Sheri’s Blog
WORLD CHAMPION BRITISH BRED FAROUCHE
August 13, 2011One must say we are at the top of the breeding world and we must embrace this achievement, as to breed such a horse and to come to this level of achievement is hard work and involves many heartbreaks on the way, you need determination,dedication,great energy and vision to carry on, but the achievements do outweigh the blood sweat and tears !
I myself have firmly believed this could be achieved with careful choices of mares , chosen for breeding, they need strong marelines and competition history and the stallion choices must compliment such mares.I appreciate one cannot know the exact quality of what one has bred without the right judges to identify his/her’s qualities the correct owner to invest time and money into acquiring the best trainer and rider, but I still say quality breeds quality breeds quality ! and champions breed champions !
I cannot tell you how excited I have been my husband thought I’d gone completely mad and cringed at the thought of dealing with me if it had been one of ours !
The news of Farouche winning The World Championships at the Verden in Germany last Saturday turned me into an emotional wreck for two days ,I was spreading the fantastic news fast and furious on the bush telegraph ! but some of the responses I received from most was disappointing to say the least and to my horror they were breeders to ! they could’nt understand my excitement for another person’s horse ! but for me breeding is so much more, I want to breed the best, I want the best bred horses to be British bred and to me Lynne Crowden has Confirmed it all possible, it can be achieved !
People should look and learn not be blind or jealous study breeding more ,study marelines and what they mean the stallion cannot preform miracles. We as a Nation should be celebrating the achievement of phenomenal mare Farouche who has thrashed the Dutch and German’s whom dominated in World Breeding for years, BRITISH BRED FAROUCHE VICTORIOUS AS SHE REIGN’S SUPREME !
CATHERINE BERNING NEW RIDER FOR WENZEL R
July 13, 2011In theory the talent of any successful sport horse is down to having the correct gene’s and any talented rider is down to having the correct training and commitment ! its all very much a case of nature and nurture to source success ! this has now been established in the pairing of Catherine Berning with Wenzel R the new rider selected by the owner of Wenzel R Sue Cullen, Sue and I have now been friends over eight years, and we have watched the development of Wenzel R over these years. Wenzel R spent the end of 2009 in the Netherlands training with Anky van Grusven and 2010 training with Dolf Dietem Keller in Germany, returning to South Africa in Jan 2011.
Catherine Berning is a very successful young rider with a CV as long as your arm
in achievements as a rider, Catherine has now embarked on the South African development program (bootcamp) as she refer’s to it ! which was held in Gauteng at Kyalami Equestrian Park S.A. this programme has been developed to uplift the standard of dressage in S.A. with 25 registered horses, Catherine already has a horse on the Johannesburgh clinic, but this format was of very different form to normal clinic’s
The first day was to asses horse and rider’s capabilities at the level chosen by the rider (M level ) the judge ‘s sat in the box and commentated over the PA system though out the test on the way it was being ridden. the test was recorded on to a DVD and each rider was given one at the end . Second day was based more on developing personal fitness awareness . By the end of the two days the panel made there selections, Catherine Berning was selected for the SANET talent Identification and development programme( to Sue and I’s delight) this is to form a team of dressage riders and horses for a team to represent South Africa in the 2016 Olympic’s. The S.A. are taking this very serious with the team already traveling on regular intervals to Europe to train with Anky van Grusven and Rein Vander Shaft, the trainer’s at home are Tim Lips and German trainer Micheal Rhoode.
For Riverstud we can barely retain our excitement as the pairing of Wenzel R and Catherine Berning is already proving to be successful so far winning M level and the Advance classes at the Easter Show their first outing together and his first show on returning to S.A. then they went on to win KZN Championships 2011 winning the Kur and no less than 5 trophies and crowned Dressage Champion a title he held in 2009. In the FEI Championships he won both his classes and missed the Championship by 1% making him 3rd in S.A rankings as a dressage horse not bad I would say for a partnership of only 4 months.
SACRIFICES
March 9, 2011
MERITOIRE AWARD
I always wonder how I’m going to make my next blog interesting for you to read ? simple have something interesting to say ! Well to help finanace my second trip to sunny South Africa (since 2006) I had to make a few sacrifices ! as its just not possible to do it all.
The first was to make the decision not to attend the BritishBreeder Award Dinner in London Jan 2011, were I missed a very old friend of mine being presented with the Meritoire Award for outstanding contribution to British Breeding, well deserved too !
Henk Hindermann and I first met in person in October 1992 at the John Brown Muirmill Equestrain Centre Scotland, we were both a long way from home ! but both stiving for the same outcome to get our mares graded under Dutch assessor’s J Werners & J.P.P van Rijswijk. The Anglo European Studbook (AES ) was in its infancy days then, and on contacting Henk he gave me sound advice to take my mare to Scotland for the assessment ! I have never looked back my mare was awarded a 1st premium and branded (no longer done) thankyou Henk for the best advice I ever had.
Henk’s passion, inspiration and commitment to the studbook with its strong emphasis on sport and an openmind has now been well rewarded. The AES has now acclaimed the highest honours for a British studbook in the World Breeding Federation Rankings for Eventing & Showjumping bringing recognition of British Breeding into the eyes of the world, well done Henk Hindermann.
The second was not being able to do my annual pilgrimage to Hetogenbosh 2011 KWPN Stallion Show, it would have been one of the most interesting for me as the blood distribution especially in the dressage stallions continues to be an area of great concern to me, my intrest is how much free blood are they taking in and how many stallions with frequently used blood that preform well will go through ? and of course there’s nothing like seeing the stallions in the flesh to get the understanding why the selection was granted be it free blood or well used blood !
On my return from South Africa I was eager to research the results, most of the stallions selected where of well used blood this is a worrying concern for me as the gene pool is small within the KWPN.
The KWPN commented on the standard this year was not as good as many gone by, is it the times or the breeder’s seeking a little guidence? as I know I am !
Photo courtesy Trevor Meeks
Posted in Sheri's Blog | Tagged MERITOIRE AWARD | Leave a commentIF YOU CANT BEAT IT. BUY IT !
October 20, 2010My reflection, on the decision of the sale of the Dutch phenomenon Moorland’s Totilas that has shocked the horse world and his rider to the core, the bush telegraph has been redhot with all kinds of speculation !
I myself find it ironic that the very country who described Totilas as a circus horse and despised the Dutch hyperflexion training system almost destroying the image of Dutch trainers with there constant media attacks, have now purchased him !
As marketing is Schockemohle’s first line of business I can appreciate his decision to invest in Totilas as he is a desirable business asset. But is the hidded agenda the fact of the overwhelming success of Dutch sport horses over the past years which has left the neighbour lacking in horse power and medals ?
I almost admire Schockemohle’s desire to lead the way, as he has already been incorporating Dutch bred horses into his studs portfolio by co owning the Dutch bred stallions United (Krack C – Partout – Sultan ) and the 2009 Dutch Champion Bordeaux ( United - Gribaldi – Donnerhall ) and of course the Keur stallion Gribaldi was on lease to the stud when he passed away.
Schockemohle has been in the horse Industry a considerable time and knows change is needed and that the German bred horses need a little more blood and more articulation in the movement as paces are taking precedence over absolute correctness.
Totilas must now prove himself as a sire as his sire Gribaldi (keur)has done.Im not sure if they have a perspective rider for him as there is a lot to live up to as Moorland Totilas reign supreme and has nothing to prove to the world as a multiple record holder,multiple record breaker. multiple gold medal winner !
But my sympathy is with the fragmented Edward Gal as they were a formidable partnership that captured the hearts of the world, making us all fantast, for those who have been lucky enough to have seen or met them as I have must feel a little of the pain.It is sad we have to wake up to reality of business and politics.
Posted in Sheri's Blog | Leave a commentPUBLIC FORUM’S AND BLOGS
October 10, 2010I often observe the public forums and blogs, ie Horse & Hound, Horse & Country and a few others. I make no contribution towards them, although I believe theres a place for them in the correct context.
I have just read one on Horse & Country that has sadden me deeply. I have been grading mares since 1992 and I have always made myself available to take part in anything that brings British Breeding to the forefront, but never wanted to participate in the public forum/blogs, after reading the latest one suddenly I understood why.
Personally I am perplexed at these often defamatory and egotistical blogs/threads. They can be misleading and fustrating with no major cotribution to breeding. I am passionatly involved in British breeding and a breeder myself, but I find the blood lust which some people pursue to inflict damage upon another is indeed frightening!
I believe if your are a genuine supporter of breeding and the Industry you will endevour to stop these hypocritical blogs/forums, however I am not against speaking my mind, in my opinion airing peoples dirty washing in public is surely a bullies tacktic.
As I see it today people have choices. Breeders may access any amount of source to confirm authenticity and verification on a stallion or the owner, they only need to do their homework as I do! If you can’t access the information then speak to the owner ask for verification in writing and if you dont receive it, simply do not use the stallion.
I am sure we have all lacked clarity at some point in our lives so why dont we take stock of our own lives first before we criticize one another. I think on a public blog/forums the author should declare who they are! Anybody contributing to a thread/blog without useing their real idenity surely lacks clarity. Casting names and encourageing people to throw acusations is not the way forward as we are all vulnerable!
My concerns are the damage being done to our already fragile breeding Industry by a minority with obvious agenda’s. Lets be professional and talk horses and breeding not people and agenda’s before the breeders and general public are totaly disillusioned and we loose the little progress we have made!
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