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November 27th

Today we went to the Mountain and Moorland Christmas Show
I had entered Zodiac and Zita, and luckily Lena's little farm were my ponies live was close by, because the weather was stormy to say the least!
Zodiac, who is normally very tense and high strung when we are at shows, was surprisingly calm today, despite the roof making so much noise in the storm.
Personally I think little Zodiac has never looked better, and today he also mannaged to show his amazing walk to the judge, since he moved very relaxed. When we were going to trot, a series of violent winds shook the roof, so he tensed a bit, and I didn't dare let him run like I know he can, but it all went very well after all.
And finally finally finally..... here was a judge who could see the same qualities in this little man as I can ;)
Zodiac got: 988 98 = 42 points! And he won his class. He was best 1 year stallion and best shetland pony of the day, since no other shetland pony got 42 points. I am so proud of my little guy!!
Just as we were leaving the arena, a large piece of the roof was torn of by the violent winds, and flew away!!

Then it was the little girl's turn. Little Zita who is normally such a calm and easy little foal, definaely didn't like being pulled from her comfortable stable and away from her mother, and into a big rumbling indoor arena with at hole in the roof! She was bucking all the way around the arena when we were going to trot, to much delight of the spectaters.
She did okay when we went before the judge and positioned for her, and even the walk was pretty calm, but when we were made to trot again, before the judge, Zita went off again, and after a series of bucksking, she did something which can best be described as spanish steps, only in trot.... it looked very amusing!
Despite this quite silly showing she did very well, and recived 888 87 = 39 points. The judge thought her trot was a bit choppy hehe ;)
She was number 4 of 4 and the class winner got 40 points, so it was quite a close race in this class.
When the judge handed me the rosette, she said to me: "Very nice little pony, but a bit too active today"
I would certainly say so ha ha!

So all in all it was a very great day, and I was very proud of my two lovely little "Zilver offspring", when we were going home.
We were the last ones to leave, because we wanted to take some pictures of the ponies with their nice rosettes. Unfortunately it was quite dark, so I had to use the flash, and therefore the pictures are not very good. But I definately didn't want to go home without a picture of Zodiac, when he had finally gotten his red rosette!

I did however mannage to get some very nice pictures of Regina, one sunny autum day a while ago, so her gallery has offcourse been updated with the new pictures.

She just looks better than ever, and I am so sad she did not mannage to get in foal this year.
But we will definately try again next year!

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October 20th

September 17th Lena, Carina and I went to Funen, to paticipate in the show "Fynboskuet". It is the first time we are showing our ponies there, and it was a very nice show.
With ud we had my little Zodiac, and Lena and Carina's little colt Følfod's Challure.
Lena and Carina have high hopes for little Challure, so they were quite dissapointed with his 38 points in Roskilde a couple of weeks earlier. Therefore they almost didn't bring him with them to Funen.
I didn't really have ay expectations either, except to give Zodiac another day put, and perhaps get him to be more at ease when we are at shows. I thought he looked a bit sad compared with a couple of weeks ago, and his behaviour definately hadn't improved, he was still just as nervous and on edge, so I was starting to worry we would get a green ribbon (3rd prize) ths time. But he mannaged to colloct a blue ribbon (2nd prize) with the exact same points as last time.
Thank you to Flemming Knudsen, for taking some pictures of me and Zodiac, while we were in the ring. It is not often I get pictures of my ponies "in action"

Above are some pictures from the few moments, were he was almost relaxed and well behaved :)


A blue ribbon! Then we could breathe easy :)

Lena and Carina could also breathe easy as they realized it was probably a good idea a to bring little Challure to Funen after all. He recieved 42 points and ended up winning Reserve Best in Show!
Carina was also awarded with the best handler award.
Lena and Carina were sp happy, and they really deserve it!!

Beautiful Challure

It was a very nice show, and we are definately coming back!

Both Zilver and Regina have been in heat since they were covered, so I doubt if any of them are in foal :(
However Zilver has shown heat before, when she was in foal with little Zodiac, so I have not given up all hope.
I am really sad they are probably not in foal, I was lookig so much foreward to the foal. Especially Regina's foal, as I think the combination with her and Opus, is very interesting.

The weekend before we went to Funen we were in Jutland to collect my new little mare Sine.
We left saturday, right after my finals, and drove straight to Jørgen and Anette from Hedegårde Stud.
It was very nice to see them again, and sunday we went with them to the Sulsted Foal and Youngstock Show.It was a very nice show and I took a lot of pictures.
hen I have time I will try to upload them to an album, and link to it from my website.
This weekend I also had a pleasant reunion with Lille Ensteds York. A little colt foal, I had fallen for already when Lena and I went on our Stud Tour.
He is sired by Skäpperöds Rasputin the 1st class stallion, that I am absolutely crazy about, and the dam is Kari's lovely 1st class mare Yesmine v.d. Vaarhorst.
I was actually so impressed with little York, that this time I cincinced Kari to let be buy him this coming spring!
Until then he will spend the time with Kari's other foal Dundee.
Little York did great at the show. He got 41 points and was 2nd out of 10 colt foals, even though he was the only mini between all the standard foals.
Below are a couple of pictures of little York and his amazing father.

We had a great day at the Sulsted Show, and went with Jørgen and Anette home to spend the night there.
Monday morning we headed north, and drove up to Stutteri Braf, where Kit Friis welcomed us, and showed us all her lovely ponies, before we loaded Sine in the float, and drove home.

Among Kit's ponies were also Hedelunds Tyrus, sire of the foal hopefully growing inside little Sine.
He is a very nice little stallion, with nice strong bone, a wealth of hair and a lovely little head, which he seems to pass on to almost all his foals.

On the way home we picked up Lenas cat Josefine, so she kept us company on the long drive home.

Below are new pictures of little Sine

As you can see she need a diet with the rest of our ponies ;)
She is a lovely little mare and I am looking foreward to getting to know her.
Thank you to Kit for letting me buy the little princess.
Sines own gallery has ofcourse been updated with a lot of new pictures.

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September 8th

We have now been to the Foal and Youngstock Show at Roskilde.
It was a great day with nice weather.
My mother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandfather and Papaya had all come to cheer, and to give a hand, holding the ponies.

Once again Nadia had come to help me show the ponies. Thank you so much to everyone for all their help. With so many ponies I could't have done it without you.

As I have said before I didn't have the highest expectations to the judgements, before we left. Bella's movements were still very short ad stiff, so I didn't think se would get more than 6 in walk, however she recieved a 7 for both walk and trot. She only got an 8 in tpe and a 7 in conformation, where I would probably have liked a 9 and an 8 instead. However she is still very fat, so probably that has something to do with it. Nadia has done everything to try and mak her loose weight. She has put her in at night and even for several hours during the day, but nothing helps. So I will definately put her in foal this coming spring so hopefully she can loose some weight, when she has the foal. Otherswise I worry she will get laminitis or diabetes.
Cyselle has finally started to gain a little volume, which is very nice. However she still has very small hooves, which resulted in a 6 for limbs.
Unfortunately she was nervous and high strung in the ring, even though she had been perfectly relaxed when warming up outside the ring. So she definately didn't show her movements well, and ended up with 7 7 for movements.
She got an 8 for type which I am very happy about, however I definately think Bella is a much better type, and therefore I think it is strange they get the same score.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Bella and Cyselle from the show, as I was too busy all day to take pictures.
Zodiac, like Cyselle, has started to get more volume to him, even his legs have become stronger to look at. Now the hooves just need to get a bit bigger too.
Unfortunately Zodiac was very nerveous and high strung, and definately more interested in all the other ponies at the show, than in showing in front of the judges, so he basically pulled me around the ring, and my hopes of him getting 8 8 in movements, dissapeared. He ended up with 777 77. Considering the showing, that is very resonable.
I a very pleased with how he is developing, so now I just have to show him a lot next year, so he can learn to relax.
The day after the show, Lena and I took pictures of Zodiac and Zita.

Ofcourse I have also updated Zodiac's gallery with new pictures.

Little Zita actually looked pretty good when we left for the show, except for the fact that she had shed her foal fur and had only gotten winther coat on the body, which made her limbs look pretty thin.
Luckily she mannaged to show her very nice trot and scored an 8. And with an 8 in type as well, she was the one of my 4 ponies who recieved the highest scores, 37 points.
I had maybe hoped for a little more for little Zita. especially after several breeders had come up to me during the day, and said how good she looked. But as a little mini, it is hard to compete with all the big standard ponies.
There we only two mini filly foals, so unfortunately the group wasn't split in large and small.
Oh well, little Zita was just such a little star throughout the day. She was so calm and very well behaved. Even in the ring, when I let mom Zilver stay by the judges as I showed little Zita, she just trotted along, like she had been doing it forever. I was so proud of her, and if she keeps being this easy, it will be a pleasure to show her next year.

I also mannaged to have Zita microchipped during the show, so now that's also done.
Zita's gallery has also been updated with new pictures.

Also I have made an album with all the pictures Lena and I took of Zita and Zodiac.

Next weekend we are going to Jutland again. Lena and I are going to visit Jørgen and Anette from Stutteri Hedegårde, and go with them to the Sulsted Foal and Youngstock Show on sunday.
I have a final on saturday, so right after the final, I will drive down to Lena and hook on the horse float, and then we are on our way. Monday morning after the show, we will then drive north to get my little new mare, Sine. I am looking foreward to this like a little child before christmas.

The following weekend we are going over the bridge again, this time to partcipate in "Fynboskuet" on Funen. Lena and I have entered Challure and Zodiac. We don't have high expectations for this show, because we know it is a big show where a lot of very good ponies are usually shown. But we both agree that our boys could use another day out. It will also be very nice only to bring the two of them, as Carina, Lena and I will then have more time to hang out and talk. We hardly said two word to eachother the whole show last weekend, because we were so busy!

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August 20th

A lot has happened since the last update.

On August 12.-14. Lena and I went to Jutland to go on a tour of different studs over there. It was an amazing trip, and you can read more about it by clicking the link.
Stud Tour 2011
We already have plans to repeat the succes every year, as a returning tradition.
Next year we are considering going to sweeden, but places like Scotland, England and the Shetland Isles ar also on the wishlist.

When we came home from the trip I talked to Kit from Stutteri Braf. She said she was planning to put her mare Sine fra Godrumsgård up for sale. I have been crazy about little Sine since Kit bought her a few years back, and I have several times mentioned that I would love to have her. Sine is a lovely little mare in an interesting color (cream dun) and she is even graded in 1st class with 44 points.
But I had promised my boyfriend I wouldn't buy anymore ponies until I finnished my studies :(
Luckily I mannaged to convince Steffen that I couldn't live without little Sine, and he let me buy her!!
Now I can't wait to get her home.

Kit has been covered by Kit's lovely little stallion: Hedelunds Tyrus, so now I have another foal to look foreward to next year.
I have therefore also updated the Services page and the stallions page.

Unfortunately Regina didn't keep in the first try, so her and Opus gets a last chance and otherwise she will have to wait untill next year, otherwise it will be to late in the year.

In 2 weeks we are going to the foal and youngstock show in Roskilde.
I hope the weather will be good and that we will have a great day.
I don't have high hopes for my personal results, but all my little rascals could use the training.

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August 8th

Zita's color keeps puzzling me.
As stated previously I have had her tested for the creme gene and she turned out to be chestnut. Also she had chestnut hairs around the eyes were she had shedded a bit.
Therefore I presumed she would turn out chestnut when she shed her foal fur. But instead of a chestnut color a light cream white color with, a few chestnut long guard hairs on the bum, appeared as she shed.

She is still reddish around the eyes and on the ears. On her face you can still see the remnants of the golden/yellow foal fur, and underneath that is a mixture of the creamy colour and white hairs.
Her legs are the same silver color as she was on her thighs when she first started shedding the foal fur. And her hooves are stille white even though the foal hoof has grown out now.
I give up trying to guess what she will end up looking like.

Zita and Phoebe have now gotten some more company, little Elorz has made his entry. Zita is very much in love with the little chunky guy, but he only has eyes for big sister Phoebe.

I hope Regina will have a foal after Opus next year, that is just as chunky as little Elorz.

When the foals were let together, Lena took a lot of beautiful pictures of Zita. See a few of them below and the rest in Zita's own gallery.

I have also found a series of old pictures showing Regina in a spring kind of mood. They are taken at Bakkegaarden as the mares were let into summer pasture in the spring of 2011.
I have put them all in a little gallery and named it: Regina Jumping for Joy.

The training of Zodiac and Zita is in full swing. Zodiac is very cheeky and it is hard to make him not pull, especially in trot.
Zita is very sweet and is starting to understand what it is all about.
Bella and Cyselle have been at this quite a few times now, but I probably should get started training them as well.

I have also removed Zodiac from the sales page. I have always wanted to keep him, and now that I have the opertunity, I will save him and try to have him approved for breeding someday.

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August 2nd

Zilver is back home, after having been covered by Bakkegaard's Buzzlightning. All fingers crossed for at beautiful little full sister or full brother to Zita next year.

Regina and Stjernens Opus have also been going at it, so hopefully she is also in foal. Then her and Zilver will be expecting their foals at approximately the same time next year.

I have entered Bella, Cyselle, Zodiac and Zita into the foal and youngstock show in Roskilde.
Bella has a quite short and stiff movement at the moment, and Cyselle and Zodiac are still needs a lot of volume, so I don't have very big expectations, but I thin k it is excellent training for the young ponies, and this is Bella and Cyselle's last year as young stock. I can't beleive next year they are already old enough to be covered for the first time. How time flies.
I would love to show Zodiac at the stallions assesment some day, so I will need to take every opportunity to show him, while he is still young.
Zita actually looks pretty good at the moment, so she will probably end up looking raggedy and unharmonious before the show ;)

Last week I spent at my parents place in northern Sealand. I used the opportunity to visit Stutteri Stjernen, to say hi to Janny.
We ended up having a great day, looking at all the lovely ponies.
Below are some pictures of the two lovely mini stallions Bommel v. Ens and Grønkjærs Triumf

Today I brought my camera to visit Bella and Cyselle. Now that they are both in their summer coats, you can really see the difference in their colour, even though they are both very light.

They have both had their own galleries updated with new pictures: Bella and Cyselle

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July 18th

This weekend we went to the mares assesment with Regina.
Lena helped me wash her on thursday, and friday morning we left for Ringsted.

Regina wasn't going in the ring until the afternoon, so we had plenty of time to relax an watch the first few groups.
I was positively surprised by the assesment of the mini mares, wich put me at ease about Reginas assesment later. I really wanted her to end up in 2nd class A.
We warmed up Regina a bit in the parking lot, where she seemed pretty relaxed, despite the whole situation.

That only lasted until we went into the indoor arena, where Regina suddenly got really nervous and tense. After about 20 minutes she had calmed down a bit, but then the applause for the group before us started, and Regina completely panicked. I pulled her outside to wait for the applauseto stop, but then as we were due in the ring, all the mares from the previous group came out, and blocked the entrance, so we had to wait until the coast was clear. Then we had to run in after the others in the ring.
Now I was really nervous about how it was going to turn out, as Regina ofcourse was very tense. Despite her nervousness, she tried her best to do everything right.

When we were done, Regina was placed 3rd out of 3, and we could do nothing but wait in suspense, to find out if she had made it into 2nd class A.

The winner of the group was the lovely Bakkhaves Jamilah, who had been assesed previously with 41 points. Today she got the last point, and therefore got her 1st class grading. She was also mini champion.

Congratulations to Pernille and Troels

After jamilah was Bakkegaard's Bambilightning, who I was also very interested in, since she is the full sister of my own little Bella.
Bambi did very well and received 40 points, and therefore a grading of 2nd class A.

Congratulations to the owners Gunhild and Claus, and the breeder Kate Grambo

Finally it was our turn, and the judge came forth with a blue ribbon!!

Regina got 877 78 = 37 points and a grading of 2nd class A!
Her description was really good and it was exactly the same things that we have noticed ourselves that were commented on. The fact that regina has a quite long body, and slightly upright front feet, were fact that we expected would get remarks. I have tried to correct her feet since I got her, but her feet grow so slowly that we haven't been able to finnish the correction in time. It will come though.
However the fact that she should be a little wide behind in walk, was something we had looked for a lot during training, and didn't recognize . Maybe the fact that she was so tense that day played a role.

I have put her description on her own page, and a lot of pictures from the day in a gallery. Thank you to Lena for all the pictures.

I am very happy about Reginas assesment, and her description enhances my belief that Opus is the right choice as sire of her next foal.

I definately think this little volumenous boy will be able to give Regina a foal with shorter body and nice strong limbs.
For instance like Lenas new foal, after her mare Asperas Erisort and Opus.

Asperas Elorz - Look at those legs!!

When we came home from the assesment we let Regina back with the flock, and she was very happy to be home - safe and sound.
After this I loaded Zilver and Zita in the float, and headed for Bakkegaarden, where Zilver is going to be covered by Bellas full brother, the lovely Bakkegaard's Buzzlightning.
Zita will probably miss her best friend Phoebe, but luckily Zilver was already in heat, so it probably wont be long until the to little rascals can be reunited.
I have made a gallery with the two little girls, since they are just so cute together.

Saturday morning Lena, Carina and I put together the two flocks, so Regina could be covered by Opus.
It went really well and Regina was definately very interested in Opus, however for now he was only allowed a whiff.

Hopefully she will go into heat soon, so her and Zilver will have their babies at approximately the same time next year.

I spent the rest of the weekend with Lena and Carina. We went to the northern part of Sealand, to visit Følfods Cornelius. Lena has lent him out to some friends who needed company for their colt.
He is a lovely little 2 year old colt with great volume, sired by Opus ofcourse and out of Carinas mare Stjernens CoCo-Mademoiselle.

After this we went to Stutteri Stjernen to see Carinas lovely foal - Følfods CoCo-Camelia. A full sister to Følfods Cornelius.

Thank you so much to Lena and Carina for all the help, and for a lovely weekend.
And thank you to Kate for lending me her float.

Regina, Zodiac and Zita have a lot of new pictures in their respective galleries.

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July 11th

Zita's has certainly played tricks on me, so a while ago, Lena and I decided, to send in some hairsamples from our ponies, so we could learn their precise genotypes. Cyselle I have already tested as part of my thesis, and Zilver I had tested a few years ago, when I bought her. But I have tested Regina and Bella to see if they carry bay, Zodiac to see if he is heterozygous or homozygous for bay, and Zita to see if she is chestnut or palomino, and if she carries bay. Zita has become lighter and lighter, and is now almost completely palomino coloured:

See a lot more lovely new pictures of Zita in her own gallery

However before the results of the test came, Zita started shedding the foal fur around the eyes, and chetsnut hairs appeared, so the surprise wasn't very big, when the testresults showed that Zita is chestnut :)
Zita has now also started shedding on her thighs, and the colour beneath is grey! So now Lena is convinced she is actually mushroom like her mother. I am now convinced though, since in theory the foal has to receive a mushroom gene from bot the sire and the dam, for the foal to recieve the colour. Zita has received one mushroom gene from his mother, but I still canøt see how her father Buzz could be a carrier of the mushroom gene, since there are no mushroom carriers in his immediate pedigree. Ofcourse I canøt rule out 100% that she could turn out to be mushroom, especially since we know so little about the gene, and unfortunately it is not possible to test for the gene. It will definately be interesting to see the nuance of her colour when she sheds the rest of her foal coat.
The tests also showed that Bella unfortunately didn't carry the bay gene, but that Regina is a bay carrier, which is great.
Zodiac had one bay gene, and is therefore heterozygous at both E-locus and A-locus. Thus means that he carries genes for chestnut, black, bay, creme and mushroom, which gives a lot of different colour possibilities.
I have written all the ponies genotypes on their respective pages.

Regina is going to the mares assesment on friday. I am very nervous about what the judges will think of her.
I was a bit nervous about hos she would react to the training, and especially how she would react to the bit and the halter. She has been quite a nervous mare since I bought her, and it has been hard to reach her, and even to get near her actually. However this has slowly improved with time. Now we have definately found eachother. She runs around after me in the paddock to have a cuddle, and I can now touch her all over, without her freezing in fear. She even enjoyes having her udder cleaned. I have simpy grown so fond of this little mare in the last few weeks, and she is now the one of my ponies that has the best temperment and personality. I never thought we would get this far!
Oh, and the training, bit and halter...no problem!!

After the assesment she will be covered with Lena and Carinas lovely stallion Stjernens Opus. He has great volume, nice strong limbs ad a good topline, whicjh is exactly the qualities I think Regina needs. So I think those two will make a fantastic match. See more about Opus on the stallions page. Since Opus homozygous for black, it is especially great that Regina carries the bay gene, since this gives more possibilities for different coloures. I have made colour calculations on the services page
Opus would also be a good candidate for Zilver with her very fine limbs, but since she had a difficult foaling in 2010 (her first foaling), I can't reaææy make myself use such a volumenous stallion for her. At least not until she has had a few more uncomplicated foalings. I have decided that she will instead pay another visit to the ever lovely, since I am very pleased with the quality of little Zita, who is after the two of them.

I am working on updating my colour genetics page, since it is outdated and lacking, also it has a lot of facts that no longer correleae with the newest research.
However it is a big project so it will probably take some time before I am finished.

On sunday, Lena and I, went to the horse show in Gørlev. It was a very good day, with nice people and many lovely ponies.

Regina and Zita have quite a few new pictures in their galleries. Zilver and Zodiac also have a single new picture each :)

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June 21st

About 3 weeks ago Regina, Zilver, Zita and Zodiac moved down to Lena at Stutteri Aspera.
Lena wanted to borrow Zodiac as company for her colt Challure, and since Bakkegaarden has been put up for sale, because Kate and Leif wants to move somewhere smaller, I decided to accept Lenas gracious offer to move the girls there as well.
It is quite sad to leave Bakkegaarden after so many great years, but I can certainly understand why Kate and Leif want something smaller and easier to mannage. And luckily they have not moved yet, so I'm sure I will still be able to spend some lovely days at Bakkegaarden in the company of Kate and her beautiful ponies.
If it wasn't for Kate I would probably never have fallen in love with the beautiful little shetland pony, and I definately wouldn't have been able to buy my own and start breeding. Kates passion for the little ponies is contagious and I have her to thank for my "new" hobby and all the new friends I have made because of it.

The girls and Zodiac have all settled in very well at Stutteri Aspera.
Zodiac plays with Challure

And Regina and Zilver has been put together with Lenas mare Patroness, so her foal Phoebe can play with little Zita

Phoebe and Zita soon became best friends

See more lovely pictures in the gallery - At Aspera Stud
Bella and Cyselle still live with our friends, where they are being spoiled rotten. They have become very fond of the girls, and are going to keep them as company for their old gelding Mexi, until Steffen and I get our own place some day.
Zilver, Regina, Zita and Zodiac have all had their galleries updated with new pictures.

I hav also been to the Roskilde Show, where I mannaged to take lots of great pictures. You can see them in the Events gallery on the Photopage.

Finally I have also entered Regina into the mares assesment, so it will be very interesting to see what the judges think.

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May 30th

Last weekend we went to the stallions assesment in Fredericia.
It was a great day, with nice weather and many lovely stallions. The quality, I thought, was better this year, but again the judges definately didn't just give the points away.
There was at least 3-4 stallions that were good enough for 1st class, but they had to settle for a grade 2A.
However there were defnately also stallions who passed the assesment, who in my oppinion didn't deserve to.
So al in all, a lot of stallions were I agree with the judgement, but also a few, whos judgement left most og the crowd amazed and confused.
But it will problably always be like that.
Personally I mannaged to take lots of pictures, which I have uploadet in my "Events" gallery, which can be found on the photo-page.

Well as the day progressed, we got more and more worried, if little Zitas sire Bakkegaard's Buzzlightning, would even pass the assesment.
He even ended up in the group of medium sized stallions, and lokked very small beside all the big boys. Luckily he did very well and ended up number 5 of 11 with 39 point and a grade 2A. Very nice points when you look at the points given overall on that day. Number 6 in the group, got a 2B grade and the rest didn't pass the assesment.

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May 16th

It finally happened!!! Zilver gave birth to a beautiful little filly foal.
Kate called me at about 01.45 am, sunday morning. I was home alone with little Papaya, so I had to grab her from her bed, and bring her to the farm in the middle of the night.
When we reached the farm, a few minutes past two am, the foal had already been born and was standing up.
Amazing, considering how worried I have been since Zilvers complicated foaling last year.

My emidiate guess on the color, is that she is bronze palomino. Since she has a lovely creamy color and white mane and tail.
Although since Zodiac had me guessing all last spring, I am definately not certain about anything.
Little Zita, which I have named her, is just as confusing as Zodiac was. One minute I am convinced she is palomino, but the next minute I see her from a different angle or in a different light, and then I'm not sure.
I am now considering if I should just send a hair sample straight away, so I can know for sure :)

On friday we are leaving for Justland and the Stallion Assesment, where Zitas father, Bakkegaard's Buzzlightning, is going to be shown for final approval. It will be very exciting to see how he does.

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May 5th

This saturday we went to the Dorthealyst Youngstock Show.
I was a lovely day with perfect sunny weather, and great company.
With me I had Bella and Cyselle, they got pretty low points compared to earlier, but in all fairness they were both quite naugthy, especially Cyselle. So they didn't show their movement very well.
Also Cyselle looks pretty slender and lacks volume, after she has shed her winther coat. Hopefully she will get a bit more volume in the next few years.

With us was also Nadia. She is the new "foster mom" to the girls, as she is the owner of Mexi, the old gelding that Bella and Cyselle are now living with.

The cheering section consisted of my very good old friend Louise, and my mom and little Papaya, who seemed to have great day.

I also mannaged to take a lot of lovely pictures, and have therfore uploadet them to the events gallery on the Photopage.
There were a lot of pictures, so I have uploadet them in two different albums.

Now I'm just waiting for Zilver to have her baby. She is due May 24th but already seems tired and her udder filled out weeks ago.
Hopefully she will foal before we go to Jutland for the Stallions Assesment.

W e have also heard from Rosie's new owners, who tell us that she has settled in very well, wich ofcourse is very nice to hear.
I am sure Rosie has found the perfect home with her new family.

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March 19th

Its been a long time since I last updated the website.
A new year has begun, and much has happened already.

Just after New Years, we weaned all the foals. They did great, and soon settled in, in their new little kinder garden. All the little rascals also had the opportunity to frolic in the snow. I mannaged to get a lot of nice pictures, which have found their way to Rosieand Zodiacs own pages, but also to a seperate gallery.

Shady Acres Rosie - Shady Acres Zodiac

On the 19th of february I went to Funen, where I was asked to teach a course on equine colour genetics.
It went very well, and we had a great day, with lots of other shetland pony friends.

On march 5th I went to Ringsted, to the M&M Winther Show. With me I had Zodiac, Bella and Cyselle.Once again it was a great show, even though my ponies received very varied ratings.
Cyselle was definately not favored by the judge and only got 32 points. She didn't show as well as in november, but still I wouldn't have thought she would go from 39 to 32 points in just a few months? Unfortunately there was not much help in the description, as it seems the secretary hadn't mannaged to catch all the comments the judge gave. (The judge talked a lot for a long time, but there were only a few short sentences in the description, some of wich were quite unorganised). Generally it seems the judge was very focused on hocks. Both Cyselle and Bella got the comment that they had weak hocks, a thing I can not see for myself, and neither of them has had that comment before. Oh well, Bella seemed to be more to the judges liking. She again got 39 points, this time with 9 for type and 9 for conformation.

Cyselle Liebas - Bakkegaard's Bellalightning

Her movements are unfortunately still a bit hindered by her overweight, and on the way into the ring she was kicked by another pony, so the showing was far from perfect. If she could just trot in the ring, same as she does back home in the paddock, I am sure she would get more than a 7 for her trot ;)

Bakkegaard's Bellalightning

Zodiac ususally doesn't fair to well at these things, but this time it seems there was a judge who can see the same potential in the little fellow as I do. He got 2 more points than last time, and ended up with 36 points.He still has a sleder built and lacks development, which was also pointed out in his description, but the judge finnished by saying that I should just wait a few years, because he would get better with age.
Nice to know she sees the same thing I do.
This time he was also a bit more relaxed, so ha mannaged to get an 8 for his walk. In the trot he still pulled a bit, so he only got a 7. Once again I can only say, if he would onlt trot in the ring the same as home in the paddock, I'm sure he would get nothing less than a 9 ;)

Shady Acres Zodiac

The other day some friends called us. They have an old pony who found himself alone and in need of company. We therefore arranged that Bella and Cyselle should come and live with old Mexi, and keep him company.
They live very near by, so the trip only took 15 minutes.
The two little girls definately livened up the 25 year old Mexi, who seemed to have found a second youth.

Bakkegaard's Bellalightning and Mexi

After about 10 minutes of playing, all three settled down and started grazing. It was great to see how happy they all three were, and I'm sure Cyselle and Bella will be very happy there. Luckly they live just around the corner, so its a short trip when I want to visit the girls. I have put a lot of great pictures of the girls playing in a gallery, and I have also updated Bella and Cyselles personal gallaries with new pictures.

It can suddenly get very expensive with all these lovely ponies, especially when you are still studying. Since I get a lot of positive feedback on my pictures, I have descided to offer my photography services to anyone who might be interested in having pictures taken of their horses.
I have made a page with prices and a lot of info:

Photography

Last Year 2010

Another year has passed and 2010 became the year that officially lauched this little stud, and the first foals where born.
One colt and one flly was born: Shady Acres Zodiac and Shady Acres Rosie

Shady Acres Zodiac - Shady Acres Rosie

Again in 2010 we have participated in a long line of shows, and have had some greats days, in the company of lots of lovely ponies and shetland pony friends. I am so happy with this new "world" I have entered. Everynone is so nve and helpful!
We started out going to the M&M Winther Show in march - a very nice show with lovely prizes. In april I went to the Dothealyst Young Stock Show where I took a lot of pictures as I was not shoming any ponies myself. The next trip was to Jutland, to theStallion Assesment in may. In june I went to the Roskilde Show, to see all the lovely ponies and meet all my friends. Again I mannaged to take a lot of pictures. In Juli we went to the Mares Assesment and in September we went to Roskilde again for the Foal- and Youngstock Show. In October we went to the Performance Test in Ringsted where I had the pleasure to Show Kates lovely stallion Buzz. He became the second best stallion of the day, with honorary prize.What a great experience! We ended the show season in november, where we went to the M&M Christmas Show. Another very good show from the Mountain and Moorland Association.

Cyselle Liebas and Bakkegaard's Buzzlightning

The greatest experience in 2010 was however the arrival of our prescious little daugther Papaya.
She fills our lives with so much joy, and its great to see how she grow and develops from day to day.

Thank you all for a great year!! We look foreward to a lot of great experiences in 2011.

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News 2010

News 2009