is of course also in the Jumper breeder program. Well, it was a very good match." Thanks to Arielle Perry for snapping the pictures! To view the video click here: "Bling" July 2008 
She can Move! I've seen glimpses of spectacular movement but Bling decided to really turn it on for me this day. Of course I had my partner in crime (Kiwi) to help me out a bit. Notice the white blur in the corner. July 13th, 2008 
Newest Edition! Meet Kiwi. I know, I know. We seem to be having a food naming theme going. Mocha, Cookie and if I hadn't put my foot down, Favulous would have been French Fry. Geri suggested it and now it has stuck. In true Jack Russell fashion she's already grabbed my spook bag while I was taking pictures and really got the horses going and as you can see from Bling's pictures above, she was trying to help. Super sweet and loveable. Thanks to Irish Hills Farm. We love this girl! June 30th, 2008 
She's Airborn! Well, I've told some of you that Bling spends 87% of her time in the air. Well here are the pictures to prove it! Maybe it has something to do with the jumper blood... June 12th, 2008 
~ Couple Cute Pics ~ June 12th, 2008 
~ Scoop does well in Pinehurst ~ Well, we set out to qualify for the BLM's this year and Scoop did just that and a little more. He was really on my aids for our first class (First-3 BLMs) and had some great lengthenings at both the trot and canter and good transitions too. He exceeded my expectations with a 70%! Closest scores by Open riders were 67% and 66%. Woo-hoo! Our second ride (First-1) was good but Scoop was definitely tired from the first ride and warm-up. He still scored a 66.67%, placing 4th in good company. It was pouring rain on Sunday, so being a wimp, I scratched. Hey, the big boy did good and I wanted to end on a good note. ;-) May 12th, 2008 
Meet BadaBling! Bling was born on April 23rd. We are so excited about this filly! She is by the jumper stallion Balou du Rouet (Balouet du Rouet/Continue) out of our flagship Hanoverian mare EM Favre. She will be in the new Hanoverian Jumper Program but boy can this girl move too! She's probably the best mover we've bred thus far with a super hindend, lots of scope and super suspension. She does spend half her time in the air so you can see the jumper side shining through too. Here are pictures from 1 day, 1 week, and 12 days. Isn't she the cutest? And notice all the bling! May 12th, 2008 
SSC goes to Leatherwood! The girls of SSC (Sexy Saddle Club) did our first girls trip to the mountains in Leatherwood. Linda Hoover joined us to give direction and instruction. We learned alot about our horses and about ourselves as riders! Alot of lightbulbs came on over the weekend and it has proven its worth in the overall partnership with my horse which I'm sure will carry over to the dressage ring. We also went on a couple of trail rides and saw wild turkey, deer and butterflies. Scoop and I along with Dawn and Cenira (DeNiro) went to the top of the mountain and rode along the ridge. The big boy was huffing and puffing to get to the top but he loved every minute of it. See, Dressage Queens can have fun outside the lettered arena! It was one of the highlights of my trip. So much fun! In fact, it was sooo much fun we've decided to make it a bi-annual event - one in the spring and one in the fall. Great friends, great rides, great times! April 2008 
Laurenzo is schooling well! Karen has been doing alot of work with Laurenzo. I took my camera while they were schooling and looking quite handsome and LOOK, Karen has a big smile on her face! March 2008 New Videos of Bravo Bear, Cafe Mocha and Cookies N Cream! I finally got a little organized and some time to take some video clips when it wasn't too wet. Just posted links to videos taken in March on our Sales page. Check them out to see how the babies are maturing! April 7th, 2008 Congratulations to Ellen Peebles! Big congrats to Ellen on her purchased of Favulous (Fabuleux/EM Favre)! Ellen has so much to look forward to with raising and training such a super filly. She will have wonderful guidance from Jeanne Karver and Eliza Sydnor. You are going to have a fun and rewarding experience. Keep us posted! April 7th, 2008 
Laurenzo (Longchamp/ EM Favre) scores a 9 on Gaits at his 3rd Level Debut!!!! Laurenzo went to a schooling show last month to get his feet wet at 3rd level. The judge must have been mighty impressed with those fancy feet whether they were wet or not. He and Karen won the test with a 70% which was highlighted with a 9 on Gaits! Wow is all I have to say! Congratulations to Karen and Laurenzo for all their hard work! January 15th, 2008 Click here if you are interested in viewing our News items from 2007 . Click here if you are interested in viewing our News items from 2006 . |