The Long Lost Blog Post

Hi. Sorry about the year long absence. Last April I was contacted by a law enforcement agency that my email had been compromised by someone wishing to do me and my family harm. I have not posted anything on the internet since. The online world can be very dangerous in that it can really help shield cowardly people who wish to spend their time harassing others anonymously. The person has been caught, and I am hoping that was the end of it. I have restricted myself from normal freedoms for long enough.

The Update

This year has been one of big changes and big plans. After the last posting in April of 2009, we had a giant rainstorm that took out 1/3 of my newly installed riding arena. My arena is small to begin with, so 33% of it being gone made training impossible. And honestly after all the work and investment, it took a bit of time to not feel defeated by the situation. That rainstorm happened in May of 2009 and we did not have much dry weather until a week or so in the Fall. My riding time really suffered.

In the Fall of 2009, I did go to a dressage show out of desperation for losing yet another entire show season. Tokaj got a few rides in our tiny demolished arena... went to the show to do Training 2 and Training 4 (move up? why not? :) The night before the show, there was a giant rainstorm that soaked the outdoor warm up ring.. and made the footing very slick and dangerous. No cantering in the warm up basically. It wasn't ideal, but everyone except the people who were regular boarders at the barn was affected the same. Tokaj ended up going into her classes and giving me the best dressage rides I have ever had on any horse in competition. She ended up scoring in the mid to upper 60% range and getting two second placings. I was very excited. We would have won our first class had I not had circles that were not the right size... and I put that down to practicing in my micro-arena.

After the show, I made a snap decision that I am happy I made, but can't believe how fast it happened. I decided to breed Tokaj. I had never been interested in breeding horses before. I have always wanted the experience of raising a foal, but there are so many nice horses out there and too many being bred without regard for the actual result. But, I had never had a mare as nice as Tokaj either. I truly feel it would be a shame to not have her pass on her wonderful ability and disposition. Aother aspect of my decision to breed her is that I was not sure I was finished creating my own family. I knew if we decided to try for another baby that it would put my riding off for a couple more years and Tokaj was already 10 years old. Not that she would be ancient or anything, but it is very hard to return the fitness and soundness of an older horse (or human for that matter) if they don't maintain the fitness level throughout aging. I couldn't help but wish that I had found Tokaj four years from now instead of wasting her prime when I was so busy!

So I decided to breed Tokaj in the early Spring of 2010, and I began researching stallions in the Fall of 2009. Tokaj is a Hungarian warmblood with an incredible history behind her bloodlines. In short, Tokaj's direct ancestors from the 1940's were taken from the Germans by U.S. Army General Patton during WWII and shipped to the U.S. to Ft. Riley, KS as the spoils of war, to improve the U.S. Cavalry mounts. Once the cavalry was decomissioned shortly after, the entire herd of Hungarians was purchased by a couple of cattle ranchers. One in Montana and one in Nebraska. Believe it or not, there is a herd of Hungarian warmbloods currently grazing the sandhills of Nebraska, owned by the son of one of the cattle ranchers who purchased them from the Army. Tokaj is directly from that herd. And she is the most incredible horse I have ever been around. If you wish to know more you can find out all about them and their wonderful history at: http://www.hungarianhorses.org/.

So as I began looking for a suitable stallion I wanted to look first within the Hungarian breed. I was not limiting myself to them, but hoped to find a suitable prospective sire. That led me to HS Wistar. Wistar also has a wonderful history dating back to WWII. Wistar's damline is a mare whose relations were shipped to the U.S. by a Hungarian countess who was fleeing the occupation of Hungary by the Germans in WWII. She brough a small herd of Hungarians to the U.S. about the same time that General Patton brought the others. She and the two cattle ranchers ended up meeting and helping to keep the Hungarians pure and without too much line breeding.

HS Wistar stood out due to his breeding and performance history. I believe Wistar is 14. He has been competing at grand prix dressage for a couple of years with his rider/trainer Jennifer Williams. Jennifer and Wistar have grown up practically together and last year were training with Steffan Peters. Wistar is a great horse. His most important features are that he is SOUND at 14 after a long career at high levels of dressage, lots of competing, and traveling. The other important feature is that he has a great disposition, work ethic, and mind. He is very athletic and throws athletic ability, temperament, and soundness to his foals. When looking for a stallion, I was hoping to match Tokaj's wonderful attributes, and I ended up going one step better. Breeding is always a gamble, but I would bet on this pairing any day.

So, I contacted Summervale Farm in Washingtong state to inquire about Wistar... and was told that he may not be available to breed early next Spring as he and Jennifer were going to train again in California with Steffan Peters, but... if I wanted to breed right then, in the Fall of '09, they would accomodate me. So snap decision made... I now have a pregnant Tokaj! She is due in September of 2010. It turned out to be a good thing that a had her bred last Fall, as Wistar and Jennifer have accepted a U.S. Dressage Foundation grant that will allow them to compete in Europe at grand prix. Wistar will be in Europe for much of this year.

The winter of '09 was brutal here. No riding took place as I don't have an indoor arena. I did fix my washed out outdoor for Spring riding. Now we have nice weather, and I am getting some riding done on Savannah. Savannah is a Paint, and she is 5 years old now and not at the training level of a 5 year old. I decided to ride her western. She has not matured to a point where her withers are level with her croup. I am not certain that she ever will level out. Dressage, and collection will be hard for her if she does not at least level out, so I am focusing on making her a nice riding horse for trails and family.

That's our update. I hope all of you are well too!