Update from CSP :)

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

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!

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

Endurance riding June 2010

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!

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!

 

 

 

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!

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!

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

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!

 

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

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

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!

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

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

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

New Curly Article

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!

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

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

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!

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)