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December 30th
Just a quick update before this year ends.
Little Zippo has left for Austria, where he has now settled in well, and his new owner is very happy with him.
It is very nice to get updates and pictures from there.
Another couple of ponies have left. One of them is the beautiful black pearl, Arwen, who arrived here not long ago.
Dina who also bought Zita, fell completely in love with Arwen and conviced me to part with her.
I had been looking foreward to showing her and breed from her, but we have made a deal that I still get to show her and if I like I can borrow her for a few foals in the future.
I think she is a very interesting mare and it will be exciting
to show her at the danish assesment. Perhaps this coming summer if all goes well.
With Arwen, my little cutie Patron has also left. He is going to keep Dina's other stallion company, and if all goes well, maybe be her future breeding stallion.
I didn't bring any ponies for the annual M&M Christmas Show this year. Instead I just brought my daughter Papaya and I helped Dina show her ponies instead.
She had brought her gelding, Filur, and little Patron.
Filur won his class with very nice 40 points (almost the highest all day) and little Patron got 38 points and a very good description.
I will put his result on his own page at a later date.
Oh well, only time for this short update at this time, as I am very busy at the moment.
More about this in the next update in the new year.
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September 22nd
We have been to the Roskilde Foal and Youngstock Show.
With me I had Zilver and Zippo.
Even though Zippo had grown a bit apart before the show, I still think he was a good looking mini foal.
He moved really well, with a good lenght of stride in his walk and a nice lift in his trot. At home we had trained away from his mom with no problems at all, but when we got to the show, he did not want to stand still before the judges, so I guess the showing wasn't optimal. However I was still quite dissapointed with his 34 points.
Zilver was not in optimal showing condition (she never is with a foal at foot), but I still think she looked quite good.
As she has before she had to settle for 21 points (out of 24, different scale), so that wasn't too surprising, but I was still dissapointed about her description, which I didn't recognize.
Oh well, since our own results were nothing to write home about, I am just glad that Ruperts first and only offspring here in Denmark, Kivis Ronaldo, did very well.
He was 2nd in the big strong colt foal group with amazing 42 point! He was a bit tense on the day, but behaved very well, and showed an amazing trot like his father! He got 99879!
In the Best in Show final at the end, he got a very nice 5th place!
I am so happy for him and his owner Mette!
There has also been a little change in the pony herd.
The weekend after Roskilde, we went to the Gørlev Youngstock Show. I brought Zita to be shown in the 2 year old filly group.
I had only trained Zita once at home, but she behaved perfectly and got 22 out of 24 points and a lot of praise for her lovely trot.
After the show we drove Zita to her new owner, Dina Nielsen - Farmens Shetlandsponyer, who is going to show and breed from little Zita.
It was quite hard to say goodbye, but fortunately I will see her again in the spring, when she comes to be covered by Waldo. And I have also promised to show her when she is going up for her assesment someday.
Zita showed off to her new friends when she arrived in her new home.
Back home in the padock this lovely lady is now strutting her stuff instead:
Arwen v. Portma Zathe
A beautiful black mare that I am looking foreward to showing at the assesment next year.
We have also taken the stallions from their mares, and put together the group of boys that are going to spend the winther together.
York, Zodiac, Rupert and Lena's little Challure are the boys group for this winther.
We expected a lot of action, but all we really got was a bit of sniffing, a bit og sqealing and then a bit of playing before they just started eating grass together. No fightning at all.
The rest of the pictures have all been put on facebook, and can be seen on the Shady Acres Facebook Page.
Waldo is staying in Ølby for the winther. Here he is going to play uncle to the colt foals when they are weaned. Benetton, Commander and Zippo (at least until he goes to Austria).
His mares will be taken home in october, to spend the winther with the rest of the mares.
Tamelone has also come home from her stallion visit now, and is hopefully in foal to Silbersee Luxus.
Her little boy Patron has developed a lot while he has been away and is looking really good.
I am considering showing him and Zippo at the Mountain and Moorland Christmas show on december 1st.
We will have to see how they both look by then.
Papaya, like her mother, enjoys spending time with the ponies.
We are looking foreward to the day when we get a place of our own for ud and the horses, so Papaya can have fun with the ponies every day.
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August 17th
Lena and I went to see Rupie's first foal here in Denmark.
Mette's lovely mare Mabel K, had a gorgeous
colt in the same colour as his dad. Kivi's Ronaldo is his name.
He has a lovely build, nice and chunky and an amazing neck.
Unfortunately it was raining when we saw him so he was pretty much dripping wet, but I mananged to get some pictures of him afterall.
Ofcourse the pictures are also put on Rupert's foal page.
I must say I am VERY pleased with the quality of Rupie's first foal, and I am now looking even more foreward the ones I will hopefully have next year.
Ronaldo has been entered into the foal and youngstock show in september, so Mette and I are both looking foreward to see what the judges think of him.
I have entered Zilver and Zippo. I have not had time to train Zippo much, but hopefully I will have the time in the next couple of weeks.
I have finally finished the breeding plan for this year. All the mares except Tamelone seem to be finished and their due dates, along with the breeding combinations have been put on the Services Page.
Tamelone is being covered by Silbersee Luxus, so hopefully she will be finished soon, and her due date can also be added.
Zita has been entered into the Gørlev Youngstock Show. She was the only one I could enter since foals and 2 year old stallions could not be entered.
There is however coming someone to look at her on monday, so we will have to see if I am bringing her or maybe the new owner.
Either way I have promised to show her.
The other day Lena and I took some pictures of the young girls, and I managed to snap a few of Zita.
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Juli 26th
Something new and exciting keeps on happening, so I am constantly behind on my updates, but now I have finally cought up!
And A LOT has happened since last time!
Firstly I would like to promote our facebook page.
Please "like" it if you want to follow us on facebook as well.
It is also on the facebook page I post all the many many pictures I take.
Only a few days after the last update, Cyselle finally had her foal. She had a lovely little mushroom colt with a cute white star.
His name is Shady Acres Cute Commander, and Nadia who has also bought Benetton, has reserved this little guy too.
The foaling itself happened at 10.30 am.
Nadia's mom Ellen called to say, that she was now getting close, so Papaya and I went straight out there to witness the whole thing.
No matter how many times you whitness the birth of a foal, I don't think it will ever stop being an amazing experience, as long as everything goes to plan.
Papaya also thought it was very exciting.
Although all this excitement can make you a bit sleepy.
Little Zippo is also reserved (well actually he was reserved already when he was a few days old) so if all goes to plan he will be leaving for Austria in december.
I am glad I sold him right away, because if I hadn't I would have never been able to let him go. He is just such a sweetheart!
Zippo and Commander love each other, and can't stop playing!
Oh well, Cyselle luckily mannaged to have her foal before the stallions assesment, which was very nice that I could leave without a worry.
Unfortunately Zodiac was lame on one of his hind legs just a couple of days before the assesment, so he had to stay home :(
But then again I did have my hands full with just the other two, so I guess its okay afterall.
The preparations has been far from perfect, especially with Waldo.
The last appointment at the chiropractor confirmed my suspicions. Waldo had a new injury and was now tense all the way down his right side.
The chiropractor loosened him up, and used accupuncture and laser therapy and then I bought a massage device for him and continued with the exercises several times daily in the last few days we had before the assesments.
Besides that I removed him from Regina so he didnæt agrevate his injury, but that just caused him to run and run all night long, so he was competely thin lokking next morning. Not the best thing just a couple of days before the assesment. So I had to put him back with Regina to make him relax, and then just go nuts with the massage, excersises ect.
It did help a lot, but I definately didn't think he was optimal neither in condition or movements, so I was feeling quite defeated when we went of for the assesment.
Rupert however was moving brilliantly, but as I susspected I could not mannage to get him in proper show condition in time.
Oh well, into the ring they went, and my friend Helle was sweet anought to help me hold one of them while I was in the ring with the other, since they were both in the same group.
When we got to the placing, I was very surprised that Waldo was placed second in this very strong group of 5 yeats and older, mini stallion.
He was even put before the lovely stallion Bergeruds Playboy, who I had pegged as the winner of the group. Playboy is a swiss champion and also "Best small licensed stallion" , "Small in hand senior Champion 2008", "Small in hand Champion 2008" og "Reserve Overall Champion 2008" at the International Show in Redefin Germany. So very proud of my little boy.
Rupert placed second to last in the group, which was surprising since I thought he was much more the judges type than Waldo, when comparing to the earlier judgings that day.
Well now it was very exciting to see how they scored. Waldo got an amazing 43 points and a great assesment in 1. class. I was exstatic, because I think he really deserves it, but I would have never believed it with the state he was shown in. Happy happy happy!
Rupie got 39 point and a fine description. They thought he lacked volume in the front, which I agree with. They also thought he lacked muscle in the topline, which I couldn't recognize.
Finally they also thought his walk was too close in front, which I think is very strange. He is definately one of the broader stallions I think.
Luckily they could recognize his amazing trot and awarded him with a 9, which I was very happy about. Several people even got up to me afterwards and said they thought it was the best trot of the whole assesment.
I could consider showing Rupert at the assesment again some day, but unfortunately I don't think it is realistic to think he will get in proper showing condition in time, when he is so hard to get to eat something all winther.
No matter what I am very happy with my two little boys and I hope to have many lovely foal by them in the future!
Not only my own boys were approved at the assesment. In our trailer we also had Lena's black and white little charmer, Følfods Challure, and he got at great 2 year breeding approval with 42 points and was even Mini Champion!
Another young stallion who also received a 2 year breeding approval is my mare Trix's little son, Hedegårdes Trixtan. He still needs to develop more, but with a well balanced conformation and very nice movements, so the judges saw good potential in him.
Waldo has already given me 3 lovely foals, and they are all reserved:
Ruperts foals however will have to wait until next year, because Sine turned out not to be in foal, and in the beginning of june poor Trix lost her beautiful foal. My only filly this year, and even in the desired colour, bay dun :(
The same night that Trix sadly lost her foal however, Mette's mare Mabel K also had her Rupert foal. A very lovely strong bay dun colt, and Mette is crazy about him, so I am very happy for her.
Lena and I are going to go see him, so we can take some pictures of him.
Below are some pictures of Poor Trix. She was so sad over the loss of her baby and stood watch for 4 days before she finally gave up on the little one, and we could bury it.
Instead she adopted Rupert, who I had let in with her together with Sine. She spent the next days protecting him from everything and everyone as though he was her little foal, and good old patient Rupie, just let her.
So now Bamse is running with Trix and Sine and having a good time, and we are hoping for two live foals next year!
Even though he has his own ladies, he can still find the mares across the fence quite charming.
Waldo has also fathered a few more foals, besides my own. Namely the lovely little mushroom filly Vojes Noble Silvana and the cute little chestnut and white colt, Langagergård's Woody.
They have both been added to Waldo's foal page.
A few days after the stallions assesment, I drove Gucci back for a new date with Silbersee Luxus, so now I am just crossing my fingers that she will keep the pegnancy this year and if I'm lucky, will deliver a cute little silver foal next year. The two lovebirds were definately glad to see eachother.
After the assesment Waldo also had a few more ladies.
I let in Zilver and Cyselle for him to run with and Kate came with her little palomino and white mare Bakkegaard's Amanda.
Waldo is now enjoying his mares and has calmed completely down, put on weight and his hooves are now completely back to normal.
So now he can just run and enjoy himself.
It wasn't long after the assesment, before Tamelone suddenly showed signs of getting ready to foal.
In the morning she had not bagged up at all, but when Lena got home late that night from work, she had suddenly bagged up completely with wax and everything.
Lena called me and I got in my car and drove there. We brought Tamelone into the courtyard
to keep a better eye on her. She kept having wax, and sweated a bit, but just kept pacing restlessly around.
I got up every 20 minutes to check on her but nothing ever happened. By 7 am I was like a zoombie and Lena got up and told me to sleep. She let Tamelone out with the others and kept an eye on her out there in stead.
It was less than an hour before she came back and got me, and told me that it was happening now!
And it was a very good thing we were there, since Tamelone was havbing a red bag delivery, meaning the placenta had dislodged and was coming before the foal. I quickly oulled the placenta apart and also the amniotic sac, and in only a few seconds I got the foal half way out, saw it was atill alive and could then breath easy, and let Tamelone do the rest.
A very lovely bay colt with a cute typical head and very large expressive eyes. His name is Patron, meaning a sort of guarding angel, since I am sure he must have had one with him.
Even though the birth was quick Tamelone was still quite tired from all the pacing around all night.
Tamelone is just the perfect mother and is very proud of her little foal.
I think he is a very promising little guy with great expression and type, and super promising movements.
And with both mother and fater being champions and overall res. champions, the pedigree is definately not too bad either.
He is also the only one of my foals this year still for sale.
In June I went to the Roskilde Show. I didn't bring any ponies this year, but acted for the first time, as the judges secretary. That was very interesting and educational, and definately not the last time I have done this.
Right before the show I drove Tamelone up to Silbersee Luxus where she was reunited with Gucci. I hope they will both deliver a nice little foal next year.
When I delivered the ladies I also had the chance to see all Hanna's lovely Luxus foals, and I was very pleased with the quality of them.
In the first weekend of Juli I went to the Gørlev Show. I didn't have high expectations when I entered Regina, but I actually thought she looked quite good when it was time to go to the show. So even though she is a little long in the body I still hoped she would mannage to get 22 point (out of 24), and she did! Even despite tha fact that the show decided to make some sort of announcement (very loundly and starting with a big fanfare) about some dogs in a cage. This resulted in a terrified and very tense Regina, making her walk very short and rushed.
Anyway I was thrilled with her score and a very nice description.
All in all it was a great day, with lovely weather and a super atmosphere, where the shetlands won almost all the interbeed competitions.
Best Veteran, Best Mare, Best Collection. We were only beated in the Best Gelding comp.
The following weekend I was at it again.
On friday we had some special visitors when the president of the swiss shetland society came to visit and see mine and Lena's ponies, together with some of her shetland breeder friends.
We love visitors so if anyone wants to come see our ponies, don't hesitate to contact us!
After some nice hours together with our guests, where we also went and saw the ponies at Stutteri Bakkegaard, I want back home to start washing ponies.
I had entered Sine and Rupert for the Mountain and Moorland Show the following day, and had to get them ready.
I had hoped that Rupert would have filled out a bit more since the assesment, but this years it seems to be hard to get him into show condition. Even despite full grazing and showimprover hard feed.
Too bad really since I had hoped to get some higher points than at the assesment, if he was in better show condition. At least he onlt got 1 less point than at the assesment.
The most dissapointing thing was the fact that his amazing trot was only awarded with a 7!
The judge just thought he was too light overall, which I don't recognise. I thinks he is a nice broad and chunky little man, even though
he needs to fill out a bit more.
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures that day, but Joan was nice enought to take these of him.
Sine was already pretty overweight when I entered her, but it had gotten a lot worse and I was affraid I would have to roll her into the ring!
Therefore I didn't have the highest expectations for her. So it was a very big surprise when the judges called her up first out of no less than 10 gourgeous yeld mares of different breeds.
She got a super description and 41 points, with a comment from the judge that she would have scored higher if she had not been so fat, and I had to promise her I would make her loose weight ;)
The judge was especially impressed with her amazing movements despite her massive weight. As she told me when I went back after trotting Sine: "I am smiling because I am so positively surprised. It should not even be fysically possible for her to move this well with all that fat around her shoulder" Hehe.
Anyway, the 1st place and nice score gave Sine a ticket to the Senior Championship with, I think, more than 20 other ponies of different breeds.
And would you believe it, Sine was brought forth by the two judges as Reserve Senior Champion, only beaten by an amazing welsh pony.
After this it was time to chose between the the best shetlands from the different championships, to pick the Best of Breed.
To my utter delight and amazement, Sine took that title as wel! So best shetland of the day!
Finally it was time for the Best in Show competition. Only tiny little Sine and 5 big amazing welsh ponies left in the ring!
BIS and BIS Reserve did go to two of these welsh ponies, but just when I thought we were finished, Sine was called foreward as well.
The speaker announced that the judge was so impressed with this little pony, that she wanted to grant her a special title, and thus made her Best in Show Res. Reserve!
What a great surprise! Personally I think the judge just wanted to see little fat Sine do yet a nother honourary lap around the ring. And she got one, with Sine having no problems to keep up with the huge welsh ponies, in her amazing flying trot!
I am just so proud of my little fat cream puff, who behaved perfectly all day long!
This is definately not the last time I take her somewhere since she was a dream to show. But so far she will just get to relax and rest on her laurals.
Thank you so much to Joan for all the nice pictures.
As I said before I didn't mannage to take any photos myself on the day, but Lena and I did some photos of her and Lena's mare Patroness the other day, and I think they were pretty good, even if we were almost eaten alive by horse flies!
The weekend after the M&M show, it was time for the annual mares assesment.
I had no mares entered this year, but had promised to help Lena show her mare Patroness.
Lest year she got 39 points and Lena wanted at least 40 points on her.
The showing went perfectly and Patroness took first place with 41 points and a very good description, so we were very happy, even though we, and a lot of the spectaters, thought she should have also had a 9 for her trot.
But Lena is happy and thats the most important thing!
This year I also got to go to the assesment in Jutland for the first time and it was very interesting.
The next show will have to be the Roskilde Foal and Youngstock show.
Even though Zilver is not looking her best at the monent, Zippo is looking great so I have entered the two of them.
I know a lot can happen in a month especially with the foals, but fingers crossed, Zippo will still look great when we go to the show.
I will just finish of with a few pictures of little Zippo. He is just such a character! Love him to bits!
It is really tirering having your feet done, so Zippo usually just takes a nap while his are done.
Thanks for now! Hope it won't be too long until the next update!
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May 2nd
Time flies and a lot has happened since my last update.
The biggest and best news is that Bella has foaled a lovely palomino and white colt. His name is Shady Acres Benetton, and he was born on Apil 6th.
Nadia, who owns Benettons mother Bella, has been completely in love with the little fella since he was born, so I think she is happy he was a boy.
He is exactly he colour I ordered, but since I am not really able to keep too many stallions at the moment, I have let Nadia buy this little guy.
The next foal we are awaiting, is Cyselle's. She is due today and we are waiting impatiently.
Besides my two lovely broken coloured boys on the foal page, Waldo has also become the father of a beautiful little chestnut and white filly.
The mother is Heidi's little chestnut mare, Viverhus Anna-Bell who foaled on April 24th.
The little one is called Birch's Whistler Bay, and Heidi has taken this cute picture of her, less than one day old.
Finally, I have also been contacted on facebook, by someone who owns one of Waldo's sons from Holland. So he has been added to Waldo's foal page.
He is bay and white and his name is Cocky :)
Last weekend we went to the Dortealyst Yongstock Show. I brought little York.
He was quite worked up and nervous, so his walk was crappy to say the least
:(
Oh well, he finally got his well deserved
9 for type! Generally I agreed with the judges, however there were a few points in the description, I do not recognize. I do not think he has a short neck and I think his hooves are perfect for his size, and I would have given him more then 7 for his foundation. Also I would have probably gone as far as to give him a 7 for his movements, even though they weren't optimal this day. The walk was tense, and he is still a bit short in trot, even though it is getting better. But as one of the judges said, he could really see his father in him and his type was spot on, so now we will have to see if the movements get better.
Besides that I think he looks great at the moment, and I can't wait until he sheds the rest of his winther coat.
At the monent I spend my days training the boys for the assesment next week.
I have entered both Waldo, Rupert and Zodiac.
The training is going okay, but you never know how they will act when we finally go out.
Rupert has been put on pasture and has gained some of the weight he has lost this winther. He is shedding a lot, so hopefully he will finish before the assesment.
He has had biotin supplements all winther to stop his hooved from cracking, and it has helped a lot. However they do grow very slowly, so you can still see they have been cracked. Luckily I think you can still see that he has the basis for some very nice big round hooves, even if they are not very long at the moment.
Training is going well and even though he is a carefull nervous little fella, he is such a pleaser, and just wants to do right.
He moves really well, so I hope he will do a good show.
Waldo has been moved to summer pasture in Ølby with Regina, in the hope of making him relax.
He has stressed a lot this spring and needed to get away. Now he is finally relaxed and has started
to gain a bit of weight, and even though he probably won't regain all he has lost, he is looking better and better.
It is a lot worse with his hooves. He has been running so much wearing them down all winther and spring, and because of his lower back injury, he has been compensating on the front legs, and has unfortunaly worn them a bit crooked, especially on the right front hoof.
Thats really annoying, since he normally has quite good hooves, but they are white and wear down easily when running all the time.
Besides the hoovesm his movements were getting better and better, especially after the last visit to the chiropractor, but in the last couple of days he has had a bit of a set back. Maybe its because he is covering Regina. But it is a hard choice wether to let him run himself thin, or let him run with Regina and risk his movements being impaired.
Oh well, he has a final appointment with the chiropractor on wednesday, so I hope he will be just somewhat ready for the assesment. The last time we were there, she said he was no longer locked, but se could still feel a bit of tension difference in the muscles. We will see what she has to say on wednesday. He probably wont get 100% well in time, which is unfortunate since he has such amazing movements, but if he just gets an okay assesment, then I am happy. I definately don't dare to wait with the assesment, as he is the most unlucky pony I know, so he will probably just get another injury before the next assesment :(
Lastly we have Zodiac. Hmm, I have been debating with my self wether or not to bring him, but now we are going to give it a go, even if his movements are not quite impressive at the moment.
He could do with a bit more muscle, but he is only three, and has time to grow still. His hooves are nice and straight, bit a bit small and the back ones a little bit narrow.
Genrally his build in very harmonic.
Unfortunately he is not really shedding much, and not at all on the neck, where he has a lot of long hair, sticking in all different directions making his neck looks way to thick and heavy compared to the body, where the hairs are lying down. If he doesn't shed more before the assesment, I have arranged with Hanna that she will clip him a bit for me on the neck. Not the best thing to do, but better than letting him look like he has a heavy neck.
Unfortunately he has lost a bit of weight since the picture below was taken, since he ran a bit along the fence showing off to Lenas stallions Shadow, so now we have moved shadow and he is relaxing again.
Phew! I can feel I am quite nervous already, and keep finding little faults and stuff like that.
I guess I should just relax and let things go the way they go. I don't have high hopes for Zodiac, but if he passes and gets his 2 year breeding approval, the he can have a mare and relax for a couple of years before the finl assesment. Rupert and Waldo I hope will get an okay assesment. I have no expectations about 1. prize, championships ect. buthopefully they will get okay marks and good correct descriptions.
We will have to wait and see. One thing is for certain, I will be very busy with three boys going in the ring!
I have also been to the last of the 3 driving courses with Gucci.
Gucci exeeded my
expectations as usual. I had only had her in the long reins once at the first driving course, and once at home before the last course.
So I put her in the long reins and walked her around, while some of the others put their ponies before the wagon. A few of them had tried it before at the second driving course, but I was not there then, because I was visiting my parents in Bali. When all the ponies had tried to be put in front of the wagon, it was Gucci's turn. And she did brilliantly. After a few laps on the course, I could jump in the wagon and walk and trot her around.
After a short luch break, we all drove the ponies for a small trip to the beach, and again, Gucci behaved like she had been doing this her whole life! Great pony!
On the way home from the beach, I even got a little passenger who was a tired of walking with her pony.
I don't know about you, but to me it looks like Gucci enjoyed herself. She had her ears foreward the whole time.
Finay we had a goup photo done when we got home from he trip.
Many happy pony folk :)
I was hoping to have time to drive Gucci a couple of times before she has to go for covering with Silbersee Luxus, but have been so busy with training the guys.
Will see if I will have time for it some day next week.
Here is a little picture of Regina when she arrived back at the summer pasture in Ølby
She went straight for the top of he favorite look out hill!
I have entered Regina in the Gørlev Show in July.
She is not my best show mare, but the only one without a foal at foot, except Gucci who is away for covering at that time.
But Gørlev is always such a lovely show, so now Regina will have to go out for the day.
Ihave also taken a lot of new pictures of the foals, but they will have to wait until the next update, after the assesment.
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April 4th
Finally the suspense is over, and the first foal this year has arrived!
On march 30th Zilver delivered the very first foal in Denmark after Waldo. And what a lovely foal! A cute little mushroom and white colt. His name is Shady Acres Zippo.
He is super cute and cheeky and with a lovely little expressive head.
Since I unfortunately don't have room to keep to many stallions, Zippo was put up for sale right away.
Already on the same day I announced him, there were 6-7 interested buyers.
It is great when there is such an interest in your breeding and little Zippo is now reserved for Melanie Fürst from Austria. He will take the long trip down there when he is about 8 months old.
I have put a link to Melanie's website on my links page.
The foaling itself, we missed out on, since Zilver really tricked us! With her two previous foals there has been no uncertainty when she was getting ready to foal, and both times she has given birht during the night.
This time she decided to foal out in the paddock with the other horses in the middle of the day.
I was out there in the morning, and just before I left at around 1 pm. I went to check her again. There was no change what so ever to the udder. Not tensioned or warm, no wax plugs or anything.
At 4 pm Lena goes out to show the ponies to her guests, and what does she see running around? A tiny little foal between Zilvers legs. He was already up and about, and was suckling his mother with no problems. He was even starting to dry up, over his back. So Zilver must have foaled a relatively short while after I left. They are not to be trusted those mares!!
I have been so nervous for Zilver, but she must have popped him out so easily. She hadn't even rolled over her back, like she usually does when foaling, since she only had mud on her belly.
Its great when everything turns out fine, and mare and foal are both healthy.
The first day I spent a lot
of time, cuddling the little guy, and trying to get all the dried up mud out of his fur. In these pictures he is less than 24 hours old:
Shortly before Zilvers foaling, even Sine started to bag up, but it went away the following day, and has been quite flaccid ever since. I was starting to wonder though since Sine is not due until the beginning of July.
The next to foal I think will be Bella. She been bagging up on and off for a while now, and getting more and more tension in the udder. She is starting to drive her new owner Nadia nuts, so I hope she wont keep us in suspense for too long yet. Her due date is the 11th of april, so it could be any day now.
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March 20th
Now its about time to update a bit on the news of 2013.
A lot has happened already.
I have just finished the last of the judges courses, and I have accepted to continue with the next round of courses and the judges exam.
So now we will just have to see if I have got what it takes. I'm sure it will be very interesting either way.
This saturday I am going to the Annual General Meeting in our studbook, so I am looking foreward to a day with other passionate shetland breeders.
More on this with the next update.
In the beginning of march I went to the Mountain and Moorland Winther Show.
I had entered Gucci and York. Although Gucci was way too fat still, I couldn't take any of the other mares as I didn't wanna bring the ones that were in foal.
But I did know that the judge, Rachel Brown, would crack down on her because of the extra weight.
York on the other hand actually looked great, so I was looking foreward to showing him, even though I didn't have the highest expectations, since he was in a big group with 3 standard stallions, one of which was former best foal
overall. Plus also a big fell stallion and a dartmoor stallion. York looked quite tiny in that ring! I was pretty much prepared to take last place, so it was a big surprise when little York was called up first!
I was so happy about this even though the score was not very high, only 37 points. However, besides a group of 2 year old mares, I could see that all the young ponies generally got very low scores, so compared to the rest, his 37 points wasn't too bad at all. His description I did not agree with either, at least not when it comes to his walk, which is actually very good at the moment and his foundation which is definaely also worth more than a 7. Oh well he had a good day and is learning a lot every time. He already seems a lot calmer when we go out. It will be mainly York I am going to be showing at the 2013 youngstock shows, since Zita is for sale and Soffie is already sold.
After York it was Gucci's turn. She was in a very strong yeld mare group with three other 1st prize mares. She was placed as number 4 out of 9, just after the 3 other 1.prize mares, which I was quite satisfied with, considering her show condition and everything. But again the score was dissapointing. Even though I didn't expect her to get as high a score as the mares assesment, I certainly think that 37 points is way to little. Only the first of the mares got 42 points, just enough for a 1.prize, the rest had to settle for 39, 38 and then Gucci's with 37 points. These are mares that all got 42 points and over at their assesment! The mare just behind Gucci only got 36 points, and she has an assesment with 41 points! So a lot of dissapointed mares owners that day I think. And even though Gucci is fat, a mare of her qualities definately deserves more than 37 points.
Generally it was some very confusing judgements. But other than that it was a great day with lots of nice shetty people and lots of lovely ponies.
And as always a very well organized event! I am already looking foreward to the Mountain and Moorland for Fun Show in July.
The next show however will be the Dorthealyst Youngstock Show, where I have entered York, and Lena has entered her little filly Pearl.
It will be interesting to see how they do. Our ponies usually don't do well at Dorthealyst, but we will see :)
With winther comes snow, and I have mannaged to take a lot of pictures of our lovely ponies enjoying the snow.
See more pictures in the album Ponies in the snow 2012, and in the galleries of the following ponies: Zilver, Tamelone, Regina, Sine, Trix, Zita, Waldo.
Zita was actually sold to sweeden, deposit payed and everything, but personal circumstances in the buyers family, meant she had to give up on her dream of buying Zita. That is ofcourse very sad for her and for Zita who had found such a lovely home, where she would have been used for showing, breeding, driving, agility and much more.
Oh well, I am sure I will find this lovely little girl a great home, and until then I can enjoy her here with me :)
Unfortunately Regina has shown signs of heat and does not look like she is in foal anymore, so I think unfortunately I won't have a foal from her this year. And as I wrote earlier, Gucci does not seem to be in foal either.
However if all goes well we should still have about 6 lovely foals coming this year, wchich ofcourse I am looking very much foreward to. Bella and Zilver are the first, and they should foal during april.
I have put the approximate due dates on the Services page.
In february my friend Jenny was here with all the teeth gear, so we could do the teeth of all my little darlings.
Now they all have fresh new teeth, so thank you so much to Jenny for all her help. After two full days of floating teeth, my arms sure felt sore, so I would have never been able to do it without her help.
Now I just need to give them all their vaccinations, then they are all ready for springtime.
So come on spring!!
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To start off the updates from this new year, I will have a look back at the old one.
Next update will be shortly.
The Year 2012
Another year has passed in flying speed. This year with both happy and sad times.
It began with me finishing my school and becoming a vet, which ofcourse was a very happy occasion.
However it has since proved very dificult to find a job as a new vet, with the recession and everything, so our dreams of a house in the country with room for the ponies and everything will have to be on stand by until I manage to find work.
Oh well, on the pony front a lot has happened in 2012.
A lot of new ponies have arrived. Two of these are my new lovely stallions, Waldo and Rupert.
I am looking very much foreward to my first foals from these guys this year.
Another couple of great little ponies arriving in 2012, was the two half sisters, Tamelone and Trix.
They are both sired by the prominent 1. premie KEUR Preferent mini stallion
Kiliam v. Dennehove. At the moment he has only had 3 offspring imported to Denmark, where Trix and Tamelone are the two of them and their brother Pericles v.h. Wald is the third. All three of them have won 1st prizes with top marks, especially for their trot, which is a testiment to how strong a stallion Killiam is, especially when it comes to movements. Tamelone is also both Medium Champion and Overall Reserve Champion, jut like Pericles, her brother, is also Mini Champion and Overall Reserve Champion. And even if that wasn't enough, Tamelones first foal, her son Hedegårdes Shdow, was shown at the danish stallions assesment in 2012 and also won the Medium Champion title. So i think these mares have a good chance to be excelent brood mares, giving me some high quality foals. I can't wait for their foals in 2013. Trix is in foal to my own Rupert Bear and Tamelone is in foal to the 1st prize palomino stallion, Stjernens Mini-Paschal, who won Mini Champion and Overall Reserve Champion at the 2012 stallions assesment.
The best experience in the show ring in 2012, was at the mares assesment when another one of my new additions, Stjernens Gucci-Rush, was classwinner, awarded a 1st prize and won Medium Reserve Champion!
It was a great experience and very unexpected, since Gucci was no where near show condition. She was really very fat to say the least!
But she managed to show her qualities despite the extra weight, and she even got a 9 for her foundation, which was one of her qualities that made me buy her in the first place.
I only has a single foal in 2012, but she was such a little charmer!
Sine foaled a beautiful little princess, Soffie, a foal with a huge personality and big beautiful eyes to fall in love with!
Since I was not going to keep Soffie, I was very happy to find her an exellent home in Shetland, where she will be a brood mare and show pony.
We had many lovely times in 2012, but unfortunately also some not so nice experiences.
Read all about it by clicking the News 2012 below.
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