Another amazing foal crop for Wild Oaks Ranch

This elegant filly is full sister to our Rosentanz who was Training Level HOY for 2009. She will be smaller and more compact than Rosentanz or Rubintanz. (Rose's joints were huge; she is now 17.1 H, but is narrow enough to provide a great saddle position). Wiesenblume (aka Flora) has a great walk already, and like her siblings is very easy to handle. Rosenthal, her sire, really stamped her head. His offspring have been doing very well under saddle. Another Rosenthal, was Reserve First Level HOY for 2009. The R line is known for its trainability, and rideability!



Ryder is a black Hanoverian colt by Rousseau out of our States Premium Hanoverian mare, Whitney. He has an amazing temperament, and is so easy to handle. This colt is a very elastic mover with tremendous suspension and appears to float above the ground. He has a lot of freedom in his shoulders as you can see! I think he was trying to put his foot in Sergio's hat! All of Whitney's babies have been very leggy and he is no exception. The mare has added some refinement; he should be a bit narrower than Rousseau, giving a great place to sit.

Videos to follow this week!

Priya (aka Prada) Champion Mare at High Point Hanoverian Inspection

Thanks so much to Team Tate for prepping Prada for the inspection, and to Klaus Schengber for handling her. She is such a beautiful feminine mare, with a terrific hind leg and a lot of freedom in the shoulder. Prada is by Pablo out of our States Premium mare, SPS Whitney. Sarah has been riding her for the last year and has done a great job with her, but now due to her new job demands, we have turned her over to JJ Tate to continue her education. She joins Rosentanz in Maryland; we call it "Wild Oaks Ranch, East!"

Wiesenblume at 3 wk

Song 'n' Dance '08 Hanoverian filly, June 2010

Two New Foals!

Above is colt by Rousseau x SPS Whitney at 12 hr old.


Above is Wiesenblume at 3 days old.

We had an easy foaling season...no nights staying up watching mares. Wiesentanz was acting a little more frantic to get out of her stall in the morning; she had been 4+ on the Predict-a-foal at 5 a.m., so when we turned her out we kept a close eye on her. At 10:00 a.m. she laid down in the pasture and presented us with a beautiful full sister to Rosentanz. The filly is a striking bay, who is now two weeks old. Her name is Wiesenblume (aka Flora) which means "wildflower" in German (Oldenburg nomenclature, the fillies can be named after either dam or sire). Such an appropriate name...after her mom, whose name means "meadow dance" and the fact that she was born out in the wildflowers! She has a really friendly nature, and loves to be rubbed and scratched.



I expected Whitney to be overdue with her Rousseau foal, which she has been several times. She did not have a very full utter, and was only 3+ on the predict-a-foal the following Saturday nite. When I woke up at 5 am, I turned on the TV to check the camera, and she was just standing there, didn't see a foal in the stall. I got my cup of coffee and went to the barn about 5:20 and there he was with her licking him all over. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was all legs but got up very quickly. To my surprise (as if I wasn't already surprised!) he looked like he was going to be black...with a perfect star and centered snip on the nose! With such long legs he has been a little less precocious with the moving around. We needed to keep him up for several days as he was a little flat on his pasterns behind. But he is strong now and getting to go out and explore with his very protective mother. He is a little shy at this point, but that is fairly typical of Whitney's babies, as are the LEGS! I still haven't come up with an "R" name for him, so if anyone has a good one, let me know. I'm having trouble loading a picture of him. So, it will have to follow.

Our First Grand Prix Tests!

Well, it feels pretty good to have the first two Grand Prix tests under my belt. The weekend started with torrential rains. It was so much fun unpacking at the show and trudging through the mud. Ha!Ha! Tami Creeser was kind enough to help me at the show...her ulterior motive was to watch and learn, we are gearing up for her first show. Anyway, Nicolai was relaxed in the ring on Friday when I worked him at the show despite some pretty rambunctious horses. On Saturday, it was muggy, but not raining. I had planned to do about 40 minutes of warm-up, and schooled a little of all the moves. I It is always tough to figure out how much warm up is just enough and not too much. Well, we obviously did a little too much, because I didn't have a whole lot of horse left. I knew I was screwed when on the first extended trot he wanted to canter...I never got a trot until the end of the diagonal. He dropped his back a lot, and then I would get him back, but it was a struggle. We managed to make it through the test without going off course, but it was pretty rough. I had done sections of the test before, but had not put the whole thing together until this test, so I was actually pretty happy that I remembered it all. He was so glad to go down centerline at the end. We passaged to X and got a beautiful halt...unfortunately, it was supposed to be piaffe, which he reluctantly did and then he couldn't believe we had more passage to do. Miraculously we got a 54%. Not great, but was higher than the second rider, so we actually got a blue ribbon.

I decided I needed more horse for Sunday's ride. So we went for a 10 minute walk on a long rein on the polo field, before going to the warm-up. Then 20 min of trot, canter warm-up, trying to incorporate a lot of things, but not really schooling the movements, and then more walk. He felt pretty good as we started the test. I was able to keep him through, and he was so much more submissive. We had some bobbles, but otherwise, it flowed, and I was able to ride, think, and plan for the next moves. I had tears in my eyes as we left the ring. I was't sure we would ever make it down center line at GP. This was not the tension-filled horse that I showed in the past. I now have a willing partner who is supple and relaxed. We have come a long way, and that was what the tears were for. So even though the score was a 57, it was a personal triumph! Thanks to my friends who were there to cheer me on!

Now we need to work on strength and stamina, and continue to work on timing and transitions. It is a work in progress!

The long rode to Grand Prix with Nicolai

JJ Tate was here Monday and Tuesday for another clinic. She was last here in January and I was so excited for her to see how wonderfully Nicolai is doing. It has been a long road to this point. About 18 months ago I took Nicolai to Florida and he had a bout of laminitis and terrible back spasms from the trip down. It has been a long road of rehab and gradually building his strength up. He has always been such a nervous and internal horse who has had a number of health issues since I bought him...ulcers, metabolic syndrome, and apparently bouts of laminitis prior to my purchasing him, and now Cushings. But because of his stoic nature, I think many of these went unrecognized and his pain probably contributed to his tension and sullenness. While in Florida we consulted with a PUrina nutritionist, and placed him on Purina Low Starch, started weighing his hay and soaking it in water to decrease the sugar, and feeding him four times a day to even out his insulin levels. Unfortunately, he had a flare after getting vaccinated, but Dr. Lockamy jumped right on it and got it under control quickly...but we only had 10 days until we hauled him to Maryland. I had to have surgery and would be out of commission for 4-6 weeks, so I decided to take Nic to Maryland for JJ to continue working him. We put him on Robaxin and made the trip over three days. He did beautifully.
His major issues under saddle were that he didn't want to bend to the right and accept the left rein, pull through all the transitions, hollow the back, and his trot was short and choppy...okay, why did I buy this horse? He was kind and I knew that he could do all the Grand Prix work for 8's. This is definitely the horse that has taught me to ride, and to train a horse.
In Florida Nic went back to training level, 20 meter circles, lot's of slow steady trot work, suppling at the walk, me learning "passive resistance" technique and the timing of when to give and reward him when he gives and relaxes. It was very frustrating, but JJ was confident that we could retrain him; she said her real forte was retraining the FEI horse. She was right! Last summer I went back and forth to Maryland to ride him, and work with JJ and then back to TExas and would work Valentino. I would fly in and get to Hassler's at 2 and have a lesson at 3, spend two nights with lessons, and then have a lesson the fourth day at 7 a.m. and qick shower and off to airport to fly back to TExas. In August I brought him home. Again using Robaxin and a long 3 day drive.

It has been such a slow process with lots of tears and not knowing if I would ever get him down center line at Grand Prix. I was alwasy encouraged that when JJ did come for a clinic we had continued to show progress, while working at home on our own.

Well, now I can say that I have a whole new horse thanks to JJ! I can actually now have a 10-15 minute normal warm-up with walk, a steady, regular rhythm rising trot, and then canter circles with changes through serpentines. (When I first got Nicolai, my friend Maxine watched him and said "Wow, he has like a hundred different trots!" not a good thing). He is getting stronger in the self carriage, and really seems pleased with himself and the work. The trot work and passage/piaffe are really good, and the canter work is now really coming. I am so pleased to now have the tools and the understanding to get him soft within the work. He still wants to take over occassionally, but is so much better. I know we are still not quite there: I am working hard to maintain my core when I ride particularly within the movements when I am concentrating so hard, and I finally feel how close my calf has to be all the time. I also have to thank my pilates instructor, Cassandra Thompson who has really helped me with my shoulder issues and hip flexibility, and overall core strength. Nic and I will make our Grand Prix debut next weekend. I am looking at it as a work in progress. Of course there is a lot we still can improve, but as musical freestyle choreographer, Karen Robertson, said, "just get her done". I am so thrilled with how much progress we are making now and how quickly, so I can only imagine how much stronger and prepared we will be for the fall shows, so I think it is good to get the first one out of the way now.
Thanks, JJ.
Thank, Jerry, for being supportive and understanding of my passion.

Congratulations to Tami Creeser on her purchase of Stella de Oro

My friend, Tami Creeser, has been admiring Stella for several months now. Tami recently bought a wonderful 4th level horse, Heineken, who is kind and very well trained, and her riding is coming along so nicely. She has been boarding him at my place, and sees Stella almost every day, and has fallen in love with her. I'm really excited for Tami and for Stella, as I know that she will have a wonderful home.

We have really been having cold weather; three snow falls in the month of December...I know, quite complaining! All of you poor folks out on the east coast are just in a deep freeze. Sarah calls me complaining all the time, as she heads to the barn to work Prada. I finally bought the poor thing some decent winter gloves.

Well, I am headed to Florida Monday to ride Rose for a few days. Can't wait. Hopefully I will have some pictures of Rose and I and palm trees to post!