Knabstrupper USA

It’s been a long time since I blogged for which I apologize. Too much going on etc etc. SO where was I?……
TO start with here are our current crop of babies.
We had 3 super babies this year, Grosie had a colt foal by Ecuador, we call him Aragorn aka Strider, very dark bay possibly black with a small lacey blanket. He is just gorgeous, with a superb walk, and incredible charisma. The current plan is to keep him entire for now, (at least for as long as I can stand it) and see how he develops.

Here is a short video of him;
CCS Aragorn

Peony had filly sired by Don Principe, a very dark chestnut possibly liver, with a small blanket. She is beautiful and elegant and is going to be drop dead gorgeous. A super mover. We called her CCS Galadriel.

Here is a short video of her;
CCS Galadriel

Paula had a colt foal by Leofric the Dane. CCS Peregrin, aka Pippin, is a full leopard colt. He is as pure bred as it gets, being 15/16ths Knabstrupper in the 4th generation.

Here is a short video of him;
CCS Peregrin

We are in the process of weaning. Aragorn got weaned yesterday and Galadriel is due to be weaned tomorrow. and next week Pippin.

Grosie is back in foal this time to Halifax Middelsom. Paula and Peony are not in foal. Peony is going to go back under saddle and try her hand at being a dressage horse. Paula will be bred next year possibly to Lea Ann Hansen’s Schiffon.
Next blog I’ll show our yearlings!

Mr X man, aka Xavoy Middelsom, has an approved son.
For those of you who didn’t know, Xavoy was a stallion when I bought him. I didn’t want a stallion around, so I have him gelded before importing him.
But of his 2 foal crops in Denmark he has had one son approved.

http://www.knabstrupperforeningen.dk/sider_hingsteoplysn/xol.htm

and boy doesn’t Xol look like his daddy!

Way to go Xavoy.
I told him this am, but he was more interested in his banana!

MW

May 2011 be a good year for you and yours. And may you have lots of spots in your life. Happy spots!
MW

It has been quite a week for Knabstruppers here in the USA.

First of all, Congratulations to Colorado Skrødstrup and all of his ‘connections’ Kathy St Martin, Niels Fynbo (breeder) & Lisa Williams. Colorado has passed the 70 day test with flying colors, he scored an outstanding 109.75 making him 5th overall and with a dressage index of 113.54 placing him 3rd in Dressage. His jumping index was 102.59 placing him 5th in the jumping as well.  Because he was older than 5 at the testing, he received a 5% penalty.  If he had not received the penalty, he would have been 2nd overall. This is a very impressive result considering that he was up against some very very nice stallions.

The second thing that happened is that Halifax Middelsom, our 4 yr old few spot stallion (Harlequin- Celeste) went to the Region 1 Finals, he did his 1st level debut, and scored a 72% at 1st 4, and was Reserve Champion in the McDevitt Sothebys stakes class, winning $200. This was an open class against all kinds of horses including some very nice warmbloods including several other stallions.

Cita Normark and April Shultz, 2nd level Champions

Edited to add in:
I had totally forgotten to mention that two weeks ago and CBLM Championships Cita Normark and April were second level Champions, and at the same Championships, April and Halifax Middelsom were Reserve Champions at Training level with a score of 72%. He was tied for first but lost on the tie breaker.

Halifax Middelsom, Reserve Champion Training level.

Why is this so important, well it shows that Knabstruppers can hold their own against all other horses. Both of these stallions were competing against other horses in an open competition, and both horses showed that Knabstruppers can hold their own. This is very very good news, and is a confirmation and affirmation of the quality and effectiveness of the Danish system of breeding these horses. These horses are competitive in open competition against all other breeds, not just in a limited one breed only show. This kind of performance confirms the wisdom of the KNN and their breeding program rules.

Halifax wasn’t the only Knabstrupper at the Region 1 Finals, we also took Xavoy Middelsom to do Prix St Georges, and Xafaire Middelsom who had qualified for the 1st level Finals Adult Amateur division. I rode both of these horses, and while we didn’t get the stellar scores that April and Halifax got, they did well.

Xafaire was 9th over all, just out of the ribbons, but still a respectable place for a 5 yr old against all other breeds in a very competitive class. Due to having a lot of stuff to do this year, we have only done limited showing on Xafaire, but he has managed to qualify and even came to the show and did respectably.

Xavoy showed the dependability and reliability of a Knabstrupper as he performed the PSG test as best he could given that he was being ridden by someone who is NOT experienced at this level (me). We still have work to do to get him sitting more and being a bit more ‘on the bit’, but the best part of it all is that thanks to his good mind, I actually get to ride the PSG, so many other middle aged ladies of my generation are reduced to standing by the ring watching their trainers ride their big fancy warmbloods and are not riding them themselves, but I get to go in myself and do it.

Thanks Xavoy!

And I never have to worry about being bucked off or having too much horse to deal with. Those FEI tests are hard enough to ride without having to worry if your horse is going to spook out from under you or bolt at the end of the ring. or if you are going to be able to get those changes. On my Knabstrupper I don’t have to worry about any of that, I only have to concentrate on whether he is uphill enough or round enough or remembering to count the changes!

For someone of my age and lets face it, less than perfect build, it is so nice to have a horse that I can rely on to be a partner in the enterprise. We might not get stellar scores, but we will improve with practice, and I know I can always ride my horse and get in more practice, unlike some!

We drove home from Ohio, we had Tuesday to recover and then it was our Inspection.
There were 4 foals, 4 brood mares and a young stallion being presented for judging. It wasn’t a very long day thankfully.

CCS Tinuvel (Sugar) trots out for the judges in the broodmare class.

All the horses get looked at initially walking and trotting on the hard surface. Then they are looked at in the indoor on the soft surface at walk, trot and canter. Plus they have a conformation judgment.
The young stallion, Leofric the Dane is also looked at free jumping in a chute.

CCS Lobelia trots in the indoor.

I am glad to say that Leo got another years breeding license.
Of the 4 foals that were shown, CCS Legolas got the highest score and went forward to the finals.

CCS Legolas trots in the indoor

There were 4 broodmares forward for inspection, 3 of these were warmblood mares for crossbreeding, so the winner of the broodmare class was the only Knabstrupper in the class (the warmbloods were not in contention since they were not Knabbies), and that was CCS Tinuvel.

CCS Tinuvel (Sugar) winner of the broodmare class and ultimately Best In Show

But Sugar went to the finals where she was judged to be the Best in Show and won the coveted neck ribbon.

For those of you who would like to see more pics of the hroses go to
Pam Talley Stoneburners website and take a look
All the pics in this blog were taken by Pam.

You can go to www.pamtalleystoneburner.com and click on the link to view photos. Once there, go to the KNN 10-20-10 gallery and choose your horse!

MW

Halifax Middelsom, during the speed and endurance phase of his ridden performance test.

Finally I have a chance to stop and think and write about the 2010 inspections. We had a grueling 2 weeks, Firstly we drove 8 hrs to Ohio with Cita and Halifax for a Ridden Performance test then drove 8 hrs home. One day to recuperate and then it was the Inspection of mares, foals and young stallion at Cedar Creek Stables (no ridden test this time).
Then the next day we were due at the Virginia Horse Center for the Col Bengt Lundquist Memorial Finals with 4 horses qualified. So there was no time to write or do anything but rush and rush some more.
Oh and Linda left for California in the middle of all that. But now I have had a few days to recover and I can sit down and write about it all.

Lets start with the Ohio Inspection;

Why, you might ask did we drive 8 hrs to Ohio with 2 horses to do a ridden performance test. Undoubtedly it would have been easier to have done it at home, but there were a couple of reasons.
Firstly I had promised Donna that I would take Halifax to Ohio for his ridden test, even though I ended up buying him half way through the summer she had made that request when he was hers and asked again at the time of purchase, I had said “yes” and thus felt obliged to take him anyway. If I was taking him, how much harder could it be to take Cita as well! Plus organizing these things is a lot of hard work and if they were going to go to all the effort to organize one for Donna’s horses in Ohio, why duplicate the effort just to another one in Virginia. So Cita duly got on the trailer with Halifax and off we went.
The road to Ohio from Virginia is never easy, we had all those mountains of West Virginia to get through. Fortunately April is a mountain girl herself and she is undaunted by all those ups and downs and curves. She drove us through the hills and valleys of Rte 250 WV, we had to go pretty slowly at several points, but eventually we got to the flatter land of Pennsylvannia and Ohio and made better time. I counted no less than 6 mountain crossings on that journey!
We arrived at Hinckley in the early evening and unloaded the horses. We had come a day early to allow them time to rest and recover from the drive, which was just as well. They had all day Saturday to relax and April rode them both.
Saturday afternoon the judging team from Denmark arrived, as well Ron Steur and Brad Driver who had also driven up from Virginia to help. We had a fun evening with an informal pizza party and then all retired to bed.
The Danish version of a ridden performance test is pretty long and arduous, it takes the best part of a day, especially with 4 horses.
It starts with a veterinary inspection, including flexions and trotting out on hard ground. Then there is a ridden flat phase, where the rider gets to show the horses paces and training, then a guest rider (who does not know the horses) gets on and rides them and assess the horse for temperament and attitude and potential.

Halifax during the dressage phase of the ridden test.

After that they jump a course of 4 showjumps, 2 verticals and two oxers at about 3 ft. They do get to have a practice round at a slightly lower height initially, but then the jumps are put up and they have to go around twice and are judged on approach, technique and style as well as willingness and behavior. The ridden jumping is then followed by free jumping in a chute up to 3′ 6″. after that the horses have to do a speed and endurance test where they a=have to complete 500m in walk 2,500m in trot and 1,000m in canter/gallop within a certain time period. they have their heart rates measured and the time to recovery is also measured. They are graded on both performance and also willingness and behavior during the ride and the vet check.

This adds up to a lot of work for all concerned but is a pretty comprehensive and complete test of a horses training, willingness and ability.

Finally at the end all the scores are added up for each section and as long as the horse has achieved a certain score or more they are declared to have passed.
The horse who gets the highest score overall goes forward at the end of the day for the best in show.

After all the ridden stuff is over, they assessed the young horses, the two mares and foals, a yearling and a 3 yr old potential broodmare were judged and scored.
We are glad to say that at the end the Best in Show was the lovely Cita Normark, who was as always, gorgeous elegant and serene and who was beautifully ridden by April.

If you would like to see more images from the testing please go to the website of Michelle Zezulak the photographer:

Go to her site: http://www.mzphotography.net
click on “Client gallery & ordering” (along the top)
Find and click on your gallery (HEC Inspection…)
You may click on each small image and it will enlarge for viewing
AND you may use the tools above the proofs to help with viewing

Hopefully there are some images there you will love!
Enjoy!
They will only be up for a short time so please do go and take a look.
All the images in this blog were taken by Michelle.

Halifax during the free movement phase of his performance test.

Then on the Monday it was time to drive home 8 hrs over those same mountain roads and to our Inspection in Virginia. More on that one in the next blog.