NEWS AND GENERAL HAPPENINGS AROUND THE FARM

      2007 started out with a much anticipated arrival of a big pretty filly by Robijn and sired by Flemmingh. Named her Cupcake. Her arrival was really exciting because i had been wanting an offspring by this stallion for so many years but hadn't been able to justify the expense and risk of importing the semen from Holland with no foal guarantee. Finally the VDL stud in Holland and Majestic Gaits farm in the USA made breeding to him here possible and so i bred two mares to him for 07. Cupcake is as I had expected, long legged, bay, somewhat refined but tall, and a light-on-her- feet mover. So that was a good thing to start out with.
     In early April Jeff Moore taught a dressage clinic here for 4 days. (he has done this for about 15 years now in the spring and again in the fall.) As always Jeff covered a vast range of topics and techniques and all the riders got a bit more enlightenment into how to ride and train these beasts.
     Later in the spring, with the incredible coaching help of Sterling Graburn at his farm Kingsforth Hall, my husband Mark, and I prepared Sunset Beach for our first outing at an official CDE (combined driving event). We went out at training level at the Gayla CDE in Louisville , KY in May and just had alot of fun. Sunset was fabulous in her dressage test putting a solid margin of 10 points between us and the next driver. then for cones we did a spot of bowling and knocked several balls off the cones and picked up 9 points leaving only 1 point between us and 2cd place to go into the marathon. But Sunset was so solid. She is the Hum V of the horse world. the classic workaholic, stoic, methodical, and powerful. We had a great go and Mark, husband, best friend, and new navigator kept us right on our times, kept my brain in place going thru the hazards, and most importantly kept the carriage on all 4 wheels. And so we took home lots of loot, division winner, dressage top score, etc etc. etc. Winning truely may or maynot be everything, but when it does happen it sure beats anything else that i know of for the moment.
    Then a late foal by Joline, another filly again by Flemmingh, arrived, another bay, small star, more compact in build, and very fancy mover. it is always a good part of the year when the babies have hatched safely and are sound and healthy. When you get lucky and have two super ones in one season it is really great. It was too late to rebreed in 07 for both mares so no foals are expected this '08 season, but focus will be on getting the mares bred for '09 foals.
    After the brutally hot August and September, in October we took 3 horses to the KWPN/NA Keuring in Atlanta. Joline and her '07 filly Cistine, and Wizard, Joline's '03 gelding by Darwin. Wizard earned his brand and the filly was given the much sought after orange ribbon and First Premium. Joline is no spring chicken at 17 and hasnt been in work for years while she has been making nice foals for me, but when she entered the arena it took my breath away to see her pick herself up and float around with Cistine and the handler. There were alot of gasps from the crowd too as they moved as one never seeming to touch the ground. The judges were impressed.
      Moving this number of horses around doesn't just happen. It is just high stress traveling with young horses. It took all the help of my daughter Emily, her husband Trey, Mark, my long time riding buddy Tony (Trey's mom) , and myself to get the horses there and back safely. We had a great time getting all the grooming and polishing done drinking some nice red wine and nibbling on goodies courtesy of Tony. Coming home with a First Premium foal wasn't bad either.
       Team Windhover had a good year with some good luck and some very hard work by the afore mentioned folks as well as some that don't get the credit they deserve or get to take home any ribbons. Without my farrier Hank Immler's skill and commitment to his craft my horses couldn't work at the level I ask of them. And without the caring intelligence and experience of my veterinarians, Dr Robby Crum and Dr Ed Murray they couldn't stay healthy and sound, or make these wonderful foals.
.      '07 came and went in a hurry. and seems '08 is already in a bit of a rush. my plans for now are to scale back a bit on the size of my herd to ease the load. chill out a bit and enjoy. thats the plan anyway.
                                                     margaret