PRE Dressage Stallion
Conformation, Movement, Temperment, Rideabilty... Available for breeding to PRE mares and approved warmblood mares.
For more information please visit our Stallions Page or call Pam Nelson(owner/breeding manager) 831-673-0584.
Thank you to our sponsor, Contact Saddles, the California distributor of Albion Saddles. Contact them at 707-575-8637 or at www.contactsaddles.com to schedule a saddle fitting and experience the best in comfort for you and your horse.
Stefi, Dana, Shelley & Heidi toured San Francico … it was lots of fun… we saw The Castro, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf & Ghirardelli Square. We also toured the “Ocean Beach” area, Heidi had not even seen this place before.
Thanks very much to our awesome tour guide, Shelley’s husband, Dana!!!
Golden Gate Bridge
Balloon Boy on Fisherman's Wharf
Coit Tower & San Francisco Bay
Golden Gait Bridge
Stefi and Dan help unload Joh’s horses as they arrive at Villa Rosa from the Quarantine station in Los Angeles…Dan looks really happy!
Dan & Stefi
At Villa Rosa today, Stefi Wolf had lots of fun taking her first ride on an Andalusian.
She is pictured below with Tina Lavazzano’s FEI gelding Penaflor.
"Bueno !!"
Three new Sale Horses will be arriving from Johann Hinnemann’s this week. There is a 4 year-old, 5 year-old and 6 year-old. All geldings will super movement, great bloodlines (Fidermark, Sandro Hit, DeNiro, Rubinstein I) and excellent temperments.
Daumling, Flarinus & Rudi, leaving Joh’s Stable on their way to California!
Everyone had a great time at Juan’s last clinic at Villa Rosa. On Tuesday night Shelley & Dana hosted everyone for a fun get-together at their house….
L-R: Tia, Tina, Dan, Peggy, Dana, Sam, Becky, Juan, Shelley, Jim & Heidi
The Rancho Murieta Premier Show had gorgeous weather which made the successful show even that more fun…
Brian & Lombardo Warm-Up in "Tent City"
Brian & Lombardo in their 1st GP
- Brian Hafner and Lombardo rode their first Grand Prixs to a score of 65%. With this great result Brian earned his USDF GOLD MEDAL.
-Vicki Matisi & Rico has a super first show with wins at Training Level and First Level with scores to 71%.
-Allida Allen and Fred competed their first Prix St. Georges for good scores in the mid-60′s.
-Anne Marie & Gasper had a good go on Sunday to earn 2nd in Prix St. George with 62+%.
-Heidi & Chicago were 2nd in a large Prix St. George Class with 67%.
Heidi's Fashionable Cover-Up from Dad
Other news …
-Brenda Beare from LaJolla Equestrian Center earned her USDF SILVER MEDAL with her success on her own Spice.
-Klickitat’s first foal is due February 26, 2011, out of Jenny VanDeLoo’s Hannoverian mare – Tory.
Congratulations to Shelley and her PRE gelding Caro, who won the US PRE Training Scholarship for 2011. Click below to see them featured on www.dressagedaily.com and in Spain on www.topiberian.com.
We finally made it to Joh’s after the worst flight we’ve ever been on. Turbulents the entire way meant absolutely no sleeping. So, by the time we drove from Amsterdam to Voerde we were exhausted. Of course, Joh had plans for us immediately the next morning.
We went to the Global Dressage Forum at the Academy Bartels in Hooge Mierde, Netherlands. It was an amazing event.
Of course there was lots of heated discussions about the current judging system and possible alternative systems. There was ongoing banter between a whos who of international dressage.
Next we went to 3 different workshops. The first was a presentation by the FEI veterinary director, his presentation was “The Future of Doping and Medication”. It was very interesting and detailed regarding the FEI’s approach to doping.
The second workshop was for the Flexchair. In this presentation two physical therapists work along-side the dressage trainer to help the rider with her stability, posture, position and effectiveness in the saddle, via the use of the computerized Flexchair.
The third workshop was presented by Rob Renirie – Master Farrier and long-time team farrier for the Netherlands. His presentation: “Do not change the natural shape of the foot” detailed his approch in general and in detail to various types of horses hooves.
Lastly we were treated to a demonstration by Edward Gal and Nicole Werner training one of the horses in their stable. This demo was preceeded by Richard Davidson interviewing Edward. During the interview they spoke at length about Edward loss of Totalis. Edward was very emotional and visibly upset by his loss. Edward chose not to sit in during the video presentation of he and Totalis’s freestyle at the WEG. It was so very sad to see. So many people in the audience offered their condolences to Edward, Joh Hinnemann told Edward that “they (Edward & Totalis) were the best he has ever seen. This is really art. And in my opinion this masterpiece was not yet complete. For this reason it is very sad that they are seperated.” Well that did it…everyone was crying at that point.
No one knows yet who will compete Totalis in the future, but one thing is for sure, that Edward and Totalis have a special connection that will not be duplicated.
After this presentation we treated to another nicely catered meal. The presentation and hospitality for this event are really amazing. We would highly recommend anyone attending it if you get a chance.
Drive to and from the Global Dressage Forum we had the chance to see a little countryside, and maybe a new horse for Jim.
To see all our “Horses for Sale” videos please visit our YouTube.com Channel (vrdressage channel). Click on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/vrdressage#p/u
Once on our channel, there are small thumbnails of the the videos on the right hand side of the screen, there is also a clickable “see all”. Use this to search all our videos.
If you have trouble with the link above you can search vrdressage from the YouTube home page.
Well it’s our last day in KY. The excitement mounted as the GP Freestyle approached. The WEG grounds and shopping were absolutely packed. Forget getting any food or drink as the lines could easily take an hour. An estimated 25,000 people flooded into the grouds to watch the Freestyle, Despite the crowds Nancy, Kari, the Mother and Heidi all did their best to boost the US economy by shopping way too much.
15 horses competed in the Freestyle. Medals were:
Gold – Edward with Totalis (NED)
Silver – Laura B. (GBR)
Bronze- Steffen with Ravel (USA)
All three scored over 80%, while Edward topped 90%. Wow! What an amazing accomplishment for Steffen, 2 individual medals…outstanding!
Besides these three super freestyles, other highlights were : Fuego XII from Spain…the audience spontaneously broke into applause, cheering during his ride and at the end gave him a standing ovation. Most interesting was the audiences loud and determined booing of the judging when he was awarded with only an 81%. The other stand-out was Imke on Hunter Douglas Sunrise (NED). A traditional and beautiful freestyle with technically difficult movements perfectly matched to the piano concerto music..breathtaking. Her ride scored 82%. In many spectators’ opinion both of these rides could have been scored higher.
Little did we know that once the freestyle was over was when the real fun would start. WEG organizers seemed to have forgot that all those 25,000 people were going to have to leave the park and get to their houses and hotels.
We felt lucky that it only took us 2 hours to go the 5 miles from the park to our house. We didn’t arrive home until after mid-night, but I think many others were stuck for much longer than that. What a mess!
We found out yesterday that there is one other Kentucky item that we did not get to experience…”Road Kill Stew”. Glad we found out about that too late to try it!
Y’ALL CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK, WE HAVE SOME GREAT PICTURES WE WILL POST WHEN WE GET HOME..
Kari, Nancy, the Mother and I are very happy with our super cute country Kentucky home, and while in Kentucky, you must do as the Kentuckians do, so we have:
Drank Bourbon, toured Thoroughbred breeding farms, went out to dinner with Janne and friends, shopped at the International Equestrian Festival, went out to dinner with Phil, Margaret, Peggy & Karen, toured Keenland, drank Bourbon, ate Bourbon Balls, toured a Bourbon distillary, ate Hot Brown, went to the cute/historic Midway KY, toured Spy Coast Farm (sporthorses), ate Derby Pie, drank Kentucky Bourbon Ale and drank Bourbon..so far.
There are at least 100 of these painted horses around Lexington, each one is different.
We had a super fun tour today that included Keenland and several Thoroughbred farms.
Calumet Farm
Calumet Stallion Barn
Keenland - Colors of Recent Stakes Winners
Tomorrow is the Freestyle, we will be shopping at the WEG and then watching the Freestyle in the PM.
Crazed Fans/Shoppers
Even the Horses drink Bourbon in Kentucky
Steffen and Ravel did it!! In an excellent performance they captured the Individual Bronze Medal for the Grand Prix Special…it was a wonderful sight to see. Steffen was quite emotional on the podium (and rightfully so). I’m not sure if the USA has previously won an individual medal. We are going to check it out and let you know.
Medals were as follows:
GOLD MEDAL-Totilas with Edward Gal (NED)
SILVER MEDAL-Laura Bechtolsheimer with Mistal Hojris (GBR)
BRONZE MEDAL-Steffen Peters with Ravel(USA)
We are seeing everyone here including: Annamae, Nan, Patty, Patience, Beth, Chrissy, Janne, Lanis, Margaret, Phil, Peggy, Liz H, Karen, Shannon, Aikiko, Jennifer R, Jan O, Camille, Ed, Patrick and Carolyn…
We love Kentucky!!!! Very, very horsie. The first two days of the team dressage were quite dramatic. First of all the quality of the grand prix work has gone up dramatically. Nearly every horse in the field could execute all the movements, while most of them have quite good piaffe and passage work.
Then there were some that were just amazing, including: Dablino, DonPerignon, Fuego, Ravel, Wie Atlantico, Mistral Hjoris and of course Totilas, to name a few.
We also really enjoyed cheering, like the deranged fans that we are, for our friends Bonnie Bonnello (CAN) and Wie Atlantico (GBR) (Juan’s Grand Prix horse until he was purchased by Fiona Bigwood).
Bonnie
Scores toping 80% were Totilas and Mistral Hojris. Topping that drama was the fact that the Netherlands Parzival was eliminated due to blood in his mouth. So, the Netherlands had lost there #2 horse. But, it didn’t stop them…team medals were:
GOLD – Netherlands: Top on Team…Totilas 84.043,
SILVER-Great Britian: Top on Team…Mistral Hojris 82.511
BRONZE-Germany: Top on Team…Isabelle 75.404
Other top performers were: Steffen Peters (USA) 78.596, Fiona w/ Wie Atlantico (GRB) 70+, Fuego XII (ESP) 73.597.
Team Gold...The Netherlands
Team Gold...The Netherlands
Unfortunately, USA didn’t medal. In the future, I think that any team seriously wanting a medal will need to field 4 horses that can score consistently over 70%, in addition to having one star that can come close to 80%. WOW that is a tall order.
Anky just couldn’t keep herself out of the Dressage Arena, so she gave us a reining demo while the arena was prepared for the medals ceremony.
Kari and Heidi spent lots of time at the warm up arena today, along with 100s of other fans. After positioning ourselves in the front row hanging over the fence we were able to speak with Totilas’s farrier, and watch Totilas warm-up. It was really amazing to see up close… the quietness of the work combined with the extreme expression. AMAZING!!!!
(above: Netherlands Team Farrier)
Totilas in Warm Up
Do you ever make fun of the crazed fans at Football or NASCAR events, sitting out in the rain, freezing their bums off, just to watch their favorite sport? Well, guess what….
Crazed Fans! …Takes one to know one.
Thank goodness Kari had the foresight to insist that we buy these fashionable plastic ponchos from RiteAid the night before the competition. They came in real handy in the freezing rain. And yes, that is the Mother in a plastic poncho…
We’ve finally made it home from the the horse show in Las Vegas. The last day Saturday, was a whirlwind of activity that included the $5,000 musical freestyle class, and the PRE American Idol class, followed by a Horsie Variety Show called “Theatre of the Spanish Horse”.
On Saturday night, Fugitivo won the Freestyle and the $5,000. Klickitat was Second.
Tony with Burlador and Heidi with Klickitat, won the PRE American Idol class with their Zorro themed Pas de Duex.
Click below to see a video of their performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyB50Sx6QM8
FUGITIVO XII
Winner $5,000 Musical Freestyle
FEI High Point Champion
USDF Breed Show Grand Champion
KLICKITAT
Winner PRE American Idol class
2nd in $5,000 Musical Freestyle class
Winner 4th Level – Test 2
FARUCO
Winner CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
Winner Morphology & Functionality for Mature Stallions
Winner Get of Sire
BURLADOR
Winner PRE American Idol
5th Place Morphology & Functionality for Mature Stallions
VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!
It was a really fun week. We will definatley be back next year…
PS…check back in a few days for many more pictures.
South Point Las Vegas is a great place for a horse show. It is so nice to be staying the the same hotel with the horses. We can go down and see the horses anytime.
All the stalls are permanent stabling, climate controlled, no dust, wash racks have hot and cold water. Nice big restrooms, free ice machine use, a bar and snack shack.. It also has a really nice vendor area, Anyhow… we love it.
Both of the stallions were good boys today. Fugitivio did his first Prix St. George and also had a lot of success in the USDF Sport Horse Show.
FUGITIVO XII
Champion Sport Horse Stallion
Champion Mature Stallion
FEI High Point
Klickitat wasn’t quite as impressed with the big arena as we are. For his first test, after warming up really nicely, we went in the arena and he was totally terrified and I couldn’t get him past X. We got excused by the judge…..bummer. 2nd test we actually got all the way around the arena…whoohooo….he was still scared but did a better job of holding it together. We ended up winning that Fourth Level-Test 2 class.