|
12/12-12/13– Winter Orlando Classic
Oksana SR and Andrew Oksana SR goes to her second show, once again, the Orlando Winter Classic, two months after weaning Oliva SR and being put back to work. Andrew had a very good outing and Oksana continued her winning ways, with a collection of four blue ribbons after her four classes. She ended up being Reserve Champion. 11/11-13/09 – Visitors at Seneca Ridge
Erhard Schulte with Bellissimo SR Seneca Ridge was quite honored to have four extremely knowledgeable and well-respected German Trakehner breeders visit the farm. We spent one full day looking at every horse carefully, evaluating our program, and discussing breeding options for the future. I am glad to report that the consensus was that we are on a very good path! Our visitors included Ilona Danowksi from Reitsport-Dierstorf, Antje Schulze-Elberg from Bauernhof-Schulze-Elberg in Bergkamen, Erhard Schulte from Bavaria, and Maren Engelhardt of Trakehners International.
Ilona Danowski with Bellissa SR 10/18/09 – Trakehners International Breeders Tour and Neumünster Stallion Licensing and Auction
At Gestüt am Kirschberg This year’s breeder’s tour started off right outside of Frankfurt at Gestüt Hörstein, an absolutely beautiful stud farm nestled in the hills and surrounded by vineyards. What a winning combination! Hörstein is home to E.H. Sixtus, E.H. Beg xx, E.H. Lehndorff’s (sire of Zhivago SR and Spellbound SR), E.H. Cadeau and Couracius. We were treated to a very interesting talk by Erhard Shulte about the various ways the Trakehner has utilized TB and Arab blood over the years. The next morning we headed into East Germany. The landscape was beautiful and some of the elegant old buildings still had scars from the war. Our first stop was Gestüt am Kirschberg, which is where Handryk and Osharin's Peron are stationed. The Kunath family runs the farm which sits high up, overlooking the river Elbe. The farm was very nice, complete with an elegant old barn with multiple intersecting arches all over the ceiling. Mrs. Kunath managed to impress us all with her skills as a world-class pastry chef after showing us their beautiful horses. Next was the historic Graditz Stud which was founded in the 17th century and continues as a large state stud. Then we headed to Gestüt Schäplitz, where the Langels family rears their youngsters from Hämelschenburg and where Bernard Langels has his own farm. They have a beautifully restored farm and endless pastures to raise the horses on. They actually have so much grass that they have a biodiesel plant to utilize the excess. I can only dream about having too much grass! We had a great time looking at lots and lots of horses after warming up with some Bärenjäger. We then drove to the Ganschow Stud and saw their operation and training facilities. We visited Gestüt Majenfelderhof back in Holsteinb and saw E.H. Manrico and some of his offspring. Next was Gestüt Tasdorf, where we saw E.H. King Arthur, Easy Game, Elfado, Kasimir (sire of Bellissa SR), and their Holsteiner stallions Almoretto, Cracker Jack, and H-Ekwador. We ended the tour with some very interesting discussions about Trakehners worldwide. We continued our meeting informally once we were settled in Neumünster and had some very good conversations in the evening about breeding practices and also the various indexes, with a presentation by Tom Reed of Morningside Stud in Ireland. A few of us also took a trip to Panker to look at a stallion. That is a beautiful historic farm complete with a castle. My fall trip is always such a beneficial trip for me and helps me keep my eye refined and lets me evaluate so many horses in such a concentrated manner. As always, I have returned home with some new thoughts regarding stallions and breeding plans! A photo report of this tour can be found online at Trakehners International 10/11/09 – Andrew Wright arrives at Seneca Ridge to train and compete.
Andrew and Stardust Lilith We are happy to have Andrew back after torturing him with some of our summer weather last month. It is quite a transition from Glasgow, to be certain! Andrew has some very good experience starting young horses and stallions, including training with Niels Hein-Ruus in Denmark, Emilie Faurie in the UK, and working at Adelheisdorf in Germany for the Hanoverian State Stud. We think he is a perfect fit for Seneca Ridge and look forward to seeing some more of our youngsters under saddle and watching him compete this upcoming season. And just in case you ever wondered what it would look like to see a bunch of guys dancing in kilts …… apparently, it really happens! (Andrew in front)
9/30/09 – I couldn't resist this sunset as seen off the cabana lanai.
7/19/09 – Zophiel delivers, yes, a bay filly! Zsa Zsa SR, by Freudenfest
Well, funny how each year seems to have a theme! This was the year of the spectacular bay filly. Zophiel delivered a very nice large bay filly this morning. She also has a lot of the look of her mom, complete with the large floppy ears! She also appears quite nice, a fitting end to a great foaling season! 7/15/09 – The Space Shuttle!
Here is the Space Shuttle as seen going over the cabana roof with Lily in the background. I should have had the camera the last time, when the jet trail was bright pink and you could clearly see the solid rocket boosters as they fell away. Anyway, we kind of take it for granted around here, but it really is pretty neat that you can see it so easily from the farm! 5/20/09– Pr.St. Bell Capri hits one out of the park!
After a very normal length gestation this time, Pr.St. Bell Capri had a stunning bay filly this morning. She looks so much like her mom, and then some! I like how this breeding season is turning out and will have some tough choices ahead of me in future years with such high quality fillies! 4/20/09– Oksana SR delivers a beautiful bay filly – Oliva SR by Freudenfest
Oksana SR delivered a beautiful filly this morning that looks so much like she did as a foal! It is really great to have our first second generation Seneca Ridge baby born, especially given that it looks like our breeding plans and goals are really taking shape. Oksana is a natural mother, perfect with her baby, just as Onia has always been. 3/28-29/09– Stardust Lilith at her first show at the Heidelburg Cup
After being put back under saddle for three months or so after having two foals for us, we took Stardust Lilith (by Enrico Caruso *Ps*E* - Falke) to her first under saddle show, the Heidelburg I and the Heidelbrg II shows held over the weekend at Clarcona Horseman’s Park. We were very happy with Lily’s performance which included tests being held in the wind and rain. She handled it all perfectly. Her highest score of the weekend was a 70.87% and she ended up with first, second, third and sixth placed finishes in large classes in open competition.
|
