Willowview Hill Farm Welcomes ANCCE stallion Celesto IV

Willowview Hill Farm is thrilled to welcome the beautiful black Andalusian stallion Celesto IV to the WVH private yard. Celesto IV was in training with Paul Alvin-Smith some years back, and is now owned by Paul Alvin-Smith and will continue his dressage work as part of the WVH Iberian horse family.

"I am very grateful to Barbara Anderson, the renowned PRE breeder of Fleetwood Farm, Denver, NY, for entrusting Celesto to me. Earlier in his career I was fortunate to work with him on his dressage basics for Barbara, he then went on to compete and also stand at stud. To own him now is such a blessing, and I shall enjoy advancing his dressage knowledge and abilities, as well as having him as a teacher to our younger horses as they develop. His temperament is truly amazing. I have never met such a solid-natured stallion. If you are interested in producing top quality PRE horses in your breeding program, Fleetwood Farm does have his frozen semen available."

Paul & Celesto IV

Celesto IV is both IAHLA and ANCCE registered, and boasts a stellar heritage. He has several lovely horses on the ground already, and his popularity is not surprising given his outstanding bloodlines that include being a direct descendant of Oleaje, (2004 Olympic Silver Spanish team), as well as going back to one of the foundation sires of the PRE Maluso (Yeguada Militar).

He joins two other 'lads' in WVH horsey household: Extravaganza WVH, homebred second generation Lusitano/DWB with a dressage pedigree that includes USA team horse Gambol: and El Amable, another purebred Andalusian that is also IAHLA registered, whose bloodlines include Gaucho III, born in Spain, who later became one of most prized dressage horses and PRE breeding stallions in the U.S.A.

Comments

Flying Changes Problems Answered

The fun to do, fun to train, dressage flying change is truly like dancing with your horse. Unfortunately all too often issues arise during training that make them less than perfect. Major issues which are very common include swinging of the hindquarters ( which will cause lots of issues with tempi changes so be warned), changes that are late behind, swishing tails during the change, changes that are not forward, where the croup is high and the horse shows stiffness behind. In the latter event the horse will cover very little ground as he is not 'flying' through the change. Other issues that occur in training are running off after the change, bucking, coming above the bridle and the riders hand. Do not despair! There is some discussion as to which leg should push hardest during the change and to whether there should be a lightening of the seat during the movement. From my experience and training, lightening the seat is to be avoided. Stay straight, do not collapse a hip and ...

Can A Straight Horse Boarding Business Make Money?

The marketplace for horse boarding services has changed in the post-Covid era. A lot. The rising costs that are hitting the farming community in general are no joke. Willowview Hill Farm, Stamford NY The other day I had a call from a lady who sounded very 'sound', with good horse knowledge that was looking for a straight boarding option for a couple of pleasure-riding horses. Nothing wrong with that. Or with the fact she wanted a boarding space with good standards of horse care and a well-run facility. Trouble is, can she afford it. Are the prices for horse board that people may be used to paying even last year or the year before, realistic in today's marketplace? At our dressage yard at Willowview Hill Farm, pictured above, we have a small barn and an indoor arena, access to 26 miles of trails, and plenty of turn-out, and organic home-produced hay for feeding our performance horses. We offer dressage training services, with boarding only being available for horses in tra...

Dressage and Crossbred Horses - Drafts, Andalusians, Lusitanos and Warmbloods

I was recently talking to a group of students who asked about preference in breed of horse for a successful dressage horse and why Paul and I didn't breed registered warmbloods much anymore. While we bred, imported, trained and loved our 20+ years as a Hanoverian dressage breeder (with a few Oldenburgs thrown in), we came full circle in our breeding program and came back to the beauty of the cross bred horses. Why? The soundness and great temperaments that crossbreds can produce I believe comes from their genetic variety. After so many visits to Verden to purchase horses, the 65% statistic for OCD that was given me by their own vet, Dr. Gerd Bruncken was validated at every turn. Our operation in the U.K. where we also bred many Donnerhall, Lord Sinclair and other warmblood lines and imported them as part of the Willowview Hill International Collection every Spring, also taught us that OCD was a sincere issue across the German lines. We moved into Dutch Warmblood breeding as ...

Classical Dressage Art in Motion

Search This Blog