August 23, 2004
Topic: Keuring Obsessions
You know, I thought I was finally going to have a keuring year during
which I was going to remain calm, collected, and unemotional about my
horses and the jury's reaction to my horses. Not going to happen. You
might as well call me, Scot "Barn Blind" Tolman. In particular, my
Contango filly can do no wrong and Guido is one of the most beautiful
horses I have ever seen. A recent visitor took a couple photos of him;
we'll see how they come out--I may be able to post them.
Princess (ZaVita: Contango x Elcaro) is huge, leggy, and so nice. Of
course, she and her siblings seem to think they are jumpers and not
dressage horses. Her half brother by Idocus, Rocco SSF, was the top
jumper gelding in the 2002 keuring year. Her half sister by Vincent,
Thea Vita SSF, just free jumped for the first time this week, and our
trainer called to say that she jumps just as well as her brother. Not
to be out done, Ms. Contango filly, when asked to show off her movement
for my friend, Jenn T, proceeded to jog to the stone wall and drop
combination at the edge of our upper yard and handily negotiate the
whole thing in one easy leap. When Susan Duncan saw Rocco free jump at
the ISF keuring two years ago, she told me then that the jump came from
LaVita. I, of course, disagreed and said that the jump came from
Idocus. Given the fact that we have three different foals who can all
jump out of three different dressage stallions, LaVita may have
something to do with it. At any rate, if the jury thinks that Ms.
Princess is anything but a top ten, first premium foal, they are
clearly mistaken and need additional counsel.
On to my new stallion, Verito SSF. Guido is so cool that I almost
can't stand it. Michaela and I put him on the cross ties tonight before
working him and just ran our hands over him in a kind of disbelief that
we have something like him in the barn. There is no turning back now.
I destined for major keuring stress. Michaela and I half decided that,
if LaVita isn't in foal (just bred to Donatelli) again, we would go
ahead and breed her to Guido to see what he throws. Goat breeders
always toss a cool young buck into the doe pen for "clean up"
service...we have two open mares still--I'll bet Guido wouldn't mind a
bit. Of course, those of us who handle him on a daily basis probably
would. Imagine a randy teenager being given free sexual access to a
couple hot older women. He'd be impossible to live with. He'd also
probably get his head bashed in by a well placed hoof. Hmmm. Too bad
we couldn't bring that kind of discipline into a high school. Those of
you who have not been witness to the overt displays of physical
attention frequently seen in any American high school hallway can have
no appreciation for the need of a well timed hoof to the head. My kids
have already been fore-warned that public humiliation works both ways...
August 17, 2004
Topic: Coromino!!!
Some times things just fall into place. I have liked this stallion ever
since I paid a visit to GW Ranch a couple years ago. I could not get him
off my mind. Perfect type, perfect temperament, and talented to boot. I
have told Heike repeatedly how much I like him, and I have sent a number of
people to him when I thought our stallions were not the right match. As a
matter of fact, whenever someone asks me about jumper stallions in North
America other than Iroko, Judgement and Coromino are always the first two
names to come out of my mouth. Well, the timing was right--Heike said, yes,
and now we have a new stallion in the Shooting Star Farm line-up. I am
completely excited. Of course, we breed dressage horses, so.....Mr. Coromino
will be moving in with his new brother, Donatelli, and be pointed at the FEI
ring with Jim Koford.
Lots more details and thoughts to follow. And, have no fear, fellow Dutch
horse enthusiasts; Coromino fits into our Dutch breeding program. He may be
an Oldenburg approved stallion, but think about the influence that the
horses in his pedigree have had on Dutch breeding: Cor de la Bryere,
Ramiro, Alme....not too shabby! Plus, Coromino has already passed the
endoscopy and radiograph requirements for the KWPN. His Dutch foals will be
Register A only briefly, because (mark my words) this horse is going to be a
dressage super star on top of his success as a young jumper.
August 12, 2004
Topic: Foal Auctions and Speculation
It is my firm belief that the future of any studbook is in the people who
are willing to take the educated risks of buying top foals as future
stallion prospects, top sport horses, and future top mares. Carol and I
have built our program on this theory. If our only goal were to improve our
program, then I'd stay quiet and never toss out these group purchase ideas.
However, I really believe that the future of the North American sport horse
lies in group effort and established communication lines among breeders.
There is nothing more exciting to me than a number of people all committed
to and excited about the same thing. DBNA proved that we can make a
difference, and quickly at that. WBNA is moving more slowly--largely due to
the fact that Susan Duncan and I have had to pull back our energies(not to
mention our finances) and not devote 2/3rds of our waking hours to the
existence of the organization. Nonetheless, the concept is strong, and I
believe that, in the long run, WBNA is going to accomplish more than DBNA.
Getting back to the intent of this entry, however, a super colt is available
in the Borculo auction, and I hate to lose an opportunity to get some people
together to buy him. Carol and I can buy this colt ourselves, and we will
if no one else is interested, but that's not the way I'd like to see it go.
Call it a state stud--a common breeding pool--a breeder's co-op--I don't
know. The concept of a group of people risking a little on a regular basis
for the benefit of all is much more attractive than one or two people
playing the martyr constantly. We know that the government is not going to
support top sport horse breeding. We know that no one studbook is going to
take the political or legal risk of backing a pool of stallion prospects.
We also know that two or three extremely wealthy individuals can not be
expected to always be thinking about the good of all. The real future lies
in the average breeders banding together. As always, I'm idealistic enough
to believe that any breeder with any sense of vision must see this and must
be willing to be part of it. OK. Scot on his soap box. What did you expect?
If you email me, I'll give you the specifics on this colt. He's all purpose
bred--he's out of a great mareline. He probably won't have a fancy enough
trot to be super expensive at the auction. It's an opportunity to bring a
sport horse stallion prospect to North America. If nothing else, we sell
him, and he makes someone a super, super sport horse.
August 4, 2004
Topic: Keuring Prep and Final Breeding Picks....
OK. Now that Donatelli is safely approved AHS, I can move on to my annual
keuring preparation obsession. We’re presenting four horses this year:
Thea Vita SSF for studbook/ster, Verito SSF for premium grading and
stallion prospect evaluation, and our Contango and Iroko fillies for premium
grading.
Thea is already with Zaz Putnam, so SSF can have a horse in the first
season of the DG Bar Cup!!!! I’m really excited about this program, and
intend to have at least one horse a year participating. As far as studbook or
star, it is a close call. Thea could be bigger, her left front deviates
slightly out from the fetlock joint, and she needs more development in the
topline. However, she has super scope and reach to her movement, good use of
the hind leg and lift through the wither, and really modern
type--especially given her pedigree. We’ll see how she is looking and moving after two
months with Zaz. As far as training and riding, you could not ask for a
nicer mare. Michaela is hinting strongly that Thea needs to come out of the
breeding band and become her personal dressage horse.
One of our fillies, Zilena SSF (Iroko x Freestyle x Nimmerdor), will be
presented with her dam at ISF. The kids and I just stopped by Jan
Downs-Barrett’s farm on our way home from Hilltop to see this girl. We sold
Tilena, the dam, to Jan with the agreement that we would take the first foal.
This is a super nice filly--I’d like to see a little more reach in the
front leg in some of her movement, but she has all the power, balance, and tact
of those fancy Iroko dressage horses. Congrats also to the
Downs-Barretts; my guess is that Tilena will be one of the top mares in the country this
year. I am definitely pleased to have a filly from this mareline for our
program.
The other filly which we have decided to present is ZaVita SSF (Contango x
LaVita)--better known as Princess....LaVita is the goddess of the farm; it
only seems right that this very special filly be a princess. (You do not
need to ridicule me; my family already takes care of that--LaVita and her
offspring can do no wrong). I had decided not to present Princess because
she has not shown that much movement, plus she could be slightly more modern
in type. Well, we took LaVita to my former vet for frozen semen work over
the weekend. Rene, my vet, loved the filly and wanted to see her move. I
told her that I loved the filly, too, but that she didn’t seem to have
much movement. Wrong. Holy shit. She is butt high right now and slightly
out behind, but talk about lift and power. Of course, now that I have
decided to do the late entry fee and take her to the New England keuring,
she’ll probably stop growing in the wither completely and be a good six
inches butt high by the time we get there!
OK. Here is my real obsession: Guido. I hated this colt when he was
born--ugly--knock kneed--hot--difficult--no movement. As I have probably
mentioned before, Carol and Michaela were in complete disagreement with me from
the beginning. Well, for exactly one week, which happened to coincide
with our infamous trip to the ISF keuring, Guido looked fabulous--he went
number one in the country. Brought him home, and within minutes he looked like
a cross between a llama and a sick goat. U-necked, stopped growing, got
ribby and hairy, was impossible to deal with--I decided that he was
definitely a gelding and put him on the list of boys to undergo the knife before
snow flew....at the last minute, just before Guido was about to get the TQ,
Carol subtley slid in her comment of, “I think the jury really liked him.
What do we have to lose by keeping him another year and seeing how he
turns out?” For those of you who know Carol, she rarely offers an opinion on
the horses or contradicts any of my breeding or selection decisions. She
may make a few comments about my barn cleaning skills...but she defers to
me in virtually all horse decisions. So, OK, we didn’t geld him. Well,
spring rolls around, and, as we do with all of the coming two year old
colts, it became time to remove Guido from the herd (just what I would have
needed, a llama x LaVita cross...). I was still not overly impressed with the
boy, but I put him into the “you are an inside horse” routine. I
hacked off his mane, got his feet under control, and had a few of those “you
can not be serious--I am the human, you are the horse” discussions. Well,
long story short, I am now completely barn blind and in love with this
horse. He is smart, beautiful, and the best mover we have bred. His bone is
a little fine, which is common from what I understand for Jazz
grandchildren; he could be a bit taller--at the moment, he is 15.3--but, the forms for
stallion prospect evaluation rate the horse in four categories, pedigree,
type, movement, and conformation--I have no doubt that he far exceeds the
minimum requirements in three out of the four--keep your fingers crossed that
fine boned doesn’t knock him out of consideration.
OK. I know that you are all dying to know who is finally bred to
whom....well, maybe you don’t obsess over my breeding picks as much as I obsess
over my breeding picks...
LaVita was just covered with Jazz (if there is a god....please, please,
please!)
Facet and Kirona are in foal to Donatelli
Oladaula is in foal to Sir Sinclair
Pioendaula is in foal to Contango
Thea Vita, C’est Glory Days, and LaLiscia are in foal to Iroko
T. Lente has just been bred to.....sorry, Alicia! Can’t give it away
yet! We have a deal going with Alicia Winter to get a foal from her very
fancy Cabochon mare. Now, since the frozen semen of Special D was not
successful, who would you pick if you had the following priorities:
1. Get the mare pregnant
2. Improve the topline slightly
3. Lengthen the front leg.
August 3, 2004
Topic: Donatelli
Whew. That’s all I really have to say. Donatelli is now approved AHS,
in addition to the Hanoverian Verband, Oldenberg Verband, Westfalen, and
Rheinland. I have to tell you that these inspections make me nervous as
hell. In this case, you would think that a stallion already approved by the
parent organization in Europe, already successful at FEI level dressage, and
already successful as a sire would have no worries about being approved by
an American affiliate....this has not been my experience, however.
Nonetheless, Donatelli showed brilliantly under saddle and was approved.
Since Donatelli doesn’t live with us, I don’t get to spend a lot of
time with him or even see him often. As a matter of fact, the Hilltop
inspection was the first time that Carol and the kids had seen him in person and
spent time with him. Even Keagan, our non-horse 11 year old, was hugging
him and giving him kisses by the end of the weekend. This stallion is
quiet, perfectly mannered, and super, super talented. Under saddle, he is
light, correct, and always willing to work. As I was watching him go during the
inspection, I thought to myself, I could give a shit whether anyone else
likes this horse or not; he’s exactly the type and temperament for which
we need to be breeding. Now, I’m just wishing that we had bred more
mares to him this year.
As far as the inspection itself, from the point of view of a Dutch
breeder, it was certainly interesting. The Hanoverian selection process has
produced a much different horse than have we in the Dutch system. The horses I
saw could all move sufficiently and jump sufficiently. There were no stars
in either direction, but there were no flops in either direction either.
There was not a consistent type presented, but there were also no horses
significantly off type. The horses I saw were all general purpose, good,
solid riding horses. In the Dutch system, I’m used to the seeing a jumper
absolutely take my breath away, or a dressage-bred horse that sends shivers
up and down my spine. I’m also apt to grimace when I see that same
jumper move and that same dressage-bred horse attempt to make his or her way
through the jump chute. I really don’t mean for this last observation to
carry any judgment one way or the other--it was just obvious and
interesting that we have gone in different directions.
The most interesting point of the weekend, however, was hearing a stallion
owner say that she had been asked to represent her horse next year for the
new Hanoverian Hunter studbook....hmmm. I wonder where they got that
idea? It will certainly be interesting to see if a prototype of our own system
has been snagged for use in the AHS. This is great news for Hunter
breeders, but let’s give credit where credit is due.
June 22, 2004
Topic: NA/WPN
Here is an organization with which I have had such a love/hate
relationship over the years that I have to look at it as a marriage of sorts.
Initially, I came into the organization niave, gullible, and ravenous for
information. As time went on, my disillusionment with keuring placements,
structural politics and elitism, and the financial burden of being an active,
breeding member took their toll. Eventually, I grew up, toughened up, and began
to realize the benefits of the KWPN system within the NA/WPN. As many of
you know, I’ve devoted countless hours and energies to promoting and
improving the communication efforts, educational programs, and awards programs
of the NA/WPN. With the announcement of Dr. Giddens’ retirement, I am
left...cautious, yet, hopeful. We have done good work over the past few
years to bring this organization to its members. I see that continuing. Carol
and I have recently become members of the AHS, in order to present
Donatelli at the Hilltop inspection on August 1st. Yesterday, we received a
great package of information and AHS publications. Upon perusal, it became
immensely clear to me that the AHS is a much more member driven organization
than is the NA/WPN. True, the AHS has approximately 2100 members to our
1400, but it works with a similar amount of money and doesn’t produce
exponentially more foals per year than do we. The biggest difference I see is
the member involvement. Hopefully, as the NA/WPN transitions to new
leadership, we will not lose momentum in empowering our membership to become more
active and take more ownership in the direction of the NA/WPN.
June 19, 2004
Topic: So Many Things
If you only knew how many journal entries I’ve started over the last
couple of months, but have never sent them to my webmaster for posting,
because they were too depressing! Fortunately, God invented summer vacation and
rum, so I think I’m finally in a place to write. So much has gone on in
the past couple of months. My truck accident on the way home from the
annual meeting seemed to start a whole series of “crashes”. We had the
septic Farrington filly--she recovered, but came home from Tufts with a broken
foot, which looks like it may never be completely weight-bearing again; our
Pion mare delivered a premie Freestyle colt whom we had to lift to his
feet so he could nurse every hour to two hours, day and night, for over a
week; then this colt went septic, also--we couldn’t afford to send another
colt to Tufts, so we treated him at home--daily flushes--antibiotics--and
continued 24 hour assistance with nursing...of course, Carol travels three
weeks out of four, so Michaela and I were on going into the last quarter of
school dog-tired, but “Booger” finally began to come around ; in the
middle of this, Carol calls at 2:30 in the morning from a hospital in Northern
NH--she has a kidney blockage and has to be rushed to Dartmouth-Hitchcock
in Lebanon--we then spend a couple days of surgery and trips back and forth
to the hospital; somewhere in here, my 80 year old mother, who is suffering
from dementia and prestroke activity, takes a major fall in the middle of
the night and is so covered with black and blues that she looked like she
had been beat up; we have almost a week of no trauma, then LaVita had her
incredible Contango filly...who refused to nurse for the first 14 hours...so,
once again, Michaela and I were on feeding shifts--this time, every half
hour--we stuffed that filly so full of colostrum that there was no way she
was going septic on us. Of course, through all of this, I was still
teaching full time, the kids were still going to school full time, our 30 horses
were still shitting and eating full time, Carol was still on the road for
three out of four weeks, and Donatelli and Iroko were needing to be shipped
to between 10 and 20 mares a week. Are you tired just reading about all
this? Me, too!
So, this is the reason you folks haven’t had any new journal entries to
read for a while. Sorry about that. Now for some good news updates:
Go Orchis.....
Have to brag! SSF Oracle/Orchis (Jazz x Roemer x Eros) has the highest
breeding index for dressage mares in North America. 194! Her dam, Charites,
has the highest breeding index for dressage mares in the Netherlands.
Gotta love it! Of course, I’ll be more excited when she double ovulates
this weekend, we get two Contango x Orchis embryos, and they are successfully
implanted in recipient mares...keep your fingers crossed for us.
Verito SSF (Freestyle x Orchis) aka, “Guido”, will be presented for
evaluation as a stallion prospect at this year’s NA/WPN keuring in
Vermont. This is the first product directly out of our breeding program to be
presented as a stallion prospect. If I had had my way, he would have been
sold as a foal, but Carol and Michaela have been resolute that I was wrong
and that Guido was, indeed, worth keeping for a while. Well, believe it or
not, I am willing to admit when I am wrong. This colt no longer looks
like a U-necked goat with a big head, turkey neck, two-toned feet, and freaky,
super-equine movement. He is thickening, broadening, muscling, and
looking more and more elegant every day--plus, he still has that freaky movement.
In the Breeding Department.....
Donatelli has been so well-received and adored, that we have had to close
his book. Jim Koford is completely smitten by this boy; he calls him
“the real deal.” Donatelli continues to love to work and constantly to be
willing to give beyond that of which he is asked--got to love that in a
competition partner! Jim has taken him to only two shows so far, but both
times Donatelli scored well into the sixties at PSG--pretty exciting for his
first couple of shows. Everything is in place to finish him to Grand Prix.
Jim says that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of Donatelli’s
talent. I’m excited for Jim and for Donatelli.
Iroko is doing really well. He’s having his highest pregnancy rate of
his whole time here in North America. Plus, we’re seeing more and more
incredible foals out of a wide variety of mares. Keagan’s Morgan mare just
delivered the most beautiful foal of the year at SSF--this filly is SO
pretty. I have one more Iroko foal coming out of the Freestyle x Nimmerdor
mare Jan Downs-Barrett bought--can’t wait!
Pregnancy News.....
We are going to have SO MANY FOALS NEXT YEAR (knock on wood)!!!! Here’s
what we have coming already:
Thea to Iroko
Kirona to Donatelli
Facet to Donatelli
Pion to Contango
Oladaula to Sir Sinclair
Here’s what we’re breeding this weekend:
Double ovulation from Orchis to Contango (ET)
Double ovulation from LaVita to Sandreo (possible ET)
Sibby to Iroko
LaLiscia to Iroko
Plus:
We’ve had so much interest in our Iroko x Percheron cross that we’re
going to try that again, and, after seeing this year’s filly, I’m sure
that Keagan will want to breed his Morgan mare back to Iroko.
Am I insane? Don’t answer that.
April 9, 2004
Topic: Expensive Lesson to Learn
OK. I have been accused of being a control freak on more than one
occassion. Normally, I protest with minimal persistence, knowing in the very
forefront of my mind that, about some things, I do, indeed, display telling
traits of a freakish need to be in control. Big things don’t bother me,
really--wars, economic trends, religious uprisings, renovations to our house,
bills being paid on time--I’m happy to leave these things to those who
have a stronger inclination than I to wage war, refute the Bible, and pay
overdue electric bills. Taking care of my horses....now that’s a different
matter.
“Carol, did you give Oladaula one and a half scoops of grain or two
scoops? She gets two scoops now that she’s foaled.”
“Michaela, does Pioen have WAX or just wax? “
(calling from work on a day when Carol and the kids have the day off)
“It’s 10:00. What do you mean you haven’t been out in the barn yet?
That mare could have started to foal--had trouble--been lying there in her
stall plaintively thinking, Where is Scot? Where is he? And, you’re still
in your pj’s eating cereal and watching Lord of the Rings for the
fifteenth time?”
My family finds my compulsive behavior charming; I’m sure.
Anyways, Oladaula just had our third foal of the year--fifth foaling for
her over the span of her broodmare career. Michaela and I attended the
birth--dried off the early but really strong filly--watched her stand within
minutes--witnessed the placenta detach--cleaned the stall--saw the baby have
the sucking reflex and start to find her way to the udder...and went to
bed. It was late; I had school the next morning; and I told myself that I did
not have to be such a control freak and stay to actually watch this
perfectly healthy filly find an udder. We have never had such a strong, active
foal not learn to nurse on its own--I convinced myself that I was just being
a complete control freak if I were to sit there and wait another hour or
two to actually see this filly nurse. I’m sure you’re guessing the
outcome by now--even though the filly did eventually nurse--she hadn’t nursed
enough early on to ingest sufficient colostrum--by the time she was 30
hours old, she was down in her stall and couldn’t get up. Carol called me
at school, and then called the vet. By the time I got home, the vet had her
on IV fluids and antibiotics--but said that he had little hope for her
unless we took her to intensive care at Tufts. Well, my new truck is not set
up for hauling the gooseneck yet. Do you know how difficult it is to find
someone to immediately haul or let you borrow a rig--especially on a
weekday morning in southwestern New Hampshire? Long story short, we were saved
by great guy, named Scott Lyons. I’d never met him before, but he’s the
friend of a friend. He was there within about 15 minutes with his truck
and trailer. He set us up, helped load the mare and filly, and Carol and I
were on the way to Tufts. Three hours later, the filly is on oxygen,
plasma drip, stomach tube--she’s had an EKG--she has her own nurse 24 hours a
day, in the stall with her and her mother. Seeing her lying on the padded
table, hooked up to machines, having difficulty breathing...we just
didn’t think she was going to make it. Nonetheless, this morning, she’s up
and nursing on her own, and they’ve removed the oxygen. Those double
Doruto genes are tough, man. She’s not out of the woods yet, so keep your
fingers crossed for her--also, keep your fingers crossed for Tufts’ vet
techs...we gave them fair warning about the possible reaction speed of Miss
Oladaula, and that it really is best to tell her what you’re about to do in
order to give her every opportunity to prepare herself--they smiled, amused
at the large man still in his school clothes who had just told them to
explain to the horse what they were going to do before they did it--they
glanced at each other discreetly, finding me humorous and niave, even slightly
inane, I suspect. Well, I don’t think anyone was seriously injured, but
one vet tech in particular now wishes that she had paid a little more heed
to the overgrown schoolboy who talks to his horses as if they could
understand him.
My, wasn’t that a long paragraph! What is the moral of this story?
Don’t go to bed until you are absolutely convinced that your foal is
nursing well. The first payment on this lesson is $2,000. If everything goes
well (knock on wood), the second will be about half that. If it
doesn’t....I may have a really nice double Doruto filly for sale for the price of her
vet bills!
Scot
www.shootingstarfarm.net
April 2, 2004
Topic: What else...Breeding Choices!
I realize that I have been remiss in posting regularly in my journal, but
life has a way of interfering with my writing. The perfect scenario is
that I somehow end up on an island in the tropics, with access to plentiful
frozen concoctions, served by gorgeous, tanned natives whose entire purpose
in life is to make guests feel welcome and inebriated--this is how I would
really to write. However, realistically, the scenario is more
like....buried in black flies and mud in New Hampshire, 30 horses to feed, 2 kids to
manipulate in order to prevent the inevitable fraticide, and this thing
called a job. No wonder I get nothing written these days! Nonetheless, in
those fleeting moments while waiting for one bucket to fill from the hose, I
get to stare at my VERY pregnant girls and rethink my breeding choices for
2004.
LaVita...............ET to Donatelli
Orchis...............ET to Sir Sinclair
Oladaula..........Freestyle
Pioendaula......Freestyle
Kirona...............Donatelli
Thea..................Iroko
LaLiscia............Hierarch
March 18, 2004
Topic: Lots of things
Since last we spoke, I’ve attended the NA/WPN Annual Meeting, changed my
breeding decisions thirty or forty times, turned 44, had a brush with fate
and the Gods of Ford, and delivered our first foal of the year. Yeah, it’s been busy.
The Annual Meeting was a not to be missed event, as usual. Willy Arts and
the DeGroots welcomed us with wine, warmth, and wonderful horses. There
can not be another family in North America with such a depth of commitment
to itself and its farm.
Highlights for me:
*The Quadrille, ridden by DG Bar staff and family on DG bar bred and owned
horses
*The presentation of the new Willy Arts Young Rider Scholarship program
*Faith Fessenden’s videos
*Demonstration of the new riding horse classes for young horses
*Success of the Silent Auction
*Detailed analysis of last year’s approved jumping and dressage stallions
*Trento B. Trento B. Trento B.
*An incredible bottle of wine, shared with Tia Shurecht
SSF Breeding Choices as of 11:24 am, EST, 3/18/04
LaVita: Will remain open and go into sport
Oladaula: Donatelli
Orchis: ET with Contango and maybe one with Special D
Pioendaula: Iroko
Kirona: Donatelli
Thea: Iroko (our first foal of the year is really special--we’ll repeat
the cross)
Five minutes from home, on my way from Logan airport after arriving safely
from the Annual Meeting, I am broadsided by an out of control van. The
driver of the van has lost control coming down Chesterfield Hill in very icy
conditions. I can’t get out of the way. The van slams into my
driver’s side door, rips down the entire side of my truck, tears off the back
axle, and drops the entire rear end out of my truck. Somehow, I am not dead.
I thank the Gods of Ford trucks and whatever forces exist in the world that
have allowed me more time with my family and horses. My truck is totaled;
I will buy another Ford F350.
February 7, 2004
Topic: Breeding for the Specialist, Missing the Hengstkeuring, and
Wishing Happy Birthday to Mrs. Duncan (not necessarily in this order)
Gert van der Veen’s breeding choices live on. The champion stallion of
the jumping division at the KWPN Hengstkeuring this year is none other
than a Libero H x Nimmerdor x Marco Polo son--full brother of the
approved stallion Nijinsky--out of the immortal Haifa. Haifa is the
foundation mare of Gert van der Veen’s breeding program. So, the modern
sport horse...nine years of selective breeding, the death of Gert van
der Veen, and KWPN politics separate Nijinsky and this latest colt.
It’s nice to know that not all good sense is lost.
I didn’t get to see this moment in history in person--as much as I would
have liked to. My flight was delayed six hours while we awaited a part
for the pressure system of the DC 10 to be flown to Boston from
Minneapolis. It arrived at approximately 10:30; by 11:15, we were all
on the plane and first in line for departure. All seemed to be going
well. About two hours into our flight, the Captain came over the
announcement system, and told us that we had turned around and were
headed back for Boston: “We can’t make Amsterdam, but I’m pretty sure
we can get back to Boston.” Comforting. It seems that the new part was
not functioning properly, so our airplane could not reach the necessary
height for the mid part of our trip. Our only choice was to drop
altitude and hope to make it back to Boston. By the time we landed and
deplaned, my desire to catch a next day flight to Holland had
significantly diminished. I drove home, crawled into bed with Carol and
Keagan (who assumes that most comfortable bed in the house, mine, can
not contain a solo sleeper), and thanked whatever fate/God/forces of the
universe that two chocolate donuts and vanilla latte were all it took to
get me home. Trust the messages that are sent to you. Eat chocolate.
Fly, only when absolutely necessary.
So, from what I have heard from calls from Holland and from reading on
the internet, Gert lives on, my UB40 colt for which I was willing to
pull a Dr. Faustus, and yet another Kennedy colt which will probably
never be heard from again have all wowed the crowd at the
Brabanthallen. I don’t mean to be facetious or rude about the Kennedy
colt, but, as much as I admire the owners of this colt, his pedigree is
not interesting enough to inspire confidence and, without seeing him, I
can guarantee you that he is hot, a spectacular mover, and genetically
inconsistent for a breeding stallion--this is a sport horse deluxe for
the VERY capable rider, not the horse that should have been champion of
the Hengstkeuring. There has yet to be a Kennedy son remaining after
the 70 days’ test. Again, I have great respect for the owners of this
colt--I will be happy to be wrong.
Intellectually, the KWPN move to specialization makes sense; select for
fewer traits and you make faster progress toward a breeding goal.
However, there are too many intangibles in breeding horses to make a
clean-cut, “don’t look back” distinction between a jumping horse and a
dressage horse. I don’t know that the jumping horse will always need the
dressage horse, but I do know that the dressage horse will always need
the jumper. There is this gait called the canter.....then there’s this
idea of balance....then, maybe I’m being picky here, but there’s this
idea of the vast majority of successful dressage horses in history
having been bred out of jumping lines. Again, I’m always willing to be
wrong--that’s how I learn the most. But, until I start seeing these
specialists as the majority at the upper echelons of dressage, I’m still
going for “balance” and the ability to use the hind end with power and
finesse--given the choice, I’ll breed to Gert’s horse for my dressage
program, before I’ll breed to the Kennedy x Ubis.
BTW, wish my friend, Susan Duncan, the happiest of birthdays. She may
be older than I, but everybody has to have some fault.
January 21, 2004
Topic: Road Trip to Meet Donatelli and Stallion Picks
I just returned from about twenty hours of driving and two hours of
looking at horses...you will all have no trouble believing me when I say that I
spend the entire length of the New Jersey turnpike, northbound, with the
radio off, just thinking about stallion picks for my girls. Had I known that
I would then be spending an additional two hours getting from the George
Washington bridge to Winsor, Connecticut, I might have put the radio on
sooner!
Donatelli is so beautiful! I had not seen him in person for years. He is
simply elegant, elegant, elegant. He seems to be really well adjusted and
happy in his new surroundings right off the bat. A huge nod to Sharon at
Rigbie Farm CEM Quarantine--she and her staff do a wonderful job with these
incoming stallions. Sharon brought out Donatelli for us, and he simply
posed and allowed himself to fall under my ever critical eye--hard to fault
him. His neck has thickened some with age and his muscling is thicker, but
he’s still so refined and pretty that I’m amazed. What pleased me most
is his temperament--no mouthy stallion behavior--no stallion
trumpeting--just a really alert and an intelligent watchfulness and responsiveness. Jim
Koford was nearly salivating to get out his tack and get on him. However,
the lovely Maryland weather of Monday prevented us from doing little more
than watching Sharon trot him up and down the drive for us. Those of you
in the Southern Pines area can have a peek at Mr. Donatelli after he arrives
to begin work with Jim in mid February.
More to tell about my visit with Meghan and Robert at ISF--quick genuflect
at the shrine of Contango--super Judgement colt....but I have to get to
work creating finals for my ever cheerful and cooperative students!
Today’s picks:
Donatelli x Oladaula
Donatelli x Kirona
Contango x Orchis
Special D x LaVita
Special D x Thea Vita SSF
Iroko x Pioendaula
January 1, 2004
Topic: Goals, Predictions, Breeding Picks
Happy New Year! Tempus fugit. Other than a period of about 14 hours
during the time in which I was turning 26 (this could have had something
to do with being in the midst/throes of graduate school), I’ve always
been enormously excited about new years and new projects. After nearly
a decade and a half of building our breeding program, I think we are
just barely beginning to come into our own. I was listening to the
Diane Reem (sp?) show on NPR the other day; she was chatting with a
guest who has written a book entitled, The New Brain. The conversation
was centering around the advances that we have made in the study of the
brain due to the advances in technology available with which to study
the brain. One question Diane asked was if the brains of gifted
musicians, philosophers, or athletes are different than those of the
normal person. In short, are great people born or made. The guest’s
response was that he had recently spoken with one of the world’s
greatest pianists, and had just asked him how often he practiced. The
response was that the pianist had practiced at least four hours a day
from the time he was eight years old. The implication is that there may
be some predisposition to a particular talent that is inherent in the
DNA, but that diligence and time probably have more to do with eventual
success. The guest then went on to cite a study of successful people in
a wide variety of fields and arts--the one thing that all successful
people have in common is an ability to break things/tasks into smaller
pieces, analyze them, strengthen the weak pieces, and then put it all
back together into a stronger whole. Combine this with the
aforementioned diligence and time...you have to meet success. This is
exactly how I feel about our breeding program. Those of you who have
followed this journal (now going into its fifth year) know that breeding
horses occupies my brain at least four hours a day, and has done so for
as long as I can remember. As long as I don’t give up due to some
idiotic political or market-biased decision made by the studbook
involved.....eventually, my program has to be enormously successful.
Horses rarely disappoint me; people often do.
So, SSF breeding goals for 2004 and beyond:
1. Return to the initial motivation for breeding warmbloods: Breed the
kind of horse I want to ride, but couldn’t afford to buy.
2. Put more focus into getting our horses out into the sport world.
3. (see #1) Ride.
In looking at goal #1, I need to stop being as concerned with the modern
sport horse on which my studbook is so overly focused and begin
concentrating on finding horses WIDE enough for me. This may sound
humorous, but it’s the truth. I want to ride. The horse I ride has got
to have a bigger ass than mine. Now, assuming that I will not be able
to let go of my insatiable need to be awarded first premiums and ster
ratings.....I’m going to have to find the stallions that produce wide
assed offspring, with exceptional movement, and a type within the
parameters of the current goals of the NA/WPN. Contango.
We’ve already started working toward goal #2. SSF Oracle/Orchis (Jazz x
Roemer) is now in North Carolina with Jim Koford; she is on her way to
become Jim’s next superstar. I’ve committed to using Orchis for ET only
indefinitely. Udaulo SSF (Cabochon x Pion) has recently been imported by
Dr. Sara Warner of Florida to become her next FEI project. Thea Vita
SSF (Vincent x Elcaro) will be eventually taken out of the broodmare
band to become Michaela’s young rider horse. Michaela and Thea will
begin training together in the spring. We’re hoping to have one more
foal from her before removing her completely from breeding. We’ve also
been fortunate enough to have some of our breeding products purchased by
people intent on sport careers for their SSF horses. Beth Nabi’s Rocco
SSF (Idocus x Elcaro) is in Florida again this winter with Zaz Putnam.
Rocco has become a great ambassador of our breeding program. Grand Prix
rider, Melinda Johnson, has two of our boys, Udo SSF (Contango x
Elcaro), and Uniko SSF (Zeoliet x Voltaire)--I’ve convinced Melinda to
get both of these boys ready for the new young horse classes in the
keuring system. Karen Grande is now schooling all Grand Prix movements
on one of our earliest imports, Loret (Ichnaz x Duc de Normandie); plus,
Karen has big hopes for Oegelia SSF (Ferro x Weigelia). Urona SSF
(Metall x Volkmar) also has an ambitious and dedicated owner in Helena
Kopcynski. Of course, many of our younger products have also found
super, future sport homes--I’m especially excited for Freddy/Veo SSF
(Zeoliet x Hierarch) and Heather Merrill and for Vuleno SSF (Hierarch x
Sambucco) and Danielle Bachand. The next few years and beyond look
really exciting for SSF horses in the sport world.
To ride or not to ride; it is no longer the question. I’m going to
ride, damn it. Thanks to my partners in decadence (physically temporal,
philosophically inescapable), Jim and Becca, I have an FEI school
mistress. Yes! Ms. Bea and I are finding an unlikely match in each
other--she’s neither impressed or even slightly deterred by the size of
my ass and I’m not intimidated, only slightly amused by her demeanor.
So, now, I’ve decided to up LaVita’s grain in hopes of her producing an
even wider assed Contango colt than I’m anticipating!
Yes, the shape of things to come--who is going to help the SSF breeding
program reach this newest width? Today’s picks:
Contango x LaVita
Contango x Thea Vita
Contango x SSF Oracle/Orchis
Donatelli x Oladaula
Iroko x Pioendaula
Facet x Kirona
Scot
