Breeding for 2008

After returning from the stallion show it is time to get serious about a list of stallions for breeding in 2008. Like most breeders we started with a “wish list” which we now will refine to some serious choices.

Veganieta ,Jazz/Zeolete, has had two foals one Donnatelli and a Sandreo. Both are great foals but we want to try something new on this mare until we see what works the best. We now have had four Sandreo foals and we want to see these develop before we have more. At this time Brentana II is on the list. Brentana II has made some great horses and we have a dose of frozen semen in the tank. The other real possibility is Sir Oldenburg. He was impressive at the stallion show and was very easy to handle when I saw him at Reesink horses. Photos and video are at http://www.reesinkhorses.nl/stallions_details.php?tar=paard&Paardid=58


Vuzarma ,Hamlet/Purioso, is an easy choice. She is in foal to Verdi and I saw Verdi jump at the stallion show but he looked wonderful, careful with lots of go. But with her last year colt, Charlton by Concorde, it will be Concorde again this year. Concorde sons are doing very well in sport and this colt shows movement that could make him a dressage prospect. Hamlet now is very desirable blood now that Hickstead is doing so well.

Florentina is in foal to Johnson. Johnson won his class at Den Bosch and the Pavo cup. His foals are causing a lot of excitement in Holland. We have two foals from Sandreo by this mare. Johnson is a Jazz son and a bit of Jazz “go” could be used on this mare by Florestan. Unless the foal tells us differently we will breed her back to Johnston.

Verginia .Welt Hit II/Zeolete Had a wonderful filly by Donatelli and lost a pregnancy by Londonderry this year. We are planning on Sir Oldenburg for her to give some refinement and his good mind. Also, Sir Oldenburg has a lot of jumping blood and this usually improves the canter on the Weltmyre line


Zinosa , Tango/Purioso, is bred to Lord Sinclair and we will decide when we see the foal but going back to Lord Sinclair is a possibility. Also, another choice is Sir Oldenburg. A real possibility is that we would put this mare back in work after weaning this fall.

Wiscalina , Jet Set/Haarlem, has had two colts one by Donnatelli and one by Sandreo. We may continue to train her or breed her back. From the appearance of this years colt Sandreo looks like a good cross with this mare.

Virtual Rose, Idocus/Quattro is in foal to Viva Voltaire. She did not settle with frozen semen and this is a stallion which has made some great offspring. IF the foal looks good then she will be bred back to Viva Voltaire this year.

This is our thinking at this time but there still lots of considerations. We would like to have a Quattro like our Zandman and many of the Quattro offspring we have seen. However, Quattro semen is not the best frozen. We could try on breeding and hope to get lucky.

Stallion Show

We are just back from the Stallion Show in Den Bosch in Holland. Stallion selection is done on a formula which selects the best of three year old stallions to go into breeding. The first round is held in the fall with breeders bringing approximately 750 three year old stallions to the committee. From these about 125 are selected for second round. The selection of these is done as a public event over four days where about forty dressage and jumping stallions are selected to go to the final test where they are trained and ridden. From these approximately 15 will we given tempory approval and then finally approved when they have several foal crops on the ground.

It was a great opportunity to see groups of offspring from each stallion. Stallions such as Jazz, Rousseau and Krack C were well represented. In this second round there was a full brother of our Zandman , Quattro/Cavalier. Also, there was a half brother of Wiseman by Sandreo and a very nice Florestan from Vaganieta’s mare line.

The stallions from previous years approvals were also brought back. Generally four or five from each year up to eight year olds and then another group of stallions doing FEI level. From these we were able to see last years champion, Westpoint. Florencio and Johnson were presented and won top scores for their group.

We got to see Krack C ‘s last ride as he was retired from showing at the event. We also saw Welt Hit II receive his Keur designate. It was easy to see how our Verginia got her build from her sire Welt hit II.

We were able to visit breeders and see stallions for two days following the show. We visited Team Nijhof and VDL studs. Of all the stallions we saw the most exciting was Sir Oldenburg and he will be definitely in our breeding plans.

Winter training.

It is winter here as you can see from our pictures of horses in the snow. During the winter we scale back on training but still keep going to be ready for the spring. We vary activities depending on the weather. When it is -20 C it is not plesant to ride,even indoors, and there is always problems getting sweaty horses cooled out with them getting a chill. The young stock and brood mares enjoy the cold weather. They roll in the snow and stand in the sun on clear days.

This week we free jumped Zanientha , "ZOE" is her stable name. She had been free jumped last summer in the outdoor arena. Now is the time to introduce her to the fun of jumping indoors. Young horses are always puzzeled by new things in the arena but the "jumping blood" soon comes through and they realize they can jump indoors. This takes several rounds with an introduction and then some smaller fences to give them the feel of the jumps. At this stage they learn that the jumps can be changed and they must watch and change their jumping pattern. Again the horses that are bred to jump quickly pick up the details. We have done a second round with Zoe and the viseo of it is posted at http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=1344&CID=159485 The jumps are small yet but her technique looks like a pro. Next week we will have another round and raise the jumps to give more of a challange. It is very important to never over face young horses and discourage them.

In the winter we miss being able to hack out the young horses. This is an important part of their training an development. It is critical for both their young mind and bodies to learn to travel out on the trails.

Wiseman is in full training with Cindy Matheson. He is coming five and will be ready to compete in the five year old tests next summer. He is getting more developed and is looking like a real dressage horse.

Soon it will be spring and training will be back in full swing.

Fence Talk

These two geldings looked like they were having an argument over the fence. Could it be"My Dad, Quattro, jumped in more Grand Prix than your dad , Concorde."

Snow Days!

LET IT SNOW !!!

Welcome to December

Zanientha for Sale

We are offering Zanientha for sale. She is coming four and has been free jumped, started under saddle, and hacked. "Zoe" is 16.2, very confident and is eager and shows good form over fences. She is ready to to go to work and with her pedigree we expect she should go on to jump at the highest levels.

First Snow

We had our first real snow and the foals were out for a run. The five of them have been weaned and are setteled with out the mares. We wean gradually with the foals being seperated from the mares to eat pellets for longer peroids of time. Finally they are seperated for the last time. There is two or three days of complaining but it is over soon. Weaning a group is much easier than a single foal as there is a group to keep each other company.

MAPLES AND HORSES

Fall Colours

It is fall and the trees are showing some color and the foals soon will be weaned but in the meantime there is lots of time for "horse play"

Its Fall

Its fall and the mist rises from the pasture at sunrise !

Mares and Foals

The five mares and the five foals now all go out to pasture together. The foals range in age from six months to six weeks.

Silk Rose Photo Shoot

Here are some new photos of Zijde Roos (Burggraaf/Hofnar) that we took this morning.

Wiseman Photo Shoot

Here are some new pictures of Wiseman (Lord Sinclair/Lancet) that were taken the other day.

Foals for next year

The breeding seasom is over at New Perth Farms and these are the foal we will be expecting for next year if all goes well:

Florentina (Florestan/Pilot) in Foal to Johnson (Jazz/Flemingh)

Verginia (Welt Hit II/Zeolet) in foal to Londonderry

Zinosa (Tango/Purioso) in foal to Lord Sinclair

Vuzarma (Hamlet/Purioso) in foal Verdi (Quidam de Revel /Landgraf)

Virtual Rose (Idocus/Quattro) in foal to Viva Voltair

Veganieta (Jazz/Zeoliet) an ET pregnancy to Sandraeo (Sandro Hit/ Flemmingh)
pregnancy to be carried by Kelsey.

Open House Pictures

The Open House was a huge success!! There were quite a few people out to see the horses. The horses were all dressed up and were presented themselves very well! Here are some of the pictures we took during the open house.

In order from top to bottem the pictures are of: The crowd, Zidje Roos freejumping, Waltzelina and Crispin, Vuzarma and Charlton, Virginia and Celeste, Martha Mellish riding Wiseman, and Ken, Teresa, and Martha Mellish of team New Perth Farms.

Getting Ready For The Open House

Zoey welcomes you to New Perth Farms. The three year olds were looking great for the open house. In order from top to bottem is Zandman, Zanientha, and Zinosa.

OPEN HOUSE

NEW PERTH FARMS will have an OPEN HOUSE on Thursday August 16th at 6 to 8 pm. This will be an opportunity to see free jumping, dressage demonstrations, young horses in training and see our new foals.


To find New Perth Farms:
From Charlottetown, take Route 1 South across the harbor bridge. After approximately 16km turn left onto Route 3, where it is signed to Montague. After approximately 16km on the right hand side of the road, turn in at the Canada flag. Civic number 2811
From the Wood Islands Ferry, follow the signs to Montague on Route 4, go through Montague going North and make a left when you come to the intersection with Route 3(Whim Inn corner), we are on the left approximately 3km. Turn in at the flag.

Yearling Photo Shoot

This time of year is a good time to get the yearlings out to see how they are coming along! They have all grown a lot and are starting to fill out. From top picture to bottem they are: Bastion(Sandreo/Florestan), Bolshoy(Donetelli/Jet Set D), and Bagatelle(Donatelli/Jazz)