WOLFINGHAM WARMBLOODS

STOP PRESS!!!!

Wolfingham Whiteley has been crowned HVDA preparatory champion at his first ever competition under talented young rider Rebecca Rooke. It is hard to believe he has only been under saddle a mere FOUR months! Scoring 60% for a second and 69% for first he displayed great maturity and presence. Even when a loose horse bolted through the competition area just prior to his first ever test he was calm and obedient. Pictures cannot convey the soft floating movement he possess. You have to see it to believe it! This guy is going to be someones dream horse. Visit our For Sale page for more information and competiton pictures.

The stud season is just about over and we are looking forward to seeing all the lovely foals due by Dalziel this season. This season Holly produced an exceptional filly foal by Dalziel which shall be retained by the stud (see Diva here!). Of our own mares we are expecting 5 foals by Dalziel (one PPT to be confirmed). He has proven to be exceptionally fertile even on mares with a history of fertility problems and all our chilled semen was 100% successful! We are aiming to offer live cover as well as chilled semen this season now that he has proven himself to be a perfect gentleman with the ladies (and me!).

In other breeding news, I am delighted to be enrolled in a short course in late April to become a licenced insemination technician which will allow us more flexibilty for future breeding services. An exciting development.

Whiteley is currently at the breakers and should be ready in a few more weeks. He has taken to it like duck to water and is proving to be quiet and tractable. With his lovely movement he should make some lucky person a wonderful mount.

Hubby has been extremely busy trying to finish my all weather arena and it is finally done! Beautiful black timber rails and sand with lights just in time to begin working the horses again. A long time coming but very worth the wait!

Congratulations to Wolfingham Jalapeno and his connections on winning the Hunter Valley Dressage Association 2007 Official Novice Pointscore Champion. A splendid result!

Well it's been an interesting last few months of the stud! The long tentacles of equine influenza has been felt by many including our farm. All our horses succumbed to the flu in late October from windblown sources we believe. It was a very nervous time as we desparately hoped our mares would manage to hold onto their foals through the whole episode. Luckily for us, they all survived very well and are now well on the road to recovery.

The stud season has been somewhat interrupted with mare owners awaiting approval to move their mares to insemination clinics however we have confirmed two of our mares in foal to Dalziel despite all the worries the flu entailed.

Our first foal of the season arrived in November, a beautifully marked Whisper colt to our Don Ramiro mare. He has the most lovely long neck, so long he doesn't have to bend his knees to reach the grass! She has been an exceptional producer of stunning foals and her oldest offspring is now competing successfully. Photos of the colt will be uploaded soon.

We have begun training with the three year old Whiteley (Whisper/Salute) albeit on a very slow (walking) basis whilst we wait for all effects of the flu to be over. He is now lunging and long reining and we will have to wait until after xmas before we progress to faster paces and full backing. He does accept weight on his back and it won't be very long before accepting a rider will be second nature. Meanwhile we have kept him amused by walking him over tarps and draping them over his back as well as introducing him to all manner of 'scary' things such as washing on the line! It's all vey ho-hum to him! He will be advertised shortly for the new year.

Well things have been moving along albiet slowly for the stud. We had confirmed pregnancies for five of our mares which was very exciting. Georgia (Don Ramiro)was confirmed in foal again to Whisper, Waticia (Walt Disney) to Rosario by frozen semen, Holly (Salute/anglo) back to Dalziel, Marina (Medallion) to San Rubin II and Ciara (Capone) also to our stallion Dalziel. Unfortunately we had to make the sad decision to have Waticia euthanased in June due to complications during colic surgery. We were very much looking forward to her Rosario foal and it is heart wrenching to know we have lost her and her unborn baby. Another difficult moment was the recent loss by Ciara of her foal to Dalziel. The colt foal was slipped in the early hours of the morning and was perfect in every respect, black with three socks, but alas was not to be. So now we are only expecting three foals this season.

Dalziel has been going from strength to strength improving daily in his work. He is currently enjoying a break over the winter months before starting back in work. He is regularly receiving compliments from all that meet him due to his friendly temperament, beautiful looks and superb movement. It is shaping up to be an exiciting stud season!

Our Sir Donnerhall (Sandro Hit/Donnerhall) foal is here at last! A beautiful chestnut colt to Belcam Gemine (Belcam Glascow/ Falkland Victory) was delivered just prior to a severe summer thunderstorm. See the pictures on the 2006 Progeny page. He gave a us a fright as he sustatined a superficial scratch to his fetlock by his agitated mother whilst stabled during the storm but all was given the OK by our vet. He is now sporting some lovely fluoro vet wrap to protect his leg and appears none the worse for his experience.

Our first foal of the season has arrived as we welcomed the first foal by our own colt Wolfingham Dalziel. He is a picture perfect chestnut with stockings and blaze and very friendly nature. See our 2006 foals page for pictures and more information. Wolfingham Georgia (Don Ramiro/Monopol) has also been blessed with a positive pregnancy to Whisper and we hope she can provide us with a filly to match the beautiful full brother she has already produced.

Wolfingham Dalziel (Don/Schufro/Medallion) has arrived back home for Christmas after spending a few weeks with Jeremy Janic for backing. Jeremy is full of praise for the young colt and the ease with which he has taken to his future work. He is a remarkably elastic horse and showed enormous balance under saddle. Even after only a few weeks he showed us superstar paces and uphill motions. He will now be rested and allowed to grow a little for the next few months before a refresher course and futher light work with the aim of qualifying for the Young Horse competitions later in the year.

 

May saw one of our young horses, Wolfingham Jalapeno, competing at the CDI Young Horse competition at the SIEC under Shaun France. Shaun has done a fabulous job preparing Jalapeno and qualifying him for the competition. He was the youngest horse at just 3 years old and was up against quality horses with quite a few years more training under their belt. Whilst he didn't make the final he has done us all proud taking the big competition atmosphere in his stride. Shaun is very enamoured of him and describes him as having 'a really good brain, very trainable'. With more training, time and development of his musculature he will certainly place more highly in the future. For now he is taking a break with his owner Niesha Shepard and her family where he will no doubt be pampered and given lots of hugs and treats. Here are some pictures taken at the competition.

The oldest of our progeny is are now 3 years of age and ready to be broken in. We have received glowing reports from the owners of Wolfingham Jalapeno and he has now been under saddle about 6 weeks. The owners regularly update us as to his progress during the last 12 months or so and have nothing but praise and admiration for this horse. He is even venturing out to a little competition for the experience, all after such a short period of riding, such is his temperament! His owners tell us that he attracts many compliments and even offers to buy their beautiful boy! He is not leaving them anytime soon, however, and they look forward to is forays in the young horse competitions. We wish them all well.

Not to be out done, Wolfingham Jeopardy has been pleasing his owners with his wonderful temperament and presence. Whilst still too young to be broken in, he has been busy growing and playing and it won't be too long before he will be introduced to his stud duties, a job he will undoubtably excel at!