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)

Two more precious new arrivals!

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!!

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

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

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

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!

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

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!