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December 31st
Its been so long now, I will have to do these updates in small bits.
But to round off 2012, I will give a brief run through of what happened since the last update and until New Years.
Then 2013 will have to wait a bit.
Immediately after the last update we went to the annual Performance test with my two boys Rupert and Waldo.
Even though the preparation had been less than perfect to say the least, what with Ruperts accident and everything, Tina did a splendid job, and both my guys passed with a 2nd prize!
Now hopefully they will both be ready for the Stallions Assesment in may.
I have signed up for both a judges course and a driving course. The first part of the judges course was in november, and it was very interesting. Now I am contemplating wether or not to go on once the intro course is finished. here are both pro and cons to becoming a judge, so I will have to see what to do.
Like the judges course, the driving course is a 3 part course. The first part was also in november, and we had a geat day and I think we all learned a lot.
I have entered with Gucci, who I would like to start driving, and maybe enter into the next performance test.
The first weekend of december, became a very busy one. On saturday I drove the long way to Jutland with little Soffie, since she has been sold to Bergli Stud in Shetland, and therefore I was meeting up with Owen Jones, who was going to transport her. It was a long trip of almost a week to the islands, but she has sttled in very well in her new home.
Just before we left for Jutland, I took a few pictures of her beautifull head with the big expressive eyes, so I had something to remember her by :)
I am looking foreward to following her life in the "motherland" as a show pony and breeding mare.
After having delivered little Soffie in the capable hands of Mr. Owen Jones, I headed back to groom Zita and Zodiac, for the Mountain and Moorland Show the following day.
So on sunday we left for the show, in freezing cold weather.
Zita looked a bit odd with her winther coat fluffed up to all sides, except for the legs where it lay flat, givng her a bit unharmonious look about her. Also she has this funny bit of hair in a spripe on the bum, which is a lot longer than the rest and stands up in the air, making her look a bit funny from the side. The description also mentioned the unharmonious bit, although I had done my best with water and a brush to sort out her coat. She was a little bit nervous, but did pretty well in the ring.
For the most part I agreed with the description she got, but I definately thought she was worth more than the 35 points she got.
I didn't have my camera out, but Janny from Sutteri Stjernen, was nice enough to take this lovely photo for me:
Later it was Zodiac's turn, and I personally think he looks really great these days. As usual he was a bit nervous and tense, and a bot too excited.
He desn't move as well as he usually does at the moment, a bit short strided, but hopefully its just him growing a bit. However he has started to fill out very nicely. The judge however said he was a bit unharmoniously, which I don't agree with. So again he only got 35 points which I also thought was too little.
Besides the dissapointing results and the cold, we had a great day
as we always do at the M&M shows :)
Again, I didn't have my camera out, but Joan mannaged to catch this shot of my little guy.
I still think about showing him at the assesment this year, but will wait and see a bit how his movements are developing.
Thats just about caught up with last year. Soon I will be back with news from 2013 :)
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October 9th
All ponies have now returned home from their summer pastures and have settled into their winther paddocks.
Cyselle has stayed in Ølby with Bella, so the two of them can continue to keep Nadia's old boy Mexi company.
Hopefully they are both in foal to Waldo, so it will be very interesting to see the little babies next year!
The boys are now all in their winther paddocks at Lena's neighbors place. Here they can stay quietly without the ladies around.
Zodiac and York still share a paddock and have a great time. They play a lot and it is a joy to watch.
Waldo and Lena's stallion Shadow are the only males left at Lenas place. They are still running wit their mares, and have allethe other mares in the paddock between them.
We were a bit nervous how they would react, since they are both quite spirited gentlemen, but they are doing great and can actually relax with their mares.
It is clear that the ponies have not exactly lost weight while they have been at the summer grazing :)
Besides this I am training hard for the performance test this weekend. It is nice to have something to concentrate on, to take my mind off Melissa and Alberte.
Unfortunately I hd an accident with Rupert while driving. He was doing so well, but one of the leather straps snapped, and that resulted in the other one ending up between his legs, which ofcourse scared the living daylight out of the poor little guy.
Luckily nothing serious happened, but I had to give up on driving Rupert at the performance test. So now both him and Waldo will be shown in long reins instead.
I am not very good at the long reins, so I have mannaged to get Tina to show them both for me. Even though she hasn't trained them herselve, she will surely do a much better job than I will be able to.
Cross your fingers for us ;)
I have also put a lot new pictures up, of some of the ponies: Zodiac, Zilver, Regina, York, Waldo and Bamse.
Both mother and son (Zilver and Zodiac) do have some lovely movements, just like daugther and sister, Zita.
I am so excited about the foal from Zilver and Waldo. It must become an amazing mover with those parents!
Even with all the esktra summer weight, Zilver can
definately still move those feet!
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October 1st
A time of tragedy!
Since I started breeding shetland ponies in 2009, I have not had any major misfortunes.
But the other week I guess my luck ran out. One morning Lena rang me and told me that Alberte was very sick. I called the vet straight away and jumped in the car and drove to Lena's place.
I arrived not long before the vet, and I could see that it was not good!
Alberte was lying down flat and wouldn't get up. She could just lift her head to eat a carrot, but that was it.
The vet arrived soon hereafter and concluded that she was in chock, due to pain. Her heart rate was 80 (normally 32-26), her mucus membranes where bright red, her circulations was compromised and her limbs were cold. The vet said her chances were very poor, but decided to give her one chance. He gave her a lot of pain relief and soon hereafter she got up, and we mannaged to get her back to the house.
Unfortunately it wasn't long before she started feeling in pain again, and finally the vet had to come back and put her to sleep.
We just couldn't manage her pain, and her chances of surviving an operation were slim to none.
So the vet put her to sleep while I held her pretty head.
It was a terrible day, and it is almost even worse when it is not even your own horse, but a horse that you are responsible for.
I am so happpy that owner Janny has been so sweet and understanding in this terrible time.
Beautiful, sweet Alberte. I am so sorry to say goodbye to you and your unborn foal.
Before the vet came to put Alberte to sleep I went and got her best friend Gucci, to keep her company, and as we walked past Lena's stallion Shadow, she started showing heat.
So now I'm affraid she is not in foal any longer, and then I will not get a single foal after Silbersee Luxus after all :(
I am so sad!
And those are not the only sad news!
In the spring, Melissa had a long period with laminitis. We finally got it under control and she was doing well for a while, but
then got laminitis again.
We have tried ti get her in foal all season, treated her ect. but we have not mannaged to get her in foal. I have also learned that she had previously been running with a stallion a whole season without getting in foal.
Besides this she had all the classic signs of EMS
and cushings. Abnormal fat deposits, delayed shedding, muscle atrophy in the topline and repeated bouts of laminitis ect.
So most likely she would have continued getting laminitis over and over again, unless she spent her life alone in the stable or dirt paddock with
straw and limited feed, and thats not a real horse life in my world. Besides that she kept being a bit lame in the right front leg, even when she di not have the laminitis, so I think she must have had permanent damage to the hoof bone in that foot. When she had been om pain relief for several weeks, without really relieving her pain properly, we decided to say goodbye to her.
It has taken a long time to make this desicion, and I am happy that I have a lot of people who support my desicion and think I havde done the right thing, as it was not an easy one to make.
It is just really tought, when Alberte goes and gets sick on top of it all.
I console myself with the idea that the two of them can now go together to the eternal grazing fields.
But it is just so sad! Beautiful lovely Melissa with the heart of gold!
I was so looking foreward to spending many years with her and hopefully get some lovely foal from her.
But it was not to be :(
Now I truly hope that that no more misfortune will come my way anytime soon!
It has been quite a while since my last update, so luckily not only bad things have happened.
In august I went to Holland, to see the Iinternational Show.
I went there with Hanna and we had a great time!
There weremany lovely ponies at the show, and it also gave me a nice
reunion with Kerswell Sorcerer, the sire of my colt, Zodiac.
Sorcerer look very nice, and was class winner for the older mini stallions.
I took a lot of pictures at the show and have uploadet them all to facebook.
I have created a page there for the stud and everyone is very welcome "like" the page.
In the future I will upload most of my photoshoots to this page.
Tamelone has also returned home after her date with Stjernen's Mini-Paschal, who she has now been scanned in foal to.
Gucci was right there to welcome her back and tell her who the boss is :)
The first weekend of september we went to the Foal- and Youngstock Show in Roskilde, where I had entered Zodiac and York.
Before the show I didn't have high expectations, since I thought they still both lacked a bit of volume, but in th finals 1-2 weeks before the show, they bulged up nicely, so when we went, I thought they both lokked quite good.
I still didn't have the highest hopes for little York, because even though he had gotten a much better stride in his walk, he was still a bit short in his trot, and I thought he was a bit wide behind in his walk sometimes.
And after having seen the competition, consisting purely of great big standard stallions, I was pretty sure we were heading for that familiar last place.
So when the judges calledhim up ti 2nd place, I was very amazed and happy.
But it was no mistake. Tiny little York walked his little heart out, and actually almost matched the big standard stallions stride for stride, which the judges commented on and gave him a 9 for his walk!
He got 39 points all together. Too bad he didn't get that last point so he could get in the finals, but very happy with my little chap anyways.
After this it was Zodiac's turn in the ring. I took him out very early in a faint hope that he would mannage to calm down a bit before going in the ring.
But no matter what he was completely wired and was jumping around acting crazy. He was so busy showing everyone he was a big stallion, while still being a bit nervous about the whole thing, even though he has tried it so many times by now. Oh well, quite deserved, he only got a 6 for his walk, since he was so tense and rigid. The judges did comment that he was probably better when not so up-tight. However he did get a 8 for his type, which I was very happy with, and the judges commented and said he was i very good condition. He only got a 7 for his conformation, since the judges thought he was a bit long. This I donøt agree with. I think he is a very harmonious pony, and I'm sure he will be looking great, in a few years, when he has filled out properly.
The comment "small hooves" that both Zodiac and York got, I don't agree with either. I don't think it is fair that the minis hve to have to have the same massive plates as the standard ponies.
Actually I think it is a bit strange with the comment "hooves too small" since nowhere in the breed standard does it say they have to have big hooves. It only states that they have to be strong, open and round. And I think both my ponies have that, in a size that fits their body. In reality a shetland pony would never be able to mannage the rocky cliffs of the Shetland Isles, walking around with those massive plates for hooves that some ponies do today.
These are just a few of my thoughts about the comment "small hooves" which the minis almost always gets at the danish shows.
Oh well, as expected Zodiac ended up with his usual 35 points and just mannaged get his blue ribbon :)
I really don't know what to do to make him relax. It is so frustrating when I know he has great movements, that I never get a chance to show them properly.
Someone suggested that I put some menthol around his nostrils. This should stop him from smelling all the nice ladies. Its worth a try.
I think I will also try taking him to the christmas show again, to see if things are better when he is not so pumped up on hormones and he is in spring and summer.
Next trip with the ponies will be to the annual performanc test. I have entered my two boys Rupert and Waldo.
Waldo is getting better from his injury, but still not completely normal, so I have sarted him in long reins, and then the cart will have to wait until another time.
Rupert is already driving.
I am very proud of how well he is doing considering how nervous he was when we started. Now he just needs rutine.
Soffie, who I thought I had found a nice buyer for, is still for sale. The buyer should have paid a deposit the 1st of august, but turned out to be a time waister :(
Sometimes I can't believe how people act!
Anyways she is still for sale and I hope to find a very nice home for her.
I have had to put a few more ponies up for sale, since it does not look like there is a job for me anytime soon. It has been very hard for me to chose, but I decided I just couldn't part with any of my mares, so I ended up chosing Zita and York, even those these are two lovely young ponies and I was looking very much foreward to following their progress and development.
Zita is an amazingly beautiful filly with such a gentle temperament. We took her to a paddock with her best friend Phoebe, to take some more recent pictures of the two, and she just flew across the ground. I was just standing there almost regretting I had decided to put her up for sale. Besides her amazing movements, she also has a lovely light color and a sparkling white mane and tail, and she is also a mushroom gene carrier, making her able to produce mushroom offspring like her mother.
I also think little York is an interesting stallions prospect, with very good type and conformation, and a very interesting pedigree. I hope to find a buyer that will keep him as a stallion and show him at the assesment.
See all three ponies for sale at the Sales Page.
Several of the ponies have also gotten new pictures, so take a look around the different Galleries.
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July 28th
Time flies!
Gucci and Alberte have now returned home, from their visit with Silbersee Luxus. So now hopefully we will get two beautiful little Luxus babies next year.
They have become best friends the pair of them.
Alberte isa very beautiful mare, and I have gotten permission to show her at the assesment again, as I think she can do better then the 38 points she got last time.
So if she mannages to loose a bit of weight, when she has her foal, then I will bring her to the assesment next year.
We have been to a Mountain and Moorland Show with the guys: Rupert, Waldo and Zodiac.
Zodiac looked quite slender and long legged at that point, so I didn't have high expectations for his scores, even though it was the same judge who awarded him 42 points in November.
The fact the he was also very high strung, and jumped around everywhere, resulted in perfectly fair scores of 34 points and a very nice and correct description. I'm at my wits
end of what to do to make him relax when I am showing him. He is such a nice calm and easy boy at home.
After Zodiac it was time for the grown up boys. I had mannaged to get my friend Jette, to show Waldo for me, as him and Rupert were in the same group. But when she was walking him I could see that he was moving completely wrong. I had noticed that he did not move as well as he usually does, when I was observing him back home, but I thought it was just a bit of tension from covering all the mares. However now tat someone else was walking him I could clearly see that he must have made some sort of stupid stunt or something because both Jette, Lene and myself, agreed that he seemed stiff somewhere around the left hip area. I ended up pulling him from the show, as I didn't want him to be judged whe hewas clearly injured in some way.
Now he will just get some peace and quiet and then I think I will have a chiropractor look at him.
Oh well... Rupert was going in the ring to get his evaluation. He was really nice and sweet all day, until a giant welsh stallion, that he was going to compete with, entered the ring. Rupert definately didn't like the big guy
and he started hopping around. I was afriad it would give him some very low movement scores, but he did very well. He was number 3 of 3 but with some very good scores: 988 88 = 41 points, same as number 2 in the group and only one point less than the great big welsh stallion who got 42 point and was later Best in Show!
All in all Rupert was so nice and easy to show, that this was definately not the last time I showed him I think!
I have started training Rupert for the performance test, and have started him in long reins, and the plan is to have him broken for driving before the test.
Two lovely new ladies have also arrived.
I have been so lucky as to get to buy Trix and Tamelone v. Stal Poldervreugd, who I fell in love with last summer when Lena and I were visiting Anette and Jørgen, Hedegårde Stud, at our Stud Tour.
Both ladies have won 1st prize at the assesment, and both have some amazing movements which I put in high regard. Tamelone even won the Medium Champion, and Overall Reserve Champion titles.
She is also the mother of Lena's new Stallion Hedegårdes Shadow, who got 1st prize and won the Medium Champion title at this years stallion assesment. Tris and Tammy have the same father, and their half broter Pericles v.h. Wald, efter the same father also goet a 1st prize and even won the Mini Champion and Overall Reserve Champion titles when he was shown at the stallions assesment. Out of only 5 offspring show after Pericles, two mares have won 1 prize and one son have been approved for breeding, so I think these lines are proving to bevery good breeding lines to continue.
Tamelone is 88 cm and Trix is 86 cm. They are both out of significantly smaller stock, so I think I will be able to breed smaller ponies from them both.
Trix is now running with Rupert for a 2013 foal, and Tamelone has gone for a visit to have a date with Stjernens Mini Paschal, who got 1st prize with 43 points and won the Mini Champion and Overall Reserve Champion titles at this years stallion assesment. I hope for a very lovely foal from these two.
On the other hand I have fianlly "surrendered" and allowed Nadja to buy Bella.
I wasn't supposed to sell her, but Nadja have fallen in love with her and Cyselle, since they've been living with her for last year as companions to her old pony Mexi.
So now she gets to buy Bella, but I keep the foal wcih will hopefully arrive next year, and then when I have a foal in the same color as Cyselle, then Nadja can buy her
too, if she wishes.
Little Soffie has also been reserved, so if all goes well, she will move to Jutland when she is old enough.
A couple of weeks ago, Lena and I went to the Gørlev Show.
We had entered the two half sisters, my mare Stjernens Gucci-Rush and Lena's little mare Stjernens Mini-Mie, who are both after the german owned stallion, Whitalis Color Contrast.
Both mares was going to be shown at the mares assement the following weekend, so we thought this little show was a good dress rehearsal, since neither of the two ladies had ever been shown before.
The plan was for m to make Gucci loose a lot of weight before the show, but that just didn't happen,
so she was sooo fat, to put it mildly. When we were before the judges, I could hear some of what they were saying and they were generally positive. Just as I was leaving the ring, I heard one of the judges say "23 points" (The maximum score is 24 points) so I was extatic! However you should never sell the skin before the bear is shot. So I probably shouldn't have gone around happily saying to everyone that I thought she was getting 23 points, because when we reentered the ring for the judges to sort the group, we walked and walked and Gucci got tired, and started walking like crap. The judges noticed and put her almost at the back, and deducted one point from her score. I couldsee when I got the critique, that the "23" had been crossed over and a 22 had been put instead. Oh well, a score of 22 was no more than what I would have hoped for given how fat she was, so I was pretty pleased after all :)
Little Mini-Mie, who is only 79 cm, is not only Gucci's half sister, but she is actually the daugther of my mare Melissa. She did very well at this show.
We were a bit concerned about her movements, as they seem a bit short, and have started to get a bit wide behind in walk lately, however the judges LOVED her type and build, which is also what Lena fell for when she bought her. The judges said that if she had a bit better movements she would have gotten the maximum 24 points. But she ended up with 23 points which was more than we could have hoped for.
The following week it was time for the mares assesment. By then I had pretty much regretted entering Gucci, as she was still so fat, instead of waiting until next year when she has a foal by her side. However when I was told that the judges this year didnøt mind the ponies being fat, my hopes went up a bit.
But I would have never believed just how good this day was going to be.
Just like at the Gørlev Show, Gucci was so calm and easy all day. She did exactly as I asked, but as opposed to the Gørlev Show, she moved a lot better all day. She had nice range when walking and she was just flying when trotting. When we went before the judges again to get the group sorted, they put Gucci in front, as the best 5 years and older medium mare, just in front of Lenas lovely mare Stjernens Patroness.
The judges loved Gucci and she got an amazing score of 43 points and a 1st prize! Later she even won the title of Medium Reserve Champion!
What an amazing experience!
Thank you so much for the amazing prizes for me and Gucci.
After this it was time for the mini size mares, and it was time for little Mini-Mie to go in the ring.
Lena had gotten Tina to show her and it went really well. Just like Gucci she moved a lot better and more relaxed, compared to the Gørlev Show.
And low and behold, the little girl got a nice red rosette and 1st prize, with 42 points.
I hope Melissa will be able to make me some foals just as lovely as Mini-Mie.
All in all a completely amazing day!!
Thank you so much to my sweet mother in law, who came to help us with the ponies!
A few more mares have arrived for covering. A while ago Waldo got a visit from a palomino and white mare, Sæbygårds Bella, and a couple of weeks ago the beautiful Mabel K, came to visit Rupert.
Rupert wasn't actually supposed to get outside coverings, as he is stationed at Lenas place, but we couldn't deny such a beautiful mare as Mabel a little date with him :)
I am sure the pair of them will make a beautifull baby!
See all the coverings at the services page.
Below you see Rupert with Mabel, saying hello to some of the ladies on the other side of the fence.
He is just such a nice and easy stallion in all regards.
I have received some photos and info about some of his offspring from Sweitzerland and France, so I have updated his "foals page".
Also I have made a small album with him and his ladies. Ruperts Ladies.
Lena and I have broken Gucci to ride a bit, and this winther when I was at the stallions assesment in Holland I even bought a small saddle.
Last weekend Papaya finally got to break it in properly.
Gucci acted like she had never done anything else, and little Papayaboth walked and trotted her, and she just wanted to go faster and faster :)
I can't wait
until they can start entering leid rein competicions together. Maybe already next year. I think that will be a lot of fun!
I am making a small album - Papaya and Gucci - which I will update with new pictures when I get some.
Next project will be to break Gucci for driving, so hopefully that will help her loose some weight, but that will have to wait until I have trained the guys for the performance test.
In a few days I am heading for Holland to see the International Show!
I am looking very much forward to this.
Some of the ponies hae also had their personal galleries updated with new pictures:
Sine, Soffie, Alberte, Gucci, Bamse, Zodiac.
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June 7th
A lot has happened already!
Sine has finally had her foal!!
On May 4th at 22.03 pm little Sunshine Soffie was born.
A beautiful little red dun filly foal.
The birth was quick and easy and the little girl was on her feet within the hour and drinking from her mother.
After careful consideration I have decided to offer little Soffie for sale, since I already have two lovely mares with the same color.
So I hope to be able to find a very nice home to my little girl. Preferably somewhere she can be used for showing and breeding.
We have also been to the Dorthealyst Young Stock Show.
I had entered Zita and Zodiac. Zita looked like she always does, but Zodiac looked a bit scrawny since he started shedding.
So the fact that he got a 7 for type and body was no surprise, but the remaining points were.
Generally I agreed with his description, but the points were to low in my oppinion.
Zita also got too low scores in my oppinion, and I did not agree with some of the description.
Lena and Carina had entered their young ones too, and they were not happy with the scores either.
Generally the descriptions were quite acurate, but the scores were too low to match the descriptions.
Unfortunately we have no pictures from the day, since the weather was quite miserable and we were not quite in the mood to take pictures.
Before the Young Stock Show we had visited Stutteri Stjernen, to pick up Carinas little filly. On that trip I drove Gucci to her date with Luxus at Gedsagergård.
I had also been looking for a mare to borrow, to be able to make another Luxus foal, and thereby increase my chances to get at silver colored foal.
At Stutteri Stjernen we found Fanebo's Alberte, which Carina and Lena convinced me would be a good choice, even though she has somewhat bigger parents than what I was looking for.
However she is very beautifull and a nice strong and deep model like Gucci, so I think she will make an exellent match for him. So now I just have to cross my fingers for next years foals.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Alberte, but I have borrowed a few from Jannys website, and will try to take some myself, now that the lovely lady has arrived home at Lena's place.
Alberte will soon have her own page.
I have also gotten the responses of all the hair samples. So now I know the genotype of all my ponies, which is nice.
As expected York was positive for tobiano (pied), but it was also nice to find out the Waldo carries bay, and that both Melissa and Gucci, does not carry chestnut.
It is especially great that Gucci does not carry chestnut, since this means she will have agreaterchance of a silver colored foal from Luxus.
All the different genotypes have been entered into the ponies respective pages.
I have also let Zilver, Cyselle and Bella in to run with Waldo.
Zilver was not in foal aftar all, so now we can get her started early with Waldo instead, wich is kind of nice.
Cyselle and Bella are still very close friends, and don't stray far from eachothers side. So when one is beaing covered, the oter one is right by her side :)
Besides my own mares, little Waldo has also had a visit from some other mares.
Mona's lovely little mare Nanoeska v. Ottersum has been for a visit, and since we know she carries the mushroom gene, it will be very interesting with the color of this foal next year.
Later a couple more mares arrived: Viverhus Anna-Bell and Bakkegaardens Gykit. Anna-Bell is a cute little mare, only 82 cm high, but Gykit is a big lady, of 95-96 cm, so it will be exciting to see if little Waldo will be able to reach! Otherwise we will have to help the little fella. Maybe dig a hole or something ;)
I think Waldo is looking better and better, and he has really build up a nice muscle mass in the hind quaters now.
I have made a small album with photos of Waldo and his girls - Here.
Rupert has also gotten some lady company. He is running with Sine and Melissa.
In a few weeks we are going to the Mountain and Moorland Show. I have entered my three boys: Waldo, Rupert and Zodiac.
Waldo I have shown once before. I think he looks much better now, but his action in walk has gone a bit flat, making him a bit stiff, I think. Possibly because he strains himself a bit with covering all the ladies. It seems to be a bit better now though, since he is not covering as many as the start of the season when they were all in heat at the same time. Besides this he has gotten a great big kick to the side of his head, giving him quite a big swelling on the right side. Poor little guy. Thank god no teeth got knocked out and nothing is broken.
And with painkillers and antiinflammatories he is doing much better and the swelling is going down. I hope the swelling will be completely gone before the show. It is dangerous running with the ladies ;)
I am very interested to see how Ruperts behaves at the show. At home he is the sweetest little guy. So gentle and kind, but you never know how they react when they go out, so this will be a good rehearsal for the performance test and the assesment nex year. I think he looks pretty good at the moment even though he still hasn't shed his winther coat completely and actually don't seem to be shedding much at all at the moment.
Zodiac on the other hand is shedding like crazy, and he honestly looks a bit sorry.... he looks like a 1 year old to me :(
Oh well, he is going to the show anyways, since he had such a bad experience this spring at the youngstock show, where he was scared of the speaker phones and all the wild welsh ponies running towards him in the adjacent ring. So hopefully he will have a good experience this time and learn to be calm again.
It will be interesting to see what the judge thinks of the three guys.
The following ponies galleries have been updated with new pictures:
Waldo, Bamse, Melissa, Sine, Bella, Cyselle, York, Zodiac, Regina, Zilver, Zita
I have also been to a Handler Class and Open House at Stutteri Stjernen.
It was a great day with lots of new faces, and I think everyone learned a lot.
We have also been to the Stallion Assesment this year. It was a great show.
Super assesments, nice judges and a great feel to the whole day in general.
My friend Lena, who fell in love with Hedegårdes Shadow last summer and was allowed to buy him, was especially happy that day, since her new lovely stallion mannaged to get approved with 42 points and was later appointed Medium Champion 2012!!
A big congratulations to Lena and to Anette and Jørgen, who bred this great stallion.
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April 16th
I have made some changes to the services page, because I have chosen a different stallion for Gucci.
The initial plan was to use small stallions for her, in order to be able to breed smaller foals.
However when the chance arose to get the silver gene in my flock, I couldn't say no.
The silver gene as opposed to the mushroom genem is dominant at exerts its effect on black pigment.
The gene is onlt found in very few shetland ponies, mainly of german origin, and one of these will be at Gedsagergård in 2012.
Even though he is 98 cm I have chose to use him now that I have the chance, hoping I get lucky and get a foal carrying the silver gene. I have chosen Gucci for him, since she has the size for him (92-93 cm) and because she is a very heavy build mare, who I think will be a very good match for the stallion, Silbersee Luxus.
Silbersee Luxus and Stjernens Gucci-Rush
I hope the foal will enherit the silver gene and that it will be closer to its mothers height, than that of its father.
That way I would be on my way to be able to breed mini shetland ponies with this amazing color.
Today I sent off hairsamples to USA from all the ponies I needed info about.
So soon I will have the full genotype of all my ponies.
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April 4th
A new year has begun, or rather is in full sving aleready!
I have been pretty pressed for time the last 6 months of my studies, so updating the website has not been a priority.
But now I am finally a vet!!!
Which ofcourse is a great start to the year.
Next project will be to find a job, sell my apartment and get a little farm for
our family and all the ponies. Until then the ponies and I have a good time at Lena's place together with all her lovely ponies.
The year started with a trip to Holland, to see the great Stallion Show in January.
It was a great trip with lovely company and many amazing stallions to watch.
I was surprised how broad and heavy a lot of the minis were, since my prejudices before I went, made me expect more light and slender types, so that was a pleasant surprise.
There were a few "Mini maat" and a lot of "kleine maat" that were really really nice stallions that I wouldn't mind owning.
Generally the biggest problems we saw were with the hooves, which were often quite small and narrow, and thisapplied to all the different size groups.
All in all it was a very exciting and educational experience, and it was definately not the last time I'm going!
See more from the trip here.
And yes, alot has happened this year.
Among other things I have bought two lovely mini stallions.
Rupert is bay dun and Waldo is mushroom tobiano.
Read more bout them both, on their respective pages.
Trewordergrange Rupert Bear and Waldo v.d. Litherweg
I am already looking forward to seeing the foals from these two guys next year. The breeding plan as it looks right now, can be seen on the services page.
I hope to have time to drive the guys over the summer, so I can enter them in the performance test in october, and then the stallions assesment next year.
A couple of new mares have also found their way to my little stud. Melissa is a beautiful 1st class champion mare. She is so lovely with such a calm temperment.
I hope she will be able to leave me a couple of filly foals, before she is retired from breeding.
The other mare is actually a mare I have gotten for Papaya, to be her future riding pony and possibly my driving pony. I fell for Gucci despite the fact that she is a bit bigger than what I normally go for, but she is really beautiful, with a heavy build,
and a perfect temperment. Lena and I have started training her as a riding pony, and she is doing really well.
Even though she is not exactly a mini, she has a lot of mini in her pedigree, and also Lena has a half sister on her fathers side, that is only around 79 cm. This halfsister is actually
after my new mare Melissa.
This means I will also try to let her have some foals, to see if she can breed smaller than herself.
Bukkerupgårds Melissa and Stjernen's Gucci-Rush
I plan on showing Gucci at the mares assesment this year, if I can make her loose some weight.
We have also already been to our first show. The Mountain and Moorland Winther Show in march.
I had entered Waldo, Zodiac and York. And Lena had entered Cornelius and Challure, so it was a boys day out :)
York was first in he ring. He had lost some weight when I first got him home, but he had filled out nively, however he still needed a bit more to get his nice topline back as it was before. But I thought he looked pretty lovely. He was pretty short in hs movement at he time, so I didn't have high hopes for his movement points, and he got 6 6 as expected. But the fact that he also got a 6 for type, build and limbs, I just don't get that? To me he is a very typical shetland pony, with a nice small head shetland typical head, and with lots of hair and expression.
In my eyes he shpuld have gotten at least an 8. Build I would have given him a 7, as the conformation is good, and he just needs to fill in a bit more. For his limbs I would have given an 8, since they are strong and correct, with nice big hooves for his size and lots of hair. In the fall he got a 9 in type, and an overall score of 41 points, compared to the 30 points he got at this show. At leat I was not the only one who was more than puzzled about that 9 in type.
Next in the ring was Zodiac. He didin't look quite as good as in november but almost I thought. However after York had been in the ring, I was definately not expecting anything.
Zodiac only got 36 points, even though I thought he did very well in the ring. I had some difficulty placing him correctly before the judge, but he walked and trotted
very well. For my part, I still think he has great movements deserving a 9, ad ofcourse I still belive in my little guy as I have always done.
In the same group was also Lenas little Challure, who wn the class with 39 points. Congratulations to Lena and Carina, even though they were not quite satisfied with the points.
Last guy in the ring was Waldo, and since the previous judgements that day, I had absolutely no expectations, so I was happily surprised when he received 40 points and a very good description. This, despite the fact that he has lost some weight and still needs to muscle up his hind quarters, and therefore is not quite in show condition in my eyes.
Last weekend I let in Regina with Waldo. She was covered right away, which we didn't expect, since she had not shown any heat signs.
I wanted to get her started early this year, in case she cheats us again, but this was definately very early :)
We will have to see if she keeps tis time, if she does at least I won't have to wait too long for the first foal next year.
For waldo and his girls I have gotten a nice great big paddock in the same place were Bella and Cyselle are staying, so now they wont have far to go, as they are also going to be covered by Waldo later this spring.
So now Waldo and Regina are enjoying a great new paddock with a great big hill, which Regina loves to run to the top of, to be able to see everything around her and enjoy the view.
See more pictures of the two here.
Next mare for Waldo arrives tomorrow, so then him and Regina will have some more company.
Much more has probably happened, but I can't remember it all.
The entire website has been updated, so please take a look around.
The next show will be Dorthealyst Youngstock Show in the end of April, where I have entered Zodiac and Zita.
Neither of the look very good or showy at the moment, but I like to take my younstock out as much as possible as I think it is a great learning experience for them.
In the middle of April I am teaching a color genetics class.
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Last Year 2011
2011 was another great year for my little stud.
The highligths of the year must be the unproblematic foaling by my mare Zilver, and te delivery of a beautiful little filly foal, Zita. The only foal this year.
Also Zodiac's great performance at the M&M Christmas Show, where he won best shetland pony and best 1 year stallion across breeds.
2011 was also the year were moved my ponies to live at my friend Lena's place.
Lena and I have had lots of great experiences together, including some great trips around the country, showing our ponies and visiting other studs.
Below are all the news from 2011 and previous years.
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