It's A Boy!

Our 1st warmblood purchase, Oldenburg premier colt, Fenix, Furiano/Aktuell/Weltmeister.

 

Everything in life comes full circle and in horse breeding it is apparently no different. As dressage competitors/clinicians we began our horse owning experiences with two geldings, a Morgan and a Standardbred. The former was trained to do anything but stay grounded with four legs on the floor is seemed. Meanwhile the 16 year old Standardbred had spent his previous six years as a successful Grand Prix horse before we bought him. Only trouble was, the Grand Prix experience was in the showjumping arena not the dressage one.

Of course since those early years in 1981 and forward from that time there were many breeds of horses that found their way into our yard, initially mostly male gender. 

But then of course the horse breeding bug began. And after several OTTBs, Quarterhorses, an Appendix Quarterhorse, an Arabian and Welsh pony for the kids, we branched out into more mare ownership and stallions with Oldenburgs, Swedish Warmbloods, Hanoverians, Dutch Warmbloods, Andalusians, Lusitanos, Belgian/Haflinger crosses and Percherons crosses. 

One of the best mares we produced shown here as a weanling - Gambol's Georgy Girl

Our horse breeding focused on Hanoverians in the beginning, and due to the rampant OCD issues of the 1990's we switched to cross bred and Percheron/Dutch, Percheron/Andalusians, Lusitano/Dutch, and purebred Andalusians and Lusitanos. What a mixture of breeds and what a grand amount of knowledge we have acquired as a result. We were already ensconced in the practice of breeding the Iberian horses to larger warmblood breeds before it hit the modern day trend.

One of our imports - Hennessy VHW

But as our clinic schedule grew and grew, and travel for same required crossing the Atlantic as well as our Northern border into Canada, we quickly found breeding horses was an onerous complication when we wanted to be on the road. So retirement from horse breeding ensued in late 2019.

Our wonderful Tigger -

 

The full circle then became a reality as the Covid pandemic halted all travel, and we found ourselves with two elderly Grand Prix geldings and one Iberian colt from our breeding program as all we had in the yard. Sadly we lost both equine statesman within 18 months of each other, so then there was one! Our beautiful Extravaganza WVH.

Extravaganza WVH 4 years old

Figuring we were no longer breeding horses we had him gelded. For no other reason than to make him more content. A practice that backfired a bit as his gelding self is very prone to weight gain. But that is another story.

After much searching across the U.S.A., as travel abroad was still too complicated to contemplate, we were frustrated to find prices were sky high. Under saddle geldings or stallions of any age of Iberian or Warmblood pedigrees that showed any propensity or talent for upper echelons of dressage were super expensive. $50,000+ for an unproven 'rushed in training' 3 year old performance horse seemed too much to spend when we could and have made many of our own horses from birth to finished GP horse and value the experience and much money could be saved if we were patient and put in the work. So we then found ourselves looking at foals and yearlings.

Amazingly, dropped in our lap with all the right attributes came a purebred Andalusian colt with size and good lineage. Add in a motivated seller/breeder in Ohio, keen to move his horses into professional equestrian hands, and the result was inevitable. We were buying the horse. 

Paul and I both loved El Amable ( Spanish for 'the friendly one') the moment he came across the video screen. In fact, we nearly bought his elder brother too. But experience has taught us to avoid adding same Equus bloodlines in your horse yard unless you know them firsthand.

We bought the horse sight unseen, without quibbling on the price. As a breeder myself I know how much work goes in to producing a quality horse and the price was fair. 

Purchasing horses 'unseen' is something as we have done previously with horses from Europe. Sometimes wisely and sometimes unwisely. 

Thankfully in this case, the Romerito II/Gaucho III pedigreed youngster has lived up to expectations and is a delightful addition to our 'boy' herd that is now just two! Hardly a herd at all. 

Remarkably, the entire process including vetting and then 10 hours transport by the seller to our farm was fast. It took one phone call to buy, and a few more to orchestrate the details and the horse was here within a week. Just how I like things to go! Paul and I are never shy to make a decision and once made I like to get the pieces of the jigsaw in place and the deal done.

El Amable Colt at 6 months Old

Romerito II - Paternal Grandsire 17hh

Gaucho III Grand Prix Champion USA Ami - Maternal Grandsire to El Amable

 

Paul and I both love making our own horses of course. Knowing that nothing has been rushed with our lads and knowing their entire history is such a blessing. There will be ups and downs of course, as the recent Anaplasmosis infectious assault on our Extravaganza has demonstrated this past year. But we shall succeed with patience and perseverance.

So now after years of owning multiple horses, multiple breeds of multiple ages and different genders, we find ourselves back with one horse each. Just was we began in 1981 when we arrived in the U.S.A. from England and made our first equine purchases on this continent.

It feels bizarre to have just two horses right now but also it feels just right. It is especially nice as the first real snowfall fell yesterday leaving us 8 inches of snow on the ground and only two horses to bring in and out, switch blankets for and only 8 hooves to pick. What a delight. 

We usually have a few horses in training to add to the equation, but the two that were planned for December arrival now won't arrive until early Spring when the import routes to the North-East pick up. 

What a quiet and blissful time we shall have all winter long to play with our two lads.

Yes, we'll be sticking with two horses for now. Or at least until winter moves out when we shall look further afield than Ohio and we will likely add to our private string. I predict it will also be a boy! 

I love my mares don't get me wrong, and sorely miss having babies in gestation and Mom's to care for, though having stall walls to take down and stalls to expand not so much. Searching for high quality straw for bedding needs also not so much. Sleepless nights and bed checks not so much.

Sure. I shall peruse the stallion offerings in January as I have done for over 25 years, but I won't be buying semen I'll be looking for progeny someone else has planned. 

Full circle for sure. And now I am older I am mindful enough to enjoy every minute of it.