Well, I’ve clearly not finished the website yet – but I’ll blame that on the horses It has been a busy few months for us.

In late March SkyHi Leonidas was sold and went back to where he started life as an embryo – and into the care of Berny and Jutta from Vollrath stud. Sadly for everyone involved, a few months after arriving, Leo suffered a paddock injury which was deemed to be severe enough that he was humanely euthanized. I’m still very heart sore about this turn of events, as I know are Berny and Jutta. He was a stunning colt with an amazing temperament and we all had high hopes for him. Unfortunately young horses are not always that wise when it comes to time out in the paddock, and it certainly reinforces that insuring young horses is a must!

On a brighter note, Mark and I had an opportunity to visit some Knab stallions during our July / August trip to the UK, and I have included some pics below. Thank you to everyone who so generously provided us with time and insights into this wonderful breed – it has only motivated Mark and I even further to continue with our plans. Not only are Knabs gorgeous to look at and ideal for serious competition, but we were amazed that everyone commented that it was their temperament and the sheer willingness to learn and engage which has been the turning point and resulted in their passion for the breed.

Holy Smoke is in schooling at Cheleken stud with Ana and Victoria Rattray – whom I’d certainly recommend. They have taken exceptional care of him and he is looking very handsome and happy with life. As suspected – he has an excellent jump. In fact, he is quite freakishly talented, and whilst still green and in need of further schooling – in the right hands he is going to take someone really quite far. We have high hopes that he will sell to an experienced competition home who will be able to make good use of his jumping abilities.

Last week I had to say good bye to my old friend Taffy, which was a difficult thing to do. Taffy came to us three years ago, from another Auckland stud. He was deemed to be in his 20s and was suffering from arthritis and could no longer be ridden. We offered him a home and a new job as a weanling and young horse companion. Ironically, as soon as Taffy realised that his ‘ridden’ days were behind him – his arthritis mysteriously disappeared. To smart for his own good I think! Taffy proved to be worth his weight in gold, not only was he an excellent companion for the youngsters – he was a bombproof pony on the float and an excellent teacher. He’d self load and fall asleep, and wouldn’t raise an eyebrow regardless of how much noise the youngsters made whilst being taught to load. Unfortunately the poor old boy had cushings, and this winter it really set in. He lost a lot of weight and whilst we were literally pouring food into him – it didn’t make much of a difference. I had hoped to give him one nice last summer, but it wasn’t to be. Taffy went lame in his off side hind leg one morning and could not move. There was little that could be done, and we decided that perhaps it was time to let him go. Lots of tears were shed, and he went quickly and peacefully. Thanks again to Marisa Segura at Pukekohe vets – I don’t think anyway has ever seen me cry as much as poor Marisa has! We will miss Taffy, he has a special place in our hearts. It has been left to another ‘meat works’ special, a 15 year standard bred I took on as a 4 year old to step up to the plate and fill the space that Taffy has left. Nova has some big shoes to fill.

And as they say, when one door closes, another opens and on Sunday 10 Oct, at 6:30pm, SkyHi Bright Spark was born. A gorgeous and inquisitive bay filly by Meersbrooke Sparkling Ripples. She is a leggy thing with a gorgeous head and an unusual facial marking – and she is already into absolutely everything – another fearless youngster. I’ll be interested to see what type of horse she grows into, but she has definitely taken quite a lot from herTB dam and I expect she will be quite an elegant lady one day – and hopefully as talented as her dad in the showjumping arena. One can but only hope!

Well, here we are, the fourth month of the year already! I’ve done a fairly decent amount of work on the website, but it is far from finished yet, but such is life.

Thankfully we’ve had a bit of rain over the couple of weeks which is a blessing as our paddocks have been looking pretty dire considering the time of year. Thankfully we have plenty of hay as I suspect we will be needing it this winter. However we have now finished the post and rail fencing down the ‘airstrip’ paddock and whilst we will be feeling that in our pockets for a while yet, I think it is worth it. Now the saving begins for the other half of the farm!

As for the horses, it has been an interesting few months. A playful unintentional kick from one of my youngsters (to my knee of course!) has seen me out of action for the last 5 weeks which is incredibly frustrating. Thankfully an MRI scan reveals that no surgery is required and I’m lucky that this injury will heal on its own over time. What a relief! It just goes to show, you can never drop your guard with young horses, not matter how well handled they are, because they are powerful animals and they can do a lot of damage, even unintentionally!

In early March, the Trakehner Assoc kindly assessed two of my TB mares for their studbook, in association with Werner Matthias from Germany who is very active in Trakehner classification excercises in Germany (his mother also bred Gribaldi – so goodness knows he has seen some outstanding horses in his time!). A very big thank you to Lee, Claire and Jody at Equibreed for allowing my TB mare to be assessed at the practice – I know you didn’t have to help me with that one and it really means a lot to me! Signora Estrada was a bit naughty on the day (lots of good food and grass at Equibreed let me tell you!), however she was in excellent condition and in good form and went on to achieve a very respectable score, which means she is now classified as ‘premium’. On day two we had Petite Pom classified and she too was given some excellent marks and scored premium. She decided to really show us how well some TB mares can trot and I was beaming from ear to ear. She was marked down for her size, which I was expecting (she is barely 15hh) – but it was good to know that we are on track with this mare – in fact Werner advised me not to sell her. Well done to both my girls – I am proud of you!

We have also since had confirmation that Signora Estrada has been confirmed in foal to Xhogun Middelsom for a Knabstrupper foal in Feb 2011. It has been a tough year for us, with Estrada only taking on the 2nd cycle, and a lovely Trakehner mare whom we had on lease took on the first cycle but re-absorbed and then did not take on round two which was a pity for all concerned. Still, AI with frozen is a risky business and I’ll settle for 1 out of 2. I believe that Estrada’s foal will be eligible for Danish papers via the KNN – and to the best of my knowledge, it will be the first Knab foal born in NZ for whom a Danish passport will be an option.

As for the others, Willow has been green-backed and is now home and turned out for a few months. She will then join a group of horses all being finished under saddle by Taukiri Tewhata in mid winter, which will be exciting. Smoke is finished being backed by David Marshall and is off to Ana and Victoria Rattray to be schooled and sold on our behalf. I was hoping to ride him myself, but with my knee – it isn’t an option. He is a lovely horse, and I think he will be a great hunting prospect. Mark and I have also taken Vollrath Leonidas off the market, he is a very special boy and we may offer him for sale again next year as a yearling, but certainly not with his previous price tag. I’m also considering putting Memphis on to the market – she is a super special young lady (full of confidence and life), but we can’t keep them all. Still, I’d quite like to see her started under saddle, so I’m sitting on the fence at the moment. We have also had news that our TB mare whom we have leased to Angela Lloyd is confirmed in foal to het Regardez Moi colt – which is pretty exciting. We’re looking forward to seeing that youngster come October time.

With the loss of daylight savings, it looks like the next few months are also going to be pretty full on, I miss summer already!!!

First NZ Knabstrupper foal by frozen semen arrived at 3:30am on 18^th Jan 2010 – and it’s a girl!!!

We could not be more pleased with the first our Knab progeny, which is just as well given the years of dreaming and planning that have gone into this direction.

SkyHi Exotic is by the exceptional few spot graded stallion Xhogun Middelsom, and out of our registered NZ Warmblood mare, Amiable (by Anamour)

She is a lively, curious little thing. She is has a spotted blanket on her rump, and at first appearance her coat colour appears black, but she also has the dorsal stripe and faint leg stripes associated with horses carrying the Dun gene – which means she may be a grulla with a spotted blanket. Very unusual combination which will be confirmed by DNA testing.

She will be retained by us and registered with the NZ Warmblood Breeders Association. Whilst she will prove to be a very valuable part of our future breeding plans, we intend to have this youngster started under saddle and competed in whatever discipline proves to be her preference. She will also be the horse on which  I will be practice in-hand classical dressage and together I hope we will achieve some great things.

Well, first off Happy New Year to everyone. I can’t say I’m terribly sad to say goodbye to 2009 – it was a particularly trying year for us and I’m very very much hoping that 2010 is much more relaxed and less of a roller coaster ride which is the best way I can describe 2009!

We sadly lost Raven in November when she decided to jump into the neighbour’s paddock which she has never done before, and she then managed to tear down their 45 degree paddock in a mad fit of youthful energy (all in front of my horrified eyes), only to get stuck in the neighbour’s wire fence which resulted in her breaking her hind foot between her fetlock and her pastern. I can honestly say that there are few things worse than cradling your horse’s head in your lap whilst waiting for the vet to arrive knowing full well that you are also saying your goodbyes. At least I was with her in her darkest moment and I did my best to comfort her. I do not hope to have to go through a similar situation anytime soon. Still, these things do happen and one has to learn to accept that death is a part of life and for some of us it comes sooner rather than later. A huge thanks to my neighbour Franca who was with me at the time, I don’t know what I would have done without you. And another huge thanks to my ever patient vet and friend Marissa, who once again cried with me at the decision we knew we had to make.

On the brighter and the opposite end of the life cycle, Amy is fast nearing her foaling date. The hot weather has not made things comfortable for her, being pitch black and rather ungainly at 10 months of pregnancy – so we have been soaking her cotton canvas cover and then putting it on to her in the really hot weather which she seems to appreciate. Right now we are in that strange period where you alternate between anxiety and excitement whilst waiting and watching. The sleepless nights are just around the corner I think!

Other than that, are planning for the next foal crop. Ziggy and Polly will be sent away shortly be inseminated and we are very excited to be negotiating a lease of a lovely classified Trakehner mare who will really assist us with long term goals. Spice has also be confirmed in foal to Meersbrooke Sparkling Ripples – so fingers crossed we get another Velocity, but this time around we are hoping for a slightly bigger version. I’m also very pleased to say that Salem is settling in nicely to what we hope will be his long term home. It’s always sad to sell good horses, but when you get to see how they progress with their new owners – that can be very satisfying as well. Smoke has adjusted to life as a gelding, and although he does have the odd stallion moments when he sees the mares, he is doing well. He will be going off to be started under saddle at the end of this month it seems, after which he will be sent on to another rider to get some good mileage before finally being offered for sale. I had hoped to be able to keep him for myself, however I think he would be wasted as a farm plodder and so we are going to give him an opportunity to show us what he can do.

I also promise to get this darn website completed soon – maybe I should set myself a deadline of the end of February! Now point in having the darn thing if I’m not updating it and using it properly.

And to all of you horsey folk up North who are currently suffering from drought – if you are desperate for hay and you are passing down statehighway 1 in your truck or float, give me a yell. For the first time in ages we have some good hay to spare which we won’t be advertising for sale, and we can sell you some for a really reasonable per bale rate. I didn’t appreciate the ludicrous prices of hay when we went through our drought a few years ago, so I will help you out where I can!

At long last, after years of procrastinating, our site is up and running!