Curly Standard Place

Sharing *Serenade

2012-01-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been almost two weeks since we said good-bye to Cap. He was a good friend and constant companion to my dear friend Maryan - who is understandably heartsick about losing him.

So, I did quite a bit of soul searching and finally convinced myself that I can share *Serenade with Maryan. The truth is that I am absolutely loving riding *Serenade and she has been so important in the healing of my chronic neck injury, but even before any of this happened I had already talked to Maryan about her grand-daughter coming to ride Serenade this summer and Maryan already tried her Serenade out. And, the fact is I won't have the time to ride Serenade as much as she should be ridden and she will really blossom with Maryan!!

Now, I know down the road that Maryan will be looking to get herself another horse and that is fine. I know my friend and I know she loves having her own horse! And, like I told her once we put this other sadness aside horse shopping can actually be fun. But in the meantime, she can lean on *Serenade, spend time with her, dote on her and it will only be very good for both of them.

So here I am lifting my glass to both *Serenade and Maryan - I hope they can enjoy each others company for the time being and we will see what the future holds for us all..... Maryan says she can ride *Serenade in endurance for me this year - that would be awesome!
Shelly
Curly Standard Place

Good-bye to a friend

2012-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

Last week our older Arabian gelding Captiwijon (affectionaely known as Cap) slipped on the ice after a night of freezing rain. At the time he seemed to be okay, maybe a little tender on his back end, but really seemed okay. We moved him anyway from the icy area to somewhere with good footing. So a couple of days ago I went out to feed them in the a.m and he was on three legs - his right hind leg was just dangling, looked broken to me. The vet was called, x-rays were taken and they were inconclusive but it was decided that we would give him a couple of days to see if he could recover from it. That night he laid down in the deeply bedded stall and in the morning it was clear that he wanted up but couldn't do it on his own. We have a lot of wonderful neighbours and friends and with about 8 of us assisting him he was able to get up. He had a pretty good day, lots of drugs to keep him comfortable and his owner (she boards him here) spent the whole day with him and then stayed over night last night with him.

This morning it was pretty clear that his three good legs were just not going to be able to hold him up much longer. The decision to call the vet back was made and he came out right away and kindly, humanely put the old fellow down. What a sad sad day for us and especially my dear friend Maryan - she truly and sincerely loved that horse.

Now a bit of celebration of his life.
We were introduced to Cap 6 years ago when he was an 18 year old stallion.
He was originally purchased out of California by his then owner for quite a bit of $$ - this was during the hey day of Arabian breeding, before the horse market fell apart. At the same time a lovely little bay mare was purchased, Calika, she and Cap have been together their whole lives.
When he was 18, Maryan and I purchased him as a stallion - we were very impressed with him and his very good manners - but he was not trained to ride and we soon fixed that and had him under saddle before long.
In the Spring we bred him to *Bijou and ever after that he had a special place in his heart for her - he loved her!
We then decided that he was going to be the perfect riding partner for Maryan so we had him gelded and then they really became fast and close partners.
Not long after that, Calika's owner brought here to board as well - they were reunited!
Maryan rode him all year round - she doted on him, cared for him, just adored this funny old horse and it was mutual - he adored her right back.

Today we said good-bye to him - he fought to overcome this for two and a half long days, but it was pretty obvious this a.m. that there was only one final act of kindness for him.
Good-bye Cap - you funny, silly, brave and very lovely boy.

Shelly
Curly Standard Placw

I forgot about *Tessa!

2012-01-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

How could I forget about my main riding partner?! I have been trying to keep up my training and fitness level on *Tessa, along with riding/training all the other horses that I am currently working with, it has been fun, but also a lot of work!

*Tessa is like my crown jewel - I simply adore her, she is a daughter of my deceased mare *Chip's Barefoot Babe (Babe was a piece of my heart!) and her sire is *Spartacus, so she has really excellent breeding and obviously the ability to go in lots of directions.

I have shown her in dressage and endurance and done some jumping with her and lots of trail miles. She has had two wonderful foals for us, both sired by *Sandman, a lovely grulla pinto filly 5 years ago and in 2010 she had a gorgeous black filly.

So, *Tessa has always been a horse with quite a bit of "go" and she has a spook serious enough in her that I would never consider her a beginner's horse! But a year ago when I put her back to work (after weaning her foal) she was just SO much worse than she has ever been - she has been a bundle of nerves that at times has been at best unpleasant to ride and sometimes even seemed to be a bit dangerous, both to me and to herself!

Most cases of horses changing their behaviour so drastically can be pinpointed to being pain related, so I have begun a quest to find out what element has changed for *Tessa - I want my horse back! I started with treating her for ulcers, and this month I will have the chiropractor look at her, but in the meantime I read something about minerals that sounded like it could be her problem. You see, when my mares are pregnant and lactating they get a loose mineral fed to them every day to make sure that their foals are getting enough minerals to grow properly. Once weaned they foal then gets the minerals fed daily until they are about 2 or 3 years old. Of course *Tessa was no exception, she was fed the minerals until she was 3 and she was bred at that age and continued to get them through her pregnancy and beyond. Anyhow, when I did all the math, it has been this last year when she has NOT received the minerals that her behaviour became over the top. So I have put her back on the loose mineral and also on a daily dose of magnesium, she has been on this for about a month now and I think I DO see a difference. Yesterday I took her out for a VERY pleasant trail ride, best I have had with her in a long long time - I am SO happy to have my horse back!

So the lesson here is that if a horse suddenly changes - there is a reason for it and we need to track it down and "make it better!".

I don't have any current pictures of *Tess as we have been riding mostly solo - but here are a couple from last year - she is like a fairy tale horse LOL. Well, the first photo is fairly recent :)
Shelly
Curly Standard Place

Its a whole new year!

2012-01-03T08:35:00.000-08:00

Yes, 2012 is upon us and if the beginning of this year (weather-wise) is anything like the end of 2011, we are in for a lot of riding! We have had such a great Fall/early Winter riding season already that I have made a lot of progress with several of the horses that I am currently riding.....

*Spiffy (in my last blog) has gone on to her new home with a wonderful family, they are new to horses but really doing a lot to learn and *Spiff is helping them all she can :) - in their own words "we are having both a lot of fun and some challenges with *Spiffy), well, isn't that the way it always is with horses?!

*Serenade continues to be a wonder to ride and she is getting fitter and happier to go out each day I ride her - and that is 3 - 4 times a week. She seems to be completely sound now as well, which we are all thrilled about!

I also made pretty good progress with *'Flame, she is now under saddle and doing well in the preliminary phases. I think I will put the rest on hold for her though - as she is looking pregnant (gosh, can't wait for her *Icon baby!).

*Charm has become a very fun and forward riding horse - she will be an amazing endurance horse! We are really looking forward to this spring and the upcoming endurance season!

And, *Joe. I had put *Joe's training on hold for a couple of months and then I sent him to the young cowboy trainer that I use locally. He put 30 days on *Joe for me - mostly on the trail - and he said that *Joe did great. He said that *Joe is a great horse with a distinct personality" - yep, that describes *Joe. Now, my young neighbour/friend is going to ride *Joe for me for another 30 days, she is mostly an eventing rider, but she is a very good rider/handler and I know that *Joe will do great with her too!

So stay tuned - there is lots more exciting stuff to come from the Curly Standard Place in 2012!
Shelly
Curly Standard Place Website

Three *Sandman girls

2011-11-14T22:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I looked at my blog to see when the last post was and I was kind of surprised to see it was August! I guess I have had a pretty busy Fall and while this is a good thing for the progress of my horses in training obviously other areas got neglected.... :)

I was really lucky this year to be riding and training THREE young mares from *Sandman, all at the same time.
*Spiffy Curl is a 2008 Curly pony mare that I trained to ride and then she went on to her new home with a family that has allergies - they came to meet her, tested her and decided that she would be a welcome addition to their family. I got the fun job of training her for them and she was really wonderful - accepting of all that we did and I really got to enjoy her for the time she was under saddle with me. Here we are out on the trail - not too long before she went to her new home:

The second one is *Sandman's Serenade - she is a 2007 Curly/Arabian mare that had a really bad injury to her shoulder muscle as a weanling and it has taken her literally years to heal. She is nearly sound now and as part of her rehab I have been riding her 4 - 5 times per week. An unexpected, wonderful side benefit of this riding is that "my" chronic neck injury seems to be benefiting from *Serenade's smooth stride and her calm and easy going nature. We are getting sound together!
Here I am with her on the trail the other day:

I know these two girls look much the same, but they aren't that similar - well, they are half sisters of course, but both were born black and have the grey gene from their (different) dams. *Spiffy is only about 13hh and *Serenade is close to 15hh so they are different in that aspect!

The third mare is our lovely copper dun 2005 mare *Shesa Magic Charm. After about 18 months off to have her filly Ballet Dancer, it is like *Charm had no time off from riding at all - after a short lunging session I hopped right on and she was just super!
*Charm is offered for sale - she can be rebred to our new young Curly stallion *BCF Icon for a really wonderful sporty foal! Here is *Charm with Anastasia the other day:

Well that is it for now! I hope I can post more updates more often now that Winter is just around the corner.... but I have sure been enjoying all my time in the saddle this Fall!
Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Endurance Rides Again!

2011-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

July 31st was the date for our second endurance ride of this season. This ride was less than half an hour from our house so we took the horses up the night before to have them vetted and then we took them home and turned them out. We loaded up early on Sunday a.m. and went to the ride. I think this was a very good decision on our part as our horses were calm and relaxed - obviously had had a good rest at home before the ride.

I was especially pleased with Tessa - she has had some issues this year for sure and yet at this ride she was wonderfully calm and had a great attitude. As soon as I got on her I could tell we were going to have a great ride - and we did! She paced herself very well and reached 60 bpm easily when we returned to camp for our mid ride vet check. She also pulsed down at the end of the ride pretty much right away - this is a big improvement from the last ride and I was very pleased!

Tessa and I placed 11th, WSL placed 12th and Anastasia and Bijou placed 13th - this was out of 48 horse/rider teams so that was a great placing IMO!

Here are a few pictures that someone took of us at the ride - there are more somewhere, I will find them eventually! This first one is WSL, me and Anastasia heading out on our first loop.

This second one is Tessa at her first vet check - hmmm a bath might be in order here LOL!

And this is Anastasia and Bijou - what a great team!

Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com

Newest addition

2011-06-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here at the Curly Standard Place we are continually striving to improve on breeding outcomes and in order to do this we are always on the look out for outstanding horses to add to our riding and breeding programs.

We were lucky to be offered the truly lovely young purebred Arabian mare Soledad. She is a 2009 registered Arabian and we are really looking forward to seeing how she grows up! She is to be used for riding, of course, but she will also likely be contributing to our breeding program eventually as well.

Please welcome Soledad!

Ballet Dancer

2011-06-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

We are just "LOVIN'" this foal. This is the sweetest, most friendly, darling foal that we have had born here - she is just exceptional!

Newest arrival

2011-05-30T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well our final foal of the season has arrived! This foal is a first in many ways.
She is a first foal for our homebred mare *Shesa Magic Charm (aka *Charm)

She is a first foal for our homebred pony stallion *Bobble Head

She is the first *Sandman grand-foal born here (*Sandman is *Charm's sire)
She is the first foal to be one of three generations here on our farm - very cool! So, without further adieu, here is the beautiful red dun filly foal from *Charm and *Bobble!

Honorable mention MUST go to the Quarab pinto pony that we used to own Absolutely Charming (aka Abby). Abby is *Charm's dam. Abby is here for a few weeks for a riding refresher, so she got to be here when her grand-baby was born - it is really neat to see all three generations together!
Here is Abby:

Shelly in Summerland
Curly Standard Place

Easter Delivery!

2011-04-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday - at the lovely hour of 8:30 in the morning, our beautiful snowcap Appaloosa mare Poplar's Sea Pearl gave birth to an Easter baby :) yet, another filly - this has been a year of fillies for us so far! So far this filly has minimal appaloosa colour in her coat - but she has all the characteristics markings of an appy, which mostly likely means she will get more colour as she matures. Here is a picture of her dam:

Here are photos of the lovely filly :) She belongs to my friend Joan Collins.

Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Curly Standard Place happenings

2011-04-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

*Icon and Divinity are settling in - Anastasia lunged D yesterday and they did great :) I gave *Icon a bath yesterday and he was such a good boy! He will have to be good for baths, with all that white on him! Here are a couple of pictures of him stretching his legs:

He sure is a beautiful boy! I am just so excited to have him!

We went for a trail ride this weekend and got this photo of WSL and I - it was a great ride!

Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

2011-04-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

We have been afforded the privilege of adding to our herd an incredible quality black pinto Curly stallion *BCF Icon.

*Icon comes from the top notch Curly breeding program of Bashcurl Farm in Jefferson, Georgia. He made the long trip from GA to our farm in Summerland, BC in March of 2011.

We are incredibly thrilled to have this horse here now and we will promote, show, breed him to the best of our ability. He will be and exceptional cross with our *Sandman daughters and he will also be available to outside mares for breeding.
Shelly in Summerland, BC Canada
Curly Standard Place

DKH Lacey has a girl!

2011-03-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

In the early hours of today (March 28th, 2011) DKH Lacey, our s/c Curly mare gave birth to a HUGE Curly filly! Lacey was a very good girl and event though she is still hesitant around people she was very tolerant of us being in attendance of her giving birth. The filly is huge, healthy happy and vigorous! I am going to regretfully offer her for sale - these big Curlies are hard to come by though - so someone will get a really special horse!

Anyhow, our foaling season is going well - two safely on the ground, two to go! We couldn't be happier!
Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Beautiful new baby girl!

2011-03-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

March 20, 2011, our beautiful and athletic purebred Arabian mare Mirage has given birth to a perfect, bright red, sabino, purebred Arabian filly. Here she is!

So far we haven't yet named her, but stay tuned as we will come up with something perfect for this wonderful new addition to our farm.
She is perky, athletic, healthy and very very friendly - typical Arabian! These are just some of the reasons that I love to cross our Curlies with Arabians. This filly will be an eventual replacement for our mare Mirage, but we have plans to rebreed Mirage to *Icon for a 2012 foal. Wow, that will be another exceptional cross!
Here is one more of the little sweetie.

Shelly
Curly Standard Place

More exciting news!

2011-03-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

*BCF Divinity - yes, this is our second big announcement. This "exceptional" mare will be coming to our farm at the same time when we get *BCF Icon. This mare is all that a sport-type Curly horse should be, here is what her former owner says on her website about Divinity:

2004 Curly Sporthorse Mare - Infinite Potential
If you want to take a curly Grand Prix competitively - This is the horse for you.
The experts say this one has what it takes to go ALL THE WAY !!

We are incredibly excited to have this mare at our farm. Anastasia in particular as she intends to ride and show Divinity!

Stay tuned on how she does for us :)

Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Our Big Announcement - please welcome *BCF Icon !

2011-02-28T22:36:00.001-08:00

Okay - here is the big announcement! I have been breeding Curly horses for about 10 years now and I have been more than happy with my stallion Sandman's Magic. However, I do know that new blood is needed in a breeding program and I have kept my eyes open for a stallion that I think could be the next generation of Curly, one that could compliment my SM babies and also be of exceptional quality to offer at stud. I found him - please welcome BCF Icon.

Poplar's Sea Pearl

2011-02-25T09:15:00.001-08:00

Poplar's Sea Pearl is another horse at the Curly Standard Place that I don't talk about too much.

She is an absolutely gorgeous, loud, snowcap, registered Appaloosa mare. Snowcaps are known to be 100% colour producers! Pearl came to me from the excellent breeding program of Joan Collins in Oregon. Joan has been a huge help to me for all the time I have been breeding Curlies - including helping me to find my *Sandman originally! At one time she even owned *Sandman's sire, *Juper's Magic Carpet. As a segway - here is a photo of *Juper's Magic Carpet, aka *Cooper:

Okay - so more about Pearl :)
Pearl is so lovely - but she is more than that, she has the most calm, wonderful, gentle temperament and I just know she will pass this on to her foals. She is bred to *Sandman for a guaranteed colorful, Curly foal, she is due in March/April, so pretty soon! This first foal goes back to Joan - she no longer has any Curlies, so I guess she wanted to have one and why not have the whole package?! With Pearl and *Sandman, this foal is sure to be outstanding.
Pearl is also a very well bred Appaloosa - here is a link to her pedigree.
Here are a few more photos of her. She has not been offered for sale, but she will be bred back to *Sandman for a 2012 foal and I would consider selling or leasing her to a really great home.

Enjoy and tell your friends about my horses and my blog LOL.
Shelly in Summerland, BC Canada
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

All the horses of the Curly Standard Place

2011-02-11T22:44:00.000-08:00

I have quite a few horses - some of them I rarely talk about as they are keepers an I have no plans to sell them. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about each of them - I will try to o one a week :)

So last week I said a few words about Mirage - she is my oh-so-fun Arabian mare. This week I will talk about her daughter *Sandman's Serenade *Serenade is sired by our stallion *Sandman's Magic and she was born in 2007, which means she is rising 4 this year and we are starting her under saddle. She has the most delightful, sweet temperament of any horse that you might hope to meet- absolutely wonderful. She has a good work ethic and we are really looking forward to riding her this year. Myself, I am really hoping that she is as competitive as her dam - if she is then she will be just amazing and perhaps a horse that we can do 50 or even 100 mile endurance rides on eventually! *Serenade is no very big, but she is already a bit bigger than her dam - I measured her the other day, she was 14.3hh, this surprised me as I didn't think she was quite that tall, but there you go!

Here are a few photos of her working on the lunge line and one of her with my allergic daughter Anastasia.

Until next time :)
Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

RJ Light Serenade (aka Mirage)

2011-02-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

This post is not about Curlies - it is about my purebred Arabian mare RJ Light Serenade, aka Mirage. Mirage is on of my all time favorite riding horses, she is full of GO and yet fun and easy to ride for an experienced rider.
Here is a picture of us on one of our endurance rides together, she is preggers in this photo!

So Mirage is due to have her second foal for us next month - she is quite gigantic! I spent quite a bit of time today grooming her- she is shedding like crazy and she loved the attention!

Here re a couple of pictures of purebred Arabian stallion that she is bred to:

Fantastic colour on this boy - we are hoping he throws a bit of it my way! I am really hoping for a filly to replace Mirage eventually - she is a fantastic mare and she is now 18 - she has an old leg injury that will dictate how many more years I get to enjoy my girl.

The first foal that we had from Mirage was almost 4 years ago now - she was a *Sandman baby - ooops! This IS about Curlies too! Anyhow, here is Mirages 2007 filly *Sandman' Serenade - a real chip off of both mom and dad.

Until next time!
Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Learning all the time

2011-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading the book Whole Horse, Whole Heart Whole Horse by Mark Rashid (thanks Maryan for lending it to me and insisting that I read it :). This book was just full of information that I already knew (confirmed it for me) but also full on things that I had thought I knew, but this book clarified it for me, and, of course I learned quite a bit too!

In one chapter he talks about being a young boy and having a horse "The Black" that he bonded in a way that each the boy and the horse gave all of themselves to each other. Mutual trust, respect and love for each other. He explains that even though this does not occur for all of us who love horses, he is very glad that he got to experience it and experience it so early in his horse career as it showed him what kind of relationship could be attained with horses.

I have loved and owned horses all my like, but never did I have a horse like Amazing Grace. She and I bonded in a way that I couldn't explain to people and before reading this book I didn't even know that anyone else had experienced this type of relationship with a horse. When I climbed on Gracie to go for a ride it was like coming home - we belonged with each other.

I have always loved horses, I have owned them since I was 11 years old, I will always love horses, but I have to admit that since Gracie died unexpectedly a couple of years ago that I do not have the same zest that I did while she was here. Now, each new horse that I get - whether purchased or born here, I look and look at that horse "will this one be like Gracie?" and so far none of them have been. I do enjoy and love each and every one of them, but it is like I will now always be searching for that something extra special that Gracie and I had. If I am very lucky, I may find it again.
Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

A busy January for us!

2011-01-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been doing lots of things with the horses so far this month, I have been riding *Joe at least three - usually four times a week and we are seeing really good progress.

He is fast becoming a really nice riding partner and I am looking forward to continuing our progress together.

Next is *Sandman's Serenade - she is also a Curly/Arabian and we have high hopes for this filly - she is an absolute delight to work with and train - she loves attention and she tries very hard to get things right. My daughter Anastasia has done most of the ground work with *Serenade and now that Anastasia is in university full time I have taken over with *Serenade - here she is in her lessons:

The third horse I have been working with, to get started under saddle is the lovely lady *My New Flame - this is a very pretty young mare that has the most amazing movement - she will really turn judges heads in the dressage ring! But first, I need to get her started under saddle - she is now lunging well and wearing a saddle too - taking it all in stride!

The winter riding conditions so far this year have been really great and we have been taking *Bijou and *Tessa out as often as possible - a couple of times a week.

Well, that is it for now - more news as it happens!

working with *Joe

2011-01-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here is my Curly/Arabian gelding *Joe http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=116 He is going well - this is a bit of video of me lunging him:

and here are a few pictures of him.

He is doing very well - excellent rhythm and learning to lift his back well. I am also riding him and his saddle training continues to advance. *Joe is coming 14 this year and never trained to ride before I got him, so IMO he is doing well. His fitness level also continues to increase - he is going to be a real competitor on the endurance trails I think!

January 2nd, 2011 - first ride of the year!

2011-01-02T23:43:00.000-08:00

January 2nd, Anastasia and I were able to get out for a couple of hours today - it was cold but just an incredible day to ride. The trails are just about perfect, not a whole lot of snow, but someone has conveniently run around with a snowmobile and packed most of the trails down so that the footing is excellent. We had a really great time and I even remembered to take my camera along so here are a bunch of photos! Stay tuned - we are just getting started!

I even got a bit of video - here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFTIDLq-rJE

*Bijou and *Tessa

Curly Standard Place News

2010-12-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been riding much - I spent at least a couple of months working very very hard to get my farm ready for winter and I am very happy with the results, but now it is time to get back to horses! I have ridden my wonderful girl *Tessa several times, she took this last year off to have a lovely big black filly, http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=117
but now I want to get *Tessa back fitted up to take in some endurance rides next year - she is a real competitor and I am looking forward to it!

I have also been making slow progress with *Joe, my Curly/Arabian gelding....he is his own funny self, but definitely coming along. It is snowy and icy around here lately so I am taking advantage of my neighbor's lovely coverall arena and well, *Joe was quite alarmed the first time in there :) but yesterday he was very attentive and good, so next time I will get on him and see how that goes.

Anastasia has started our *Sandman/Arabian filly *Sandman's Serenade: http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=84 done all the ground work, but now Anastasia is at university full time so I have taken over *Serenade's training for a bit. Wow *Serenade is so calm, solid and easy going! She is a delight to work with! We have backed her a few times but not really ridden her much yet, but she should come along well. She will still be too young in the spring for much endurance riding, but we will definitely ride her out to bring her training along.

So that is mostly my updates - I have sold several young horses
*Sand Runner went to TX
Miss Molly went to a super local family
*Chrystal Bloom and *Simon Says went to KY
*Sum R Son went to Alberta
and *Bobble went to IN on a long term lease

So, this will make my training workload more manageable now and these horses have gone to some really fabulous homes - I am very excited about this - I hope I can blog about some of their accomplishments eventually, that would be great.
Shelly
http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=0

ground training *Bobble Head!

2010-07-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

This summer, one of the things that I have been doing is training my 3 year old Curly pony stallion, *Bobble Head*, to drive. I do ground drive all my horses before I get on them, but I have never actually trained one to pull a cart, but we are getting there with *Bobble! He is driving very well in hand now - we go down the road a half a mile or so every day and I get someone to pull the cart along with us for the "sound effects" lol. The next thing we will do is hitch up something like a tire and have him drag that - we are getting close to hitching the cart - I am SO looking forward to driving him to town!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Shelly
Standing Curly Sporthorse Stallion *Sandman's Magic
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Update from CSP :)

2010-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I have been very busy with many horse activities this summer, so here is a little report of the last two weekends!

Weekend before last five of us took our horses to the Ride Over the Rainbow Ride in Merritt, BC - I am very happy to report that THREE of the horses were Curlies - yay! My daughter Anastasia was riding *Poplar's Bijou, my son Shane was riding *Cuervo and we have an agricultural engineer student with us from France and we decided to put another of the Curlies here back to work and so she brought *Kobee. *Kobee is a son of *Sandman and out of my beloved, deceased mare Gracie. *Kobee was born here, sold to my daughter's best friend, I trained him to ride as a three year old and then he has been only trail ridden since then, but not for the last year as his young owner is across the country at school at the moment. So we asked a lot of this young horse to go and do a 25 mile endurance ride and admittedly we did go slow for his sake but he did not disappoint us and did a GREAT job promoting Curlies for us!

A word about feet, when we arrived at the endurance ride we realized that *Bijou had lost a shoe - she only wears them on the front - actually she has really great hard feet, but she was a little ouchy this spring on the rocky terrain here and so I put front shoes on her for the first time. There was a farrier there at the ride and we planned to have a shoe put back on her in the morning - but he would be there after the other riders left. So in the a.m. we all got ready and.....no farrier - so after waiting about 20 minutes I decided that we would go on the first loop with just one shoe - I knew she had really great feet and I also knew we would be taking it somewhat easy as this was *Kobee's first ride (he was barefoot too!). So we went and did the first loop and she was just great - we got back and that foot didn't even have a chip or anything out of it - the farrier put a shoe on her and we were good to go for the second loop. We all completed the ride and it was a really wonderful day all around!

Yesterday we again took THREE Curlies to a dressage show in Vernon, BC. I brought Sandman, Anastasia brought Bijou and our student again brought Kobee. We asked a lot of my student to be bringing Kobee to these events - he is a VERY good boy, but his formal training really did stop after I rode him for 30 days - his young owner just wanted to ride him on the trails so that is what they did. But, as you can see, this is a very fine horse and he could do so much more and do a super job too. There were some very very nice comments about him after she did her tests - about what a lovely mover he is, which I of course already knew, but wonderful to hear it from other people :) The judge was impressed with him too - even though it was his first time in the ring, she noted what a willing horse he is :)

Oh ya, Sandman and I got a second and a third in First Level - he is SUCH a good boy :)

Okay - that is it for now.....shameless plug - both Bijou and Kobee are for sale :) :)

Shelly

www.curlystandardplace.com

New Foal Announcement

2010-06-25T09:09:00.001-07:00

Well, I am a bit tardy in my posting of our second and final foal of the year - but here he is, born June 7th 2010:

This handsome colt is sired by *Sandman and out of our lovely *Elko Nevada mare *My New Flame We are very happy with our newest addition - stay tuned for his name - still in the debate stages!

Endurance riding in Alberta!

2010-06-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

We traveled out to Devon, AB to attend an Alberta endurnace ride - we had such good time!

Endurance riding June 2010

2010-06-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky to have a family that supports me and rides with me!

As some might know by now - my little speedy girl *Charm is out of commission for this year's endurance.... I was SO hoping to be bringing her this year, but it was just not meant to be. She will be bred to *Bobble for a 2011 foal and then we will get back at her training when she is well and truly healed from her bone bruise.....

Now, since I am not taking *Charm to the endurance rides I took my back-up girl Mirage, Mirage is a purebred Arabian and dam of my now three year old Curly girl *Sandman's Serenade (she is going to be started lightly this year). We also took my SO's horse Dakota Scout, he is a NSH and really shines in endurance, but most important to "me" is that we took two of our Curly horses and they just rocked!

Anastasia brought *Poplars Bijou, this was *Bijou's very first endurance ride - she was absolutely wonderful! She trailered great, accepted the remote camping and the very different climate at the coast where the ride was held, and on the ride itself she was happy to keep up with our other horses and she crossed the river like she had been doing it forever, in one place it was almost deep enough to swim!

The other Curly we brought was *Cuervo - my 15 year old son Shane rode as a junior and they did awesome! That *Cuervo is an amazing kind of horse, he packs beginners anywhere, does uncounted riding lessons and then we throw him in the trailer and he is getting to have quite the extended trot on these rides! Shane and *Cuervo got runner up high vet score for juniors and he got a great prize!

I have to say just a footnote about my mare Mirage. I purchased her several years ago for breeding to *Sandman and I did get our really great filly *Serenade from her, but after that I discovered what a fun and competitive little riding horse she is and so I have been riding her in endurance as most of you know.... Now, what most folks do not know is that Mirage came to me with a severely damaged left knee, it is fused so that it cannot bend fully, she can't bend it up totally for the farrier, she can't really jump and she can't lie down normally, she can lie out flat but most horses sleep somewhat upright. But, she has never been lame on it, she doesn't favor it at all and while we watch it carefully, so far it doesn't seem to give her any trouble.

So anyway, we were at the awards ceremony after the endurance ride and I was SO blown away when they announced that Mirage and I had achieved the prestigious High Vet Score Award. Now this award is given to the horse that has received the best vet scores from before, during and after the ride, they said she won this award quite decisively too.... I was almost moved to tears I was so proud of my little horse. This score is not related to her injury, but I wanted to tell about it anyway for some understanding of what this horse is about - she is very neat, quirky, but an absolute competitor - if not for the knee, I know this horse could do 100 mile rides, she is really something!

I am attaching a couple of pictures - the photo with the three of us is me on my grey Mirage, I am holding *Bijou (she looks grey too, but that is because she wears a whitish fly sheet) Anastasia is on *Cuervo and Shane is on Dakota, we are cooling their legs in the river after the ride. Oh and that is my other daughter to the right at the back, she swam all day in the river lol. The other picture is Shane and Anastasia.

Shelly
Standing Curly Sporthorse Stallion *Sandman's Magic
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

*Sandman Rocks!

2010-05-05T09:33:00.002-07:00

Here are the two tests that I had video taped by a professional videographer at the big dressage show. When I went to order them from her at the show she was gushing at how well he is doing - she hadn't seen him for a couple of years and she was just so nice about how good he looked.

So in these videos I am showing SM First Level tests One and Two. I watch these videos and see the things that could be better and wish I was a better rider, but oh well, we do what we can eh? I am proud of my boy though - he does try hard.

Level One, Test One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX14Rb-lvLk

Level One, Test Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNhR6hZYero

I also captured a still from the video showing some of his trot - he is a tad lazy, but moving out a bit in this photo :)

I look at him and what he can do so far and what I think he can do in the future and I remind myself that he is one of very very few Curly stallions today who is from multiple generations of all Curly horses, he has a few non-curlies in his great-grandfather generation, he has Ruby Red King (the Morgan) as a great-grandfather on his bottom side, an appaloosa Blossom also on the bottom side for a great-grandmother and one unknown on the top side great-grandfather, which in those days could have been anything :)

He is ridden year round, during off season and breeding season, in fact sometimes I hand breed him before or after I ride, (usually after though as he thinks he needs a nap after.....riding AND breeding lol) I lead him through pens and pastures of mares to put him out on his pasture and he is a good boy.

But what I like most about him is that he challenges me to be a better horse-person, to ride him better and better every year and to be a savvy horse handler - as after all he IS a stallion and has slightly different issues and agendas and with more oomph than mares or geldings. Some days I wish I didn't have to be as "on" for him, but most of the time I welcome it!

Well, hope you don't mind the long post - I have been putting a lot of thought into my boy these days. Some people still tend to shy away from breeding their mares to a tail-less stallion and I always say I do not breed for it, but I have seen very few extremes from him and the few that we have seen seem to be mostly from appy lineages. Anyway, I don't think we get more extremes from him than others get from their full mane and tail stallions.

Enjoy the videos!

Shelly
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

Okanagan Breeder's Showcase!

2010-04-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

This past Saturday and Sunday I attended the Okanagan Breeder's Showcase. This was their second annual show and they had a lot of interesting stuff going on, clinics and events and a great used tack sale, along with the Stallion show of course!

I'm not sure why I didn't go last year - other commitments or something, but I am sure glad I went this time. It was a pretty good turnout and lots of interest in the stallions - in particular *Sandman of course - he always creates a "stir" as he is so unique looking - not just his lack of mane and tail, but he is an impressive horse in person - people just "have" to look at him :) I could hardly make my way to and from the indoor arena where the stallion show was - SO many questions and really really nice comments about him. The one trainer that I use quite a bit, though I haven't seen her since last season, she even had to tell me how good he is looking, so that was great!

So we had two sessions where I rode him for the show in the indoor arena - of course the lighting in there is terrible so no photos from inside and we only have a few pictures of him outside, I will attach them though. I have to say that he was a very good boy, and we have only ridden him for about a month or so this year and last year he was only ridden about three times, so it is taking him a bit to get back into it completely. But, when he hears his music "Mr. Sandman, by the Chordettes" (I always play this music while they read his information, so cute and fitting) he puffs right up and shows off like crazy LOL.

I'm also going to copy/paste the lyrics for his "song" - I find it soooo hilarious and fitting for him - plus the music is quite nice to ride to :)

Standing Curly Sporthorse Stallion *Sandman's Magic

http://www.curlystandardplace.com

(scat “bung, bung, bung, bung..........)

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Give him two lips like roses and clover (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

(scat “bung, bung, bung, bung.….)

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

(scat “bung, bung, bung, bung)

Mr. Sandman (male voice: “Yesss?) bring us a dream
Give him a pair of eyes with a “come-hither” gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace
Mr Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold)
Would be so peachy before we're too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr Sandman, bring us a dream.

(scat “bung, bung, bung, bung….)

New Arrivals! Dontcha love Spring!

2010-04-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Early on the morning of April 6th, a new star was born! Our wonderful mare *Spar's Barefoot Contessa and our stallion *Sandman's Magic produced a really wonderful black Curly filly. We are working on a name for her, suggestions welcomed! Here she is, just a few hours old.

And then on April 8th, another Curly filly was born - sired again by *Sandman - this one belongs to lucky Sheryl of Cozy Nook Curlies in WA state - look at the colour on this baby wow! Congratulations Sheryl!

Breeding season!

2010-03-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Our next event is to go to the Okanagan Breeder's Group stallion showcasehttp://www.okbreedersgroup.com/Stallionshowcase.htm
to be held April 10th and 11th in Armstrong BC - hope to see you all there! It will be our first time to attend this event, but everyone tells me it is worthwhile!

For those of you overseas - frozen semen from *Sandman's Magic is now available in Europe and Australia with three confirmed pregnancies in Australia!

Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com

Sandman and Charm

2010-03-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I got to ride two Curlies today - first up was *Charm - she was just a star! I rode her in the ring and then she was so good that I thought I would take her up our long driveway and onto the road for a few minutes. She was just about perfect - so I am thinking that we are getting well ready to go up the hills on our first trail ride - I'm hoping for this Thursday so that my daughter can come with me for company.

Next, I rode *Sandman for the first time this year - he has been ridden for the past three weeks or so by Luis, but I am taking him to our first stallion show this weekend and I need to ride him there so I thought I better get a couple of rides on him first. He was pretty great - and I remembered why I like riding him so much - he is so well trained and such a powerhouse - he is marvelous to ride! So I will ride him once more this week and then take him to the annual stallion show at Thunderbird in Langley, BC - it is always a great place to display the horses.

Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com

*Charm's first show! She wins a first place ribbon!

2010-03-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we have had an adventure! I have been riding and preparing my Curly mare *Shesa Magic Charm for her first dressage show which was held yesterday on March 13th. *Charm has been very going well in my arena, but I haven't had an opportunity to ride her in other areas very much and also, this "fuzzy horse dressage show" was to be held in an indoor arena about 2 hours from here. Now my neighbour has a really nice coverall building and so on Friday March 12th when it was just pouring rain I thought this would be a good time to take her over there and ride her. *Charm had been over to the indoor arena just once before late last summer - she had been pretty good in there, but it did seem like a good idea to go one more time before the show!

So she was okay with being in the indoor arena, but she didn't like that there were no other horses in there, so she was somewhat nervous until my neighbour brought her horse in for some work and then *Charm settled down quite a bit. I was happy to be riding inside that day - we don't get a lot of rain here, but when we do it just pours!

We had to leave quite early to get the the show grounds, and we took *Sandman and also my trainer's horse came along for the experience. All the horses loaded and hauled just fine - we arrived in plenty of time for me to lead Charm around inside the arena before the show started. She handled it all very well - and then I got her ready to ride and lunged and then warmed her up a bit - she was very very good and I was pretty impressed with her!

While waiting our turn to go into the arena a young girl asked me if *Charm was from *Sandman's Magic! I thought that was very cool! I know that *Charm does look like him, but we hadn't even brought him out of the trailer yet and so *Charm was the only Curly horse she had seen there! She also went on to say that she had seen *Sandman two years ago at the fuzzy horse show when my daughter had ridden him. There were lots of great comments about my horses - could hear people talking about the Curlies and it felt really great to be out there doing in again - as we took last year off from showing dressage.

So I rode *Charm in two walk/trot tests in the indoor arena, tests A and B - she was nervous in the arena by herself, but again I was very impressed and pleased with her effort - and her effort was enough to get her a first place ribbon and a second!

It was a great day overall - *Sandman showed well also - it was only his second time ridden in First Level and he got a second and a fourth - so I was happy with all the results!

It was difficult to get photos in the indoor arena, but I did get a few off the video we took, all attach them here - hopefully better ones will be coming from the next show which will be outside.

Shelly
Standing Curly Sporthorse Stallion *Sandman's Magic
http://www.curlystandardplace.com

*Shesa Magic Charm

2010-03-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

So we are back at it in full force - *Shesa Magic Charm is going extremely well under saddle this year - it will be her year to shine! I have ridden her 5 times so far this year and she is just loving it. I think I am enjoying her quite a bit as well - as you can see by my face.

Now this girl is offered for sale. She has a LOT of training into her, she does walk, trot, canter very well and she has been started over fences as well - she really loves that as she gets to go faster! Here are a few photos of her from the other day.

Shelly

www.curlystandardplace.com

Miss Molly on the move

2010-03-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

I had an inquiry for some video of my little red head - Miss Molly. Molly is a 2008 Curly bred s/c filly, at this time she is rising two - so incredibly cute, but very confident and sure of herself too! So here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ygna-gnfc it is worth watching :) Here is a still photo of her from the other day - she will make a really nice driving pony and eventually a children's pony - or would be very useful for a serious Curly pony breeding program - yep - she is for sale!

An early and busy spring so far!

2010-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

I have a new trainer working with *Sandman this year - his name is Luis Rodriguez, he is a great rider and he is quite happy to be riding my boy for me! So far he has ridden *Sandman for just under two weeks and already they are doing so well together!

So Luis will also be showing SM for me - watch here for updates on how it is going!

Curloosa *Captain Cruise

2010-02-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here is our 2008 Curlooosa/Arabian gelding *Captain Cruise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H4GpDAP4AM
I had a request for some video of him and so we did this up yesterday. I don't think he has been in my arena before so he was cautious, but he did really great - he is a sensitive boy and has a nice temperament too!
Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com

live link to article

2010-02-01T22:08:00.002-08:00

Here is a live link to the article
http://www.horsesall.com/Article.aspx?ID=17329

New Curly Article

2010-02-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I was approached by a regional horse magazine with quite a wide distribution that they wanted to so an article on Curlies - the article came out today in their February 2010 edition. Here is a link to it: http://www.horsesall.com/Article.aspx?ID=17329
Go Curlies!
Shelly
www.curlystandardplace.com

Its about time!

2010-01-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Has been way too long since I did a post on my blog, but better late than never - here is what I am up to lately.

We did have about a foot of snow and then it all melted within a couple of days and then it froze solid - we have the most nasty frozen wasteland out there for footing so no riding as of yet this year!

However, I did get a chance to work with my new mare DKH Lacey, she is a big, black, smooth coated Curly mare that I just brought home a few days ago. She is halter trained, but just barely and so the first thing we are working on is just letting her know that people can be friendly and that people aren't scary at all. I haven't tried to actually catch her yet - she is in my round pen and she has a halter on, and she did load in my trailer to come here so I know she can lead and load, but I'm in no rush with her. We will take our time and she will come along in her own time. I did a little bit of approach and retreat and she was letting me stroke her on the shoulder on both sides and touch her halter, so that was a little progress and enough for .today - I will have to do this every day for a while, but we will get there.

Here is a picture of her from yesterday, doesn't she have a sweet face?!

*Tessa Does 50

2008-08-25T07:28:00.003-07:00

August 23rd was the date for the Skimikin Endurance ride. Skimikin Lake and campground is located between Salmon Arm and Kamloops and oh my what a gorgeous setting for an endurance ride! This was the third year for an endurance ride to be held in Skimikin, but it is a regular campground too and has several pens for horses - so if you like horse camping and are in this area I would really recommend it!

We arrived mid afternoon on Friday the 22nd to find the campground already full - they had about twice as many rider/horses as they had expected! There ended up being 48 entries for the 24 mile ride and 30 for the 50 mile ride - that's a lot of horses and campers!

So they were well organized as usual and a spot was found for us and we settled in. I had been discussing with Anastasia that maybe we should try a 50 mile ride - our horses are pretty fit and it seemed like a good thing to think about. So we DID sign up for the 50 mile ride, but we were admittedly both a bit anxious about it!

The 50 mile ride started at 6:30 a.m. and we awoke to just about perfect weather. It was overcast and a fair bit cooler than it had been the week before, which was great. We were ready to go and headed out to do our first loop. The first loop was 20 miles and we completed that in just about 2 hours - so that was great time. The horses were in good shape at the first vet check and after the required 45 minute hold we started out on the second loop, which was 14 miles. This loop was a little easier terrain than the first one and we did it in about 2 hours as well. There was another 45 minute hold at the vet check and we started out for the last loop, which was a repeat of the second one. Well, we have to admit that we were quite tired heading out on the last loop - another 14 miles to completion, but we went out and did it!

The horses also told us that they were a bit tired on this loop, but they held up very well and I was SO jazzed about how well *Tessa came through it all - she is just a wonderful partner and tries so hard to do everything we ask of her. Here is a picture of *Tessa taken by the photographer that was there for the day. If this looks like FUN - well it is!!

Curly Endurance

2008-07-06T11:34:00.004-07:00

Here at the Curly Standard Place we like to do all kinds of things with our horses and this year we are trying our hands and hoofs at the sport of endurance. A couple of years ago we did go on a training endurance ride and liked it quite a bit, but we also recognized that it takes a certain kind of horse to compete in this somewhat extreme sport. The horse needs to be athletic, handy, forward moving, energetic and also be a willing participant. Of course is also goes without saying that the horse (and human!) needs to be well conditioned! We have a link on our website with more information - check it out: http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=102

So we have now done three rides this year - we have an Arabian mare RJ Light Serenade aka Mirage http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=79 who we ride, she had a Curly filly with *Sandman last year who we hope will be another prospect for endurance eventually, but the horse that is our main focus is *Spar's Barefoot Contessa http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=19. *Tessa has now completed 3 endurance rides and she just gets better and better. The first ride she finished 10th out of 37 horse/rider combos, the second she finished 2nd, she pulsed down just ONE minute after the winning horse and the third ride...... well, here is our report!

The week before the ride I took Tessa to Sundre, AB for the ICHO convention and inspection so I really didn't know if she would be recovered enough from that big trip for me to take her to this endurance ride yesterday. I got home Wednesday and she didn't seem overly tired and the endurance ride was only a couple of hours from here so we decided to give it a try, we hauled up there Friday night. We were a bit late getting there for a couple of reasons, I hauled 4 horses to this ride, Tessa, my Arabian Mirage, my friend's TB and her pony for her 11 year old son to ride. We missed the ride meeting the night before, but got the info we needed and were told the ride started at 9 a.m. - that is sort of late in the a.m. and we were all ready to go way before that!

So our horses were very keen and we were in the front from the start - making incredibly good time over good trails, and incredible scenery for the first loop, but about 3/4 of the way in I felt my Arab was a bit off - hard to tell, but she just slowed down a tiny bit, which isn't like her! So I told Anastasia that she would have to think about doing the second loop on her own and sure enough when we got back to camp and I got off my horse she was lame. Tessa pulsed down very well though - she was about 5 minutes ahead of everyone else! So after a 45 minute hold Ana and Tessa hit the trail again. Anastasia said Tessa was a bit hesitant going out on her own, but once she realized that they were going, she picked up the pace and was full of energy. They were about half way or so when they came upon some other riders (other riders were on a different ride route, probably a 50 miler) and the other riders told her that she was going the wrong way! Ana doubted herself at that point and doubled back for about 10 minutes until she ran into the riders who were coming up behind her. So she turned around and rode back the same way (which was the correct way!) and arrived back at camp at the same time as the riders who had been quite a bit behind her before she turned around. Their horse pulsed down a couple of minutes before Tessa so Ana and Tessa got 2nd place - which is VERY good, but disappointing for her as they were WAY ahead of everyone and Tessa was in really excellent shape - this horse LOVES this sport. So their completion time was just a bit under 3 hours for 27 miles, that was about half an hour faster than last years rider/horse combo. The awards breakfast was to be Sunday a.m. - I'm sure they will get a few more things for their efforts, but we came home last night - I was just exhausted and have so much to do at home I just had to get back here.

The good news is that even though the vet at the ride felt that Mirage would be needing bute for her injury for 5 days, she is sound this a.m. - so I am very happy about that, must have just stepped on a rock wrong or something - I was pretty worried about her, she was in quite a bit of pain until the vet gave her a shot of bute. She was feeling sorry for herself all afternoon yesterday - since she got left behind and all!I have a page with some information and links on my website - please have a look if you are at all interested - this is an incredibly fun sport!

It sounds exhausting and in some ways it is, but it is also exhilarating - especially when riding a fit, enthusiastic horse show loves to go. By the way, in between these endurance rides, Tessa has been getting dressage scores in the high 70's, she is an amazing horse.

Here is a picture of *Tessa and Anastasia during one of the rides.

and the morning after LOL

2008 Foaling Season Complete now!

2008-07-06T09:29:00.007-07:00

We have had 3 more foals born here, and the final arrival was from an outside mare, for a total foal crop this year of 9!

Here they are in order of arrival:

*Captain Cruise (*Poplar's Bijou x Captiwizjon)

http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=101

*Chrystal Bloom (Midnight Bloom x *BNC Custer's Kid

http://curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=104

*Sundance (*Sandman's Magic x Legacy) Legacy is a gorgeous Arabian/Dutch Warmblood cross.

Finally - another colt! This one is

*Velvet's Mystic Man (*Sandman x Velvet)

Two more precious new arrivals!

2008-03-26T18:00:00.005-07:00

March 19th, 2008, Ana-Alisia and *Sandman presented us with a gorgeous Curly half Arabian colt. http://www.curlystandardplace.com/index.php?display=98 His name is *Sand Runner - hopefully he will live up to his name and be an endurance contender!

Then, on March 20th, 2008 we had a bright red filly born to the Shetland pony Stormy and the Curly pony sire is *VJB Man in the Moon. Wow is this little girl CUTE!

2008 New Arrivals!!

2008-03-18T22:43:00.007-07:00

Three, yes three new foals so far this year - all sired by Sandman!

Two were born on the same day - March 10th, 2008.

First was *Sum R Son, his dam is our Canadian/Percheron mare Sum R Canadian - he is very well put together and a handsome dark bay colt.

Next was a lovely coal black filly from our fullbred mare *DSF Cassandra. We are calling this one *Spiffy Curl - she is just precious!

March 13th, our racing bred Appaloosa mare, Cordova True Colours, presented us with a loudly coloured, huge, Curly colt - we are calling him *Sandman's True Colours.

Fuzzy Horse Show

2008-03-18T22:22:00.004-07:00

Anastasia is 18 now - and she is more than happy to be showing Sandman this year. March 9th was their first time out together and they did just great!

I also took *Spar's Barefoot Contessa, it was her very first horse show and I rode her in walk/trot classes. I was so happy with how she went and the judge was quite impressed with her too.

Amazing Grace

2007-12-14T23:08:00.000-08:00

You know some days terrible things happen - things that make you want to wish that that day could just somehow undo it, so that you could re-live it so that it could be replayed differently.

A couple of weeks ago I had one such day. I went out to feed my horses and found my horse gravely ill. This was my friend, my pal, my riding buddy, Amazing Grace, or Gracie as she was affectionately known by me and most people.

Gracie appeared to be waiting for me and within about 1/2 an hour of me finding her that morning, she died, with myself and my daughter Anastasia by her side.

Gracie was so special to me and I miss her terribly. Give your special pets an extra pat today and every day - you never know when it is time for them to go - Gracie was just 9 years old.

CC and the Horse Show

2007-10-16T14:52:00.001-07:00

Well, it is that time of year again - our favorite fun show of the whole year!! The Halloween Show! Unfortunately, we were so busy this year we did not get a chance to put together cool costumes as we do most years, but Danielle and I DID attend on our ponies. Danielle brought *Cinnamon and I brought *CC. Danielle did great on her pony and she and I rode a couple of pairs classes together which was a whole lot of fun.

I was "forced" to ride *CC in the Jack Benny class - I kept insisting that I wasn't old enough.....but my horse show friends just laughed at me LOL. So *CC did really awesome and the judge kept saying how much she liked her - liked how she moved, how she behaved - she even said that she was a perfect size for me - to which I laughed a lot! Still, I know that *CC looks fine with me on her and I'm nearly 5'3" tall so she would be very suitable for a small adult or a child. This was *CC's first experience with a horse show and she was just wonderful - she gave pony rides to "tiny" children for hours. It will be a sad day when we find that perfect home for this pony, she is one in a million!

So we didn't get any pictures, but if I do get some others that were in attendance I will be sure to post them here - in the meantime, happy trails!

*Serenade goes to her first show!

2007-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a fun/training Arabian show and I took Mirage and her filly *Sandman's Serenade to show them in the halter classes. The judge's comments were very encouraging - she told me what a lovely mare she thought Mirage was and she also commented on *Serenade's suspension so I was pleased! Here is a picture of proud Mom and daughter - since I was on my own at the show I took this picture when we got home.

*DSF Cassandra and Danielle

2007-08-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well, *DSF Cassandra (aka CC) is doing SO well that at the urging of some friends I decided that my daughter Danielle (10) could safely ride this pony - and so I put her on and here is the result!

I also took a bit of video - you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk2t4g_1Vgw

*CC is reluctantly offered for sale - someone is going to get an incredible riding pony!

Super Summertime....

2007-08-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

*Sandman and I attended another show in July - it went well, we showed First Level, Tests One and Two - he is such a good boy and I was very happy with him. Here is a picture of us from that day - the photographer said it was the best halt she captured all day!

*DSF Cassandra (aka CC) is now under saddle and I'm calling her *CC the Wonder pony. This pony has just been the BEST horse to saddle train. She is easy, forward, obedient, willing, non spooky and fun on the trails - just amazing! Here is a picture of us from the trail the other day. Not sure if you can tell from this picture, but we are on a rather steep trail and Anastasia is taking the picture from up above us...

So many new things on the Ranch!

2007-07-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Where to start!

*Sandman and I have attended two shows so far this year - we are showing Training 4 and First Level 1 and 2 - it is a challenge for me, but *Sandman is definitely ready for this now! Our third and possibly final show for the year will be this coming weekend - July 7th - we are training hard for it and I think we are ready!

Our foaling season is done for the year. We had just four foals this year:

Strawberry Shortcake (mini mare) and *VJB Man in the Moon had a pretty, feminine black filly, she is called Mystic Luna.

*Spar's Barefoot Contessa and *Sandman had an incredible pinto Curly filly - we have called her *Sandman's Barefoot Angel. Here is a picture of her:

*Cinnamon Twist EB and *VJB Man in the Moon have presented us with a wonderful, small, "very" Curly colt who we have called *Bobble Head, what an amazing pony sized Curly!

and finally, RJ Light Serenade aka Mirage (registered Arabian mare) had a lovely black bay Curly filly, her name is *Sandman's Serenade. Here is a link to some video from the day she was born: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFMJmRGt6DI

Well, that is it for now - will try to post some info and picture of me and *Sandman after the show!

stallion showcase

2007-03-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a big weekend, but we took all three stallions to the annual Lower Mainland Quarter Horse Bazaar and presented them at the stallion showcase.

One of the things I love to do (and haven't caught heck for it yet lol) is to open the doors to my Curly's stalls, tie a lead rope across the door and let people visit with the boys. *Sandman and *Lex are such big babies of course and just SOAK up the attention from all the people. People always want to touch the curls anyway so I got tired of opening and shutting the stall doors and the are always amazed, of course, at how gentle the horses are.

I rode *Sandman for his presentation and it was very fun this year as I gave the commentator a recording of "Mr. Sandman" which I had them play before I entered the arena and it continued to play while I did my "freestyle" version of a dressage test. This went over very well and it was a fun song to ride to!

I showed *Lex in hand and he was very well behaved. I also showed Cap in hand and he was "very" well received - people sure love how he looks and are really impressed with his pedigree!

So it is a big weekend, exhausting, but fun and doing our part to keep on educating people about Curlies!

spring training begins in earnest

2007-03-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the wonderful experience of riding *Sandman in a clinic with Frances Weeks of Vernon, BC. Wow did we work hard and come home with lots of things to work on and think about! This was held at Leslie Walton's place in Oliver - she has a small, but very nice indoor and we appreciated being out of the wind and cold. It doesn't make for great photo opportunties, but I'll include a couple anyway.

Cap under saddle

2007-02-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

A quick update - we have been riding Cap and he is coming along just beautifully! He is so eager to please and learn it is a treat working with him.

Spring Training

2007-02-14T21:36:00.000-08:00

This year I have more horses to put under saddle than ever before. First up are Captivision - our coming 18 year old Arabian stallion - yep - he is nearly 18 and NEVER been ridden - well, that isn't quite true - we have ridden him these past couple of days. Cap is doing extremely well - he is brave yet very attentive to his handler and really loves to be finally going to work. Stay tuned for pictures of him as his saddle training progresses - we hope to do a couple of endurance rides on him this year! Cap is available to outside mares too!
Next up is little *Lexy - yep - he is nearly three years old now and we are starting him lightly now. He is afraid of "nothing" - very confident, easy going, non spooky, eager to learn and never ever speaks to the mares unless given permission. *Lex is really going to make his mark both as a young stallion (four foals due this year!) and as a wonderful riding pony. *Lex is available for breeding and he is also for sale!

The third horse I'm working on right now is Cordova True Colours (aka TC). She is my BIG racing bred Appaloosa mare. TC was injured as a weanling and was very lame for most of the past 3 - 4 years. We are very happy to report that even though TC is a really wonderful broodmare and has produced two exceptional Curly foals for us, we will now be able to enjoy her as a riding horse too! She is now SOUND and I am saddle training her. What do you think - think she is enjoying herself?

Awesome picture of Bijou and Cappy

2007-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

I turned *Bijou and CC out in my big field the other day and was all ready with my camera - I was really happy with this great picture of *Bijou - look at that extension!

I also got a nice one of Cappy. And you wonder who Cappy is......well, he is my purebred Arabian stallion - he is a son of Bask AND Aladdinn - an incredible horse! Cappy will be bred to *Bijou this year and he is also available to outside mares. Here is Cap - he is a very sweet boy.

New Year - New Horses

2007-01-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to lease a lovely Arabian mare Ana-Alisia, aka Lisia. In 2006 Lisia had a lovely foal with *Sandman so I'm looking forward to a repeat. You can see pictures of *Sandman's Babe here. Anyhow, the great thing is that Lisia is also a neat riding horse - big and powerful and a real been there done that kinda girl - here she is with my friend Maryan the other day.

The other exciting news is that I have two new Curly mares - *DSF Cassandra who is a fantastic Curly pony - about 14 hands, black going grey AND *Poplar's Bijou *Bijou is a half sister to our *Sandman - she is a lovely, friendly, extreme, feminine version of him - how lucky am I to have these two great mares!

A new year!

2007-01-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been adding much here recently, but I plan to do a TON of riding and training this year so I thought I would try to write a bit about how it all goes.

Even though we have more snow here than I can remember in the past half a dozen years I've been riding every day this week. My favorite riding horse Amazing Gracie aka Gracie is open this year and I have plans to do all types of riding with her - trails, showing and maybe even endurance - I'm really looking forward to it! Gracie is a fullbred Curly with a smooth coat - I find it hard to explain this to people sometimes LOL - but there you go and she is one of the most hypoallergenic horses we have too.

So on this day, January 7th, 2007, three of us went riding; me on Gracie, my daughter Anastasia on her Curly gelding *Cuervo and my daughter's friend Sam on her Curly gelding *Kobee - *Kobee just happens to be Gracie's son! He has become a great trail horse and this young ladies best friend.

How about a pint sized Curly???

2005-11-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

I

I have been casually looking for the past couple of years for a mini mare that might we suitable to breed to a Curly stallion - well, a few weeks ago I heard about a little girl that sounded like she could be suitable so I inquired about her and as of November 26th, 2005 she became a happy new resident of our farm. This is Strawberry Shortcake, she is supposed to be about 36 inches tall, but I haven't measured her yet...

Now if you know my farm at all you may be wondering if I would use *Sandman with her and while the lure of his ability to throw 100 percent Curly foals is there, his filly with *Cinnamon was quite large (as all his foals seem to be), so no I would not risk this cross with a mini mare. Luckily, I have *VJB Man In The Moon, aka Lex here at our farm and having struck a deal with his owner Wendy Hale, I will be using him with both *Cinnamon and Shortcake - wow I can't wait for my 2007 foal crop already - talk about living in the future - LOL.

Now Shortcake came with an incredibly cute "companion" - this is Shadow, he is a little bit smaller than her and he is a "dwarf", fortunately he is gelded - this should never be bred into any type of horse. Having said that, he is INCREDIBLY cute - he is soooo sweet, gentle and kind - what a wonderful pet he is! Fun on the farm!

New Addition

2005-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

When I heard that an own daughter of *Sockeye was available for sale right next door in Alberta, and she was an extreme I just knew we had to add her to our herd. I have long wanted to add an extreme mare and this girl looked really good (thanks Denise for telling us about her!). Enter Maryan, my friend and riding buddy and voila! we partnered up to purchase *RR Black Magic Woman. Now that is a long "handle" and while a pretty name (all the horses from Verlin's breeding stock are named after songs!), we needed a barn name for this girl. Verlin was calling her *BMW, but while that is slick it just didn't roll off our tongue as we would like and so what else could we call her but "*Beamer" LOL. It suits her well.

*Beamer is a 2002 mare and she will be saddle trained over the winter/spring of 2005/2006, we are strongly considering having her trained for reining - wow has she got the moves! Beamer will also be bred in the spring of 2006, but we will not be crossing her with *Sandman as we do not want to double up on what is likely a double dominant gene in both of these fine horses. So Maryan and I have the winter to decide what type of stallion to choose for our pretty new girl - what fun!

Check back as her training begins - she is a pretty girl and so sweet and sensitive!

Another wonderful day

2005-10-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today I rode Bloom on the trail, Anastasia rode *Cuervo and Shane took *Cinnamon - my friend came along on her Peruvian so it was a wonderful day - the Autumn weather is absolutely fantastic! Bloom is doing well and really learning to go forward nicely now - I had my first canter on her - can you say SMOOTH???

Does it get any better?

2005-10-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll have to post a couple of days on this post..... Sunday, I rode Raven and two of my friends rode with me - wow did we have a fun time exploring some new trails up the hills. *Raven is fast becoming my pal and a favorite for me to take out riding - she is "such" a character. We took this picture on our ride - pretty nice huh?

Canadian Thanksgiving, I took two of my kids riding - me on *Raven, Anastasia on *Cuervo and Shane on *Cinnamon - it was a wild and windy day though so we didn't go to far, but we did have fun setting the self timer on the camera and getting this picture.

Sandman's turn (well, Bloom too)

2005-09-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today was Sandman's turn to take a turn around the arena with me. He was a really good boy and I had one of my best rides on him ever. He got lots of "good boys" I'll tell ya! We did a little hopping over a X pole and some trot poles to help him get the idea to pick up his feet and he did a great job.

Bloom was up next and today we spent the time lunging. She is going well under saddle, but is still behind my leg so I thought I would do a few days of reinforcement to keep moving forward with a bit more animation. Of course animation from a drafter is a bit more challenging, but she did seem to get it today, her transitions were snappy and she held her gait when asked to. I then hopped on her to do our 1/4 mile driveway to cool her down - she is so sensible, what a great horse.

Lisa came over after that and rode Summer - we worked on getting Summer to canter a bit slower - wow can she boogie.

A riding day!

2005-09-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well, today 4 of my horses got a nice work out. I am fortunate to be able to half lease out some of my riding horses and today three of the ladies who ride my horses and myself went for a super ride together. Summer, Cuervo, Gracie and me on Raven all got to go. Summer is my Canadian/Percheron mare, Cuervo is my daughter's Curly palomino gelding, Gracie is my own favorite riding horse and Raven is my current work in progress. Today was Raven's 6th trail ride and she went out like a pro - she even led the way part of the time.

Curly Standard Place

Sharing *Serenade

Good-bye to a friend

I forgot about *Tessa!

Its a whole new year!

Three *Sandman girls

Endurance Rides Again!

Newest addition

Ballet Dancer

Newest arrival

Easter Delivery!

Curly Standard Place happenings

DKH Lacey has a girl!

Beautiful new baby girl!

More exciting news!

Our Big Announcement - please welcome *BCF Icon !

Poplar's Sea Pearl

All the horses of the Curly Standard Place

RJ Light Serenade (aka Mirage)

Learning all the time

A busy January for us!

working with *Joe

January 2nd, 2011 - first ride of the year!

Curly Standard Place News

ground training *Bobble Head!

Update from CSP :)

New Foal Announcement

Endurance riding in Alberta!

Endurance riding June 2010

*Sandman Rocks!

Okanagan Breeder's Showcase!

New Arrivals! Dontcha love Spring!

Breeding season!

*Sandman and *Charm

*Charm's first show! She wins a first place ribbon!

*Shesa Magic Charm

Miss Molly on the move

An early and busy spring so far!

Curloosa *Captain Cruise

live link to article

New Curly Article

Its about time!

*Tessa Does 50

Curly Endurance

2008 Foaling Season Complete now!

Two more precious new arrivals!

2008 New Arrivals!!

Fuzzy Horse Show

Amazing Grace

CC and the Horse Show

*Serenade goes to her first show!

*DSF Cassandra and Danielle

Super Summertime....

So many new things on the Ranch!

stallion showcase

spring training begins in earnest

Cap under saddle

Spring Training

Awesome picture of Bijou and Cappy

New Year - New Horses

A new year!

How about a pint sized Curly???

New Addition

Another wonderful day

Does it get any better?

Sandman's turn (well, Bloom too)

A riding day!

Sandman and Charm