Region 16 - Another strong showing at Finger Lakes

Pam and Beauty just returned from another successful show in New York and we all couldn't be more proud of them. Beauty really is proving herself to be a competent, sane, and sensible mare amidst much show craziness. You'd never know she was just four years old.

The competition was fierce, with very deep classes in every division. The plan was to try their hand in the Sport Horse in Hand, Sport Horse Under Saddle, and Hunter Pleasure classes, and they acquitted themselves very well. With hunter pleasure and sport horse classes having more than 20 entries per class, Pam was very happy with not only Beauty's behavior, but also her placing. In a very competitive sport horse under saddle class, she managed to come away with a third place, qualifying her for Region 16 championships. She is also qualified in hand for Region 16, but I think Pam and Beauty will be concentrating their efforts a little closer to home in Region 15.

Look for Beauty in Lexington from July 4-7 as she competes in four divisions - Sport Horse in Hand, Sport Horse Under Saddle, Hunter Pleasure, and Dressage - in the Region 15 Championships!

Yet another successful show

This past weekend, we once again ventured forth with friends to an A-rated show, taking with us EF Kklassique Beauty (Beauty) and EF Fiona's Prince K (Prince). Beauty and Prince are from Kkoi's first foal crop and they really get better with every ride. Our goal was simple - qualify both horses for Region 15 Championships and Sport Horse Nationals, and I'm pleased to report that we did just that.

Friday was dominated by both heat and the in-hand classes. Beauty, the more seasoned campaigner of the two, garnered excellent scores in her Sport Horse In Hand classes. Those scores were good enough to win second place and Reserve Champion Sport Horse in Hand in a very competitive field of horses. For Prince, his time would come on Saturday when Heather Richards, a friend of his owner Katie Winters, would show him in dressage.

Our group, consisting of Jess Howard and Arizona's Wildfire, Becky Sine and Plakat, and Heather and Pam, schooled our horses on Friday evening just before a massive lighting storm, and put the horses away for the night, ready to compete in the morning.

Saturday morning dawned, muggy but clear, and we trudged to the barns to make our preparations. After braiding, grooming, and dressing in our finest, we all prepared for our dressage tests. Before dressage, Pam was able to squeeze in a Hunter Pleasure class with Beauty, pulling second place.

Overall, it was a great show for our horses. Prince was a superstar, and pulled all scores over 62, squarely qualifying him to compete in dressage at Sport Horse Nationals. His highest score was a 65.71 in Training Level 2, and we couldn't be more pleased with his progress. He gets better with every show, and we'll be ready to take the world by storm in September. In four classes, Prince won three second place ribbons and won his Training Level 1 - Junior Horse class on Sunday.

Beauty acquitted herself well in the dressage ring, with respectable scores, but really shone in the Hunter Pleasure classes. She received a third place in her Sunday Hunter pleasure class, and then pulled Reserve Champion Hunter Pleasure Junior Horse. Her placings were enough to qualify for Region 15 Championships.

Our other friends also did well, with Becky Sine and Plakat garnering some of their best scores ever and two sixth place ribbons. Jess Howard won her First Level 1 class, and received excellent scores in her other tests.

We'll post photos as soon as we can, so stay tuned!

Welcome Spidey!

We're pleased to report the birth of our second purebred Arabian of the year. We're still working on a real name, but are calling him Spidey for the moment, in honor of his long, spider-like legs. He's not what we were expecting from our large-boned Russian-bred mare, but we're thrilled all the same.

Spidey has an incredibly elegant, typey Arabian head with large dark eyes, a teacup muzzle and the tippiest ears we've ever seen. He's nicely put together, with long, long legs and a lovely shoulder. His markings are just as nice, with a little bit of chrome (4 short socks and a star), but not enough to be extravagant.

All in all, we're very pleased with this crossing. We'll be giving Sabi the year off from Kkoi, but plan to breed her to Rosenthal for a 2008 half-Arabian foal. After seeing what she could produce with Kkoi, we're really looking forward to next year.