Aaack!

This is my 'official' announcement -

I dropped my cell phone yesterday and watched it scatter into many pieces never to be seen as a whole phone again. :(

So if you need to reach me - call Mom or the farm number (leave a number on the machine!!!) and I will call you back ASAP.

The replacement phone should be here tomorrow, so all is not lost forever, just for a day or so longer.

Show News, Baby News, A fabulous dinner, Ebay listings...it's all here!

I'm still thinking about the lovely, delicious, savory, sweet, exquisite dinner we had at Chris & David's house last night...mmmmmmm. It was a great way to celebrate the Greek Easter but WOW!!! the food was amazing! Their house is beautiful and everything about the evening was perfect! It is always fun to meet the 'other half' of the friends we make through the horse side of our lives and expand the 'family'. We all shared funny stories about farm life with Carrie, Larry, Chris and David... :) There is nothing quite like a good tale that is enhanced by scrumptious food and good company!

A good summation of the meal would be best paraphrased by Homer Simpson- 'Mmmmmmmm!'




Mom and I made the trek down towards Cape May bright and early yesterday morning with Atreo and had another go with the PSG at Fidler Run Farm in Woodbine, NJ.

We unfortunately had to scoot right after I finished the test and I will update when I know my placing.




It was a treat to see some old friends and congratulations go out to Jennifer Allen on her precise execution of the Grand Prix Special! What a piaffe & passage her boy has!!! :)

Since we scooted out of the grounds shortly after we cooled Tray out, we did not get to say 'hi' to Sara Schmitt who was showing our old buddy - Willy (Worth The Wait) for his proud owner Susan...what a bummer that was as Willy rocked through the Fourth 2 & 3 with scores well over 65%!!!! Congratulations all around to Team Willy!!!!! Hopefully some photos will come through but more importantly - well done Willy!!!!! :)





On the baby news front -



Our mares are beginning to creep closer to their foaling dates but to wet your whistle - this is Doringcourt's first foal "Domino". He was born in Australia out of "Puzzle" by Rotspon...

Congratulations go out to his proud owners and we will keep you all updated with the news of 'Roy', his owners Sally & Ron and Andrea - who is the talented rider who rides this magnificent fellow!

I received a lovely email from the MacKnew family down in MD and they have named their Waldaire colt William Wallace LG...and there were some very cute photos which the computer will NOT allow me to download, save and then upload to the blog. It is very frustrating but please take my word for it - he is a sturdy fellow with good bone, long, correct legs and as soon as the computer sorts out the issue, I'll pop some photos of Will up so we can all see him. :)

Charna Watts down in TX welcomed a Waldaire filly from her lovely mare Queue yesterday! There were no surprises in terms of color but this is what she has to say about her latest addition at Magic Carpet Show Horses in Powederly, TX (http://www.magicarpetshowhorses.com/) - "big, long legged, tons of bone, but very feminine - dishy face, star, strip, 3 high whites. i'm very pleased. she's very calm and seems like an old soul. mom is doing well." and "she's gorgeous. lovely angles, beautiful muscling - strong - she was bouncing around even before she'd found any breakfast! one of the earliest i've ever seen get to her feet." I couldn't be happier for Charna and she said she'd fire off some photos ASAP...so my pledge continues - as soon as I get them, they'll be added here!

On a totally separate note, I am about to list a bunch of items on Ebay. We have done a bit of spring cleaning in the tack room & various closets here on the farm in an effort to re-home lots of useful things like shaped, show quality girths, dressage & jumping saddles (they're just extra and in nearly-new condition) and a bunch of show jackets in both Dressage and Hunter styles. If you would like an emailed list of items & sizes, just pop me a note and then we can save on the listing fees and other charges. Paypal is accepted for all of these items.

Interesting tidbits...

I thought I'd just add some of the news of the week prior to the show tomorrow at Fidler Run Farm.

The AWR/NASPR has gone to a an online format for their newsletter in a Go Green system change!! In doing so, it is also easier to connect to a larger audience beyond the membership. http://www.warmbloodnews.com is the link which will be updated with Classifieds, Bragging Rights, Show Results and Inspection information! So check out WWW.WARMBLOODNEWS.COM when you have a minute.

I am corresponding with the delightful owners of Doringcourt (Dressage Royal x Gazelle by Glueckpilz) in New Zealand.
They are just so nice and updates on his show results in New Zealand will be added as soon as I get them! One of the nicest parts of this new friendship is that the foaling season in the Southern Hemisphere is opposite of ours (April/May/June vs. October/November/December), so there should be lots of baby photos for us to look at year round! :) (what could be better than baby pictures???)

We just finished our spring/summer pasture rotation yesterday! Our yearlings have been sent out to the biggest pastures to enjoy running up and down hill like all young horses should. They also are making friends with their extended family of cousins, siblings and 'Aunties' with little fuss or drama. Their individual personalities really do shine through though...Daisy marches into a new setting and announces her arrival - I'm Daisy! Joy is more subdued and shy, hiding behind Daisy with big eyes and then cautiously approaching what might be DANGER! LOL She is too funny after coming up to whatever was scary, she trots off with so much suspension my jaw hits the earth. The boys are out in the bachelor group of geldings and Derek just trots around showing off his big gaits - the only hang up was that big brother Whodini can out-trot him...so a big trot was not a useful 'escape' gait! Puck was befuddled that his relatives were so pushy and BIG! - which is truly amusing as he is a large yearling who is going to be a big horse someday! :) Pictures to follow in a day or so, along with Oz's video from his last ride at Roddy's.

There are quite a few bits of 'Big News' that I am going to hang onto for a bit longer...but keep checking back!

Wizard WF came home a riding horse!

Oz has returned from Sport Horse Training, Inc. a big, grown up horse! He is at least 2 inches taller (a good thing). He has been to several different riding facilities, both indoor and outdoor (another good thing).



He trail rides alone or with company and hops over logs, crosses streams and is happy either in the front or the rear with companions (another good thing). Best of all, he has earned high praise from trainer Roddy - 'he's a good horse'.



So with that stamp of approval...Oz is home to continue his education. :)
















He has always been a very good boy who comes to the gate when you call - I just didn't get up to the fence in time to get the canter shots from the far end of the pasture...(sorry)






So that's a few photos from today. Some are a bit 'art-y', so bear with me! A link to some video will follow tomorrow. (it has been a long day - must sleep)

First Show for Atreo WF in 2009!

After a bit of a hiatus from showing in 2008 (life was a bit in the way...) the FEI horses, Tray and I got a lovely show in down at Morven Park! Mom was a good sport and chauffered us there and back again...wow! the traffic on the Baltimore Beltway was something else on the way home!!!! (watch out if you are traveling on 695!!!!) We did the Prix St. Georges and while the test was on the conservative side (totally intentional on my part), he was a very good boy who did a fine job of managing his show nerves on this adventure. With some 7's scattered in the body of the test, things are looking quite good for the rest of the show season.








So we are entered at Fidler Run's show next weekend and then there is the Delmarva Pony Club Dressage show the following weekend...Kitty has a couple of schooling days coming up with Sally, Oz comes home tomorrow, the stallions are making regular trips to SBS for clients and the baby season is fast approaching! Things are on the busy side here at Watermark Farm! :)


Also competing at this show - Waldaire's 'little' sister - Lladra (by Loerke)! She won her class with a 66% in the driving rain on Saturday...congratulations to owner/breeder, Randy on her success!

Jump School Photos!

Sally came over today and had a lovely school on Kitty (As You Wish WF). The thunderstorms were delayed - thank goodness - so we got a bit of video footage and some photographs!


















Link to Flat Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XIMMLlQus

Jumping Part I - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBC5O-vn7p8

Jumping Part II - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvtv-EgAdlE


Next week Sally & Kitty will be going offsite for a cross country school...which I am quite sure Kitty will enjoy! :)

Photos & video of that outing to follow!

More babies are arriving!!!

Well, I have gotten some good news back from breeders...
Wally has 2 new colts to his credit!

Congratulations go out to Dale on the arrival of her sturdy chestnut colt out of her lovely mare, Saratoga Punch!





And here is the proud human & equine mama's with 'their' baby boy!







Congratulations go out to the entire MacKnew family on their newest Waldaire! This guy was still wet when Barbara called me but he is out of their substantial mare, Hope. From what her message said, he has a hind sock and is dark, dark bay!!!

So as soon as I get some photos...they'll be UP so we can all drool over the cutest, snuggliest babies in the whole world...'til the next one arrives! LOL

Wyatt goes to a show!

Due to a last minute "Look What I Found on THE Closing Date" - Wyatt got to go down to Fair Hill today for the first of the Delaware Pony Club ( http://worknotes.com/DE/Delaware/DelawarePonyClub/photo4.stm ) dressage schooling shows!



There is another show on April 25th, so if you have a bit of a free day...come down and show! All proceeds go to benefit Delmarva Region -
it is a great way to support the local Pony Club and all the future riders! :)










Wyatt did First 3 & 4 and was a bit over the top to start and then he settled right down and went to work beautifully.
I couldn't be more proud as it seems like just a little while ago that I helped deliver him...





The judges praised his gaits - an 8! and he showed off his magnificent canter...
















Karin was able to steal some time from her busy schedule and brought her Grand Old

Lady Katrina for their second outing of 2009 at Training 2 & 4! They had a wonderful go and her son Zaki was there with a friend, so I will pester Karin for her video




camera to capture some of her big day too!













Everyone was so lovely from the organizer to the volunteers and the friendly guy with the food stand...and Patrick was there!!! (www.VideosByPatrick.com) so their is DVD footage of Wyatt that will get edited a bit and uploaded this week...promise! The weather was perfect! I just can't say enough about how nice it was to finally get to A SHOW! Oh wait...Morven Park is next weekend!

More Kitty photos!

Sally came over today between downpours and had a lovely school with Kitty splish splashing in the outdoor.








They did quite a bit of jumping but I had to jumpcrew in the puddles, so mom was manning the camera for that...
















But this is the biggie...I finally had the time to scan in the cross country photo from Jumping Branch... LOOK at those RAINDROPS!!!!