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NEWS 2011Solaris Sport Horses Kambarbay got off to a good start this year at his first affiliated shows. A double clear at Cabin Equestrian Centre in the BSJA 95cm Open gained him a third place. At Kirriemuir in the BE 90 his dressage scores were somewhat disappointing and harshly marked: he rode a very accurate test, very well engaged but was a little too focused on the horses riding around next to the arenas warming up! The plastic jumps seemed to be hiding monsters reflected by the sun and the corner jump in the cross country proved a challenge as he swung wide and had to circle back. However at Brechin Castle a fortnight later, he rode a very good dressage test and jumped clear in both the cross country and jumping phase earning his first foundation point. Time faults earned put him in overall 11th place: had he been within the allowed time he would have been placed 1st, so the next challenge is to ask for a little more speed. Kambarbay has generated considerable interest from mare owners, with 11 coverings and 8 pregnancies confirmed. A number of clients have expressed interest for next season once his first foals are on the ground, which we tend to find is generally the case when we introduce a new young stallion to the market. In general the breeding season 2011 for stallions across the UK and Europe have been dramatically reduced, a clear indication that breeders are very much cutting back with young stock struggling to fetch good prices on the open market compared to previous years. So what's next for Kambarbay? Well, he will be returning to Lucy at Craigie Equestrian in Aberdeenshire to continue his training over the winter. It's perhaps a little too late in the season now for him to compete in any of the end of season events but continuing training, BSJA and affiliated dressage are all very much on the cards this winter in preparation for the Eventing season 2012. It's really quite unfortunate that the stud season clashes with so many good events, but he is young enough yet to benefit from a rest period over the summer months and there's no hurry to ask too much of him; patience and training is our top priority for Kambarbay.
Update from Devon: Maria Baverstock's horses Mualim's full endurance results are on Endurance GB website. You have to go to Results and search by his name Mualim Shael. We did 52km recently at Cirencester Park. It was hot and the ground was hard but we passed with Grade 4, speed 13.62km per hour and heart beat 52 bpm. We didn't quite make last year's speed of 15km per hour but then we added another 11km to the distance, and we rode on our own 85% of the way, which always reduces the speed. Heart rate at the end was higher than last year. Physically, Mualim is not a natural candidate for endurance - he is neither light-built nor light-footed but his character makes him a fantastic riding partner because once he agrees to do something (and he has agreed to do endurance!) he is so reliable and careful and clever. It is also utterly amazing that he is able to do what he does considering the severity of his spinal injury. I am going to stick around with 40-50km for this season and may attempt 65km next year. The really big distances don't attract me but it would be great to do an 80km race ride one day. I also took Tina's mare Perimli to a classical dressage clinic with Marijke de Jong. This was a great experience and both the mare and I are gradually getting the hang of it. The system is called Straightness Training - a kind-of Everyman Guide to Vienna High School. She does shoulder-in in-hand quite well now and is learning travers. I find all the exercises easier under saddle but this system is all about teaching the horse to do everything from the ground first. They do canter pirouettes in-hand, it is utterly amazing. I was inspired to join the course by Noelle Schon, an endurance rider in Luxembourg who has two Tekes. Yes, we have another Mualim son this year, out of Mushmula. It is evident that Mualim-Mushmula combination is a winner. Our foal is called Windsor - his photos are on my Facebook. We also have a yearling from Mualim/Perimli combination from last year. He is a charming sort and a curious combination of his exceptionally dozy mother and fierce father. He has a great topline which I have come to value more and more in Tekes over the years, because so many of them are lacking in that department.
News from the Richardsons' yard I thought I would pop up on Dash on his 2nd birthday. He looks quite small with me on him - just about 14.2hh. I imagine that he will reach 15hh or so when he has matured. He still seems to be keeping his lovely colour, which is a bonus. He has gone down with Annette for a few months for his summer holidays as they have better grass than us and he can socialise with others. I've not done much with Fizz this year as she did something to herself in the field back in February and has been lame for months. It seemed to be in her off hind fetlock joint as that was hot but not swollen. She improved over the weeks but was still subtly lame. The physio girl found that her pelvis was way out and has been treating that with great success. I've been riding her gently once she was sound enough and she's had her saddle checked, so all set to go once she is totally right. You can only see that she is unlevel on a circle now and she seems to be fine out hacking - walk, trot and canter. We enjoy our outings around the forest - so lucky to have such marvellous riding on our doorstep. She is looking much better and is feeling well in herself - even beginning to shy at things which she has never done before. Jenny Barnes and Linhay Lale Jenny writes: I broke Lale in this winter - a strange time of year to work on a horse? I wanted to get her going, firstly before the flies are around, as she has a big reaction to fly bites, and secondly to not give her any stress in the spring as I lost her full brother to Equine Grass Sickness, and a possible contributing factor may have been stress. I had been in two minds what to do with her: I tried to mate her last year, which would have given her more time to mature, but wasn't successful. So getting her going seemed the best option, and I am glad I did. She rides out alone round our farm happily. Our first external outing was to a XC schooling day. She went with my other horse, who led her over tiny jumps at the walk, then trot (she was more concerned about horse whizzing past than the jumps), then we set off round the course and she followed him over all the smallest of jumps at 2' 6''. I was delighted. She was calm but interested in all going on. She did not want to come home and was slow to load. Since then we have done two fun rides - see photo of her jumping: northcoteimages Barnstormers fun ride April 23rd – p.2, number 090. She is in the fly rug. Her mate stopped at the fence and she was honest to keep going. She loves jumping and was giving him a lead for the rest of the ride! She is still slow to load coming home - a real party horse! but getting better. I plan to do more with her this summer- weather and ground permitting, and hopefully hunt her in the winter. I use her to round up the sheep on the farm. She learns quickly and turns fast to move them on. She will nudge a slow lamb with her nose! I am enjoying her a lot. PaxIt is with sadness that Team Teke has to report the death of Pax, whose activities and achievemnts have been reported in these columns. His owner, Stephanie Richards writes: ' we have unfortunately had to have him put down. He was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease in his hocks and spine, and although at the beginning it looked as though we would be able to control the condition with bute and gentle exercise, it got progressively worse and it was clear he was in considerable pain and it was not going to get any better. He was a fantastic horse who made sure he was always at the centre of attention: it was clear that he was not going to be happy in the field while the others went to competitions and we felt that it was the best thing for him. ' Aschir 2010Owner Jacqui Bradbury writes: 'Aschir has competed a season at BE 100 level, and is currently schooling at Novice and Intermediate Level (FEI 1*/2**): we are aiming to compete at Novice level in the coming season. He continues to create huge interest wherever he goes and is a great ambassador for the AT in the UK'. News from Kyzyl Tekes 2010Cleobury Mortimer Intro ODE, September 5th. The one we've been aiming at this rather truncated season. Cleobury is a good course for novices, where the technical fences are nicely mixed with good old-fashioned XC - lots of hedges, and fences built into boundaries, so that you really feel you're going somewhere, not jumping a lot of pre-fabricated fences in the middle of a field. It started to rain as we arrived, and was belting down steadily as Roz and Ainur did one of their less accomplished dressage tests! This was followed by a most uncharacteristic run-out in the SJ - possibly due to the slippery ground, as she lost her footing on one particularly tight corner. (Must use longer studs next time!) The XC was running well ahead of time, and a lot of competitors took the chance to go early and get off home out of the rain. We waited out our time, and were rewarded by the rain stopping and the sun coming out, to give rapidly improving conditions. It was worth it, as the two of them gave a copybook performance. Unfortunately, although there are a few Hunter Trials on the calendar, this is the last ODE before Roz goes off to Oxford next month. But it's a good note to end on!
Monmouthshire Show, August 26th. A must on our calendar, despite the débâcle last year when entries collapsed, Djargalan's class was passed over and everyone ended up getting their entry fees back! Despite a horribly early start and pouring rain, we came back for a second try, and Django was placed fourth in the Sporthorse Breeding two-year-old class.
Worcester Riding Club ODE, Hilltop XC Course, August 22nd. With Ainur's hock injury now fully recovered, Roz made a late start to the season. Having gone clear XC round a small ODE at Cleobury Mortimer to oil the wheels, she was ready to do the 2'9" course at the Worcester RC ODE at Hilltop. Ainur's steadily improving dressage delivered a score of 36, followed by a clear SJ round. The pair of them went fluently round the XC course until near the end, when the smallest fence on the course caused them two stops. Through the water, though, with only the briefest of looks - one problem on the way to a solution! Sam's first foal on the way (30/07/2010) Sam (Kyzyl Double or Quits) – by Welton Double Cracker out of Gulara, has begun his stud career. Sue Perks' TB x Suffolk mare Ismere Vardy (Stable Name Rosie) has been scanned in foal at twenty-eight days. Conception was by frozen AI, carried out at Twemlows Hall. Rosie, a fourteen-year-old maiden, took at the first attempt - a great credit to the mare, the stallion and, above all, the AI technicians.
British Equestrian Futurity Day July 15 2010Following Yoldash’s successful visit to a BEF Futurity day last year, Dayra Hannigan entered her filly Ayazgul (Dominik/Oinam) to be evaluated for eventing, at the Solihull Equestrian Centre. The filly would not be three till October, but was evaluated as a three year old. Interest was shown in her and her breed by the vet and the BEF officials, although the vet did suggest she might be given a higher score if evaluated for endurance. She gained an 8.5 score from the vet and was given a good body score by the nutrition specialist. Aya was due to be evaluated late in the day, and on top of that had to wait over an hour – after initial curiosity when out of her trailer, she settled down and waited very quietly, even to the stage of nearly falling asleep so that she had to be woken up when she finally made it into the arena! She was walked and trotted in hand, then cantered and jumped free. She remained calm throughout, and jumped well after a false start when she was not sure what she was supposed to do. Darya was delighted at her taking all this in her stride, and at her overall performance, considering she was four months off her third birthday. Ayazgul gained an overall score of 8.14, a First Premium. 7.75 for canter, 8.15 for jumping, 8.25 for attitude. There was a comment that her paces were a little flat, but the same comment was applied to several horses before her. An excellent result, especially after the advice that she could get higher scores for endurance!
PaxTeam Teke is sorry to hear that Pax (see past reports in 'Events') has had to be retired from competion. His owner, Stephanie Richards, writes 'Pax collapsed at the beginning of the year. Following blood tests and X rays he has now been retired from competition. The results are much better than expected and we are hoping to bring him back to work so that my mother can use him to hack.' We wish him well in his retirement. An Update on the Richardson HorsesOur yearling Yoldash (Firyuza/Dominik) is now summer holidaying with my daughter, Annette. Dash was bred for her to take on to do endurance riding in a few years time. It has turned out that Annette is expecting her first child next month and has since sold her old endurance horse, so hopefully things will work out well for the future. Annette and Simon were happy to have Dash with them for the summer and they wouldn’t be completely horseless . It was an opportunity for him to be weaned from his mother and spend a bit of time with some other horses. He is in with a humungous 18hh old boy who is now retired from show jumping, etc. He does look very small against him. Ruffy is very good though and keeps him in his place without being too unkind or too rough. Those huge feet could do a lot of damage if he were to kick out – laying his ears back is enough to keep Dash in his place. He is a bit of a wimp though and is not too keen on this roughing it out in the field in the rain (although we’ve not seen a lot of that this year). He’s used to having access to his stable for inclement weather. We have him booked in to the BEF Futurity again this year. We are going to Catherston Stud in mid-August. It will be interesting to see how we get on this year after doing well last year as a 6-week old foal. We are also hoping to take him to a show or 2 during the summer months to expand his education. He is coming along well with his natural horsemanship and enjoys learning new things. Probably, like most Akhal-Teke’s, he isn’t fazed by much and quite happily investigates most things without any fear – he’s just so interested in everything. While Yoldash has been away, I have been riding his mum, Firyuza, quite a lot and we have done a couple of sponsored rides and some endurance pleasure rides. She seems to enjoy these after spending a year looking after her son. She is now six and hopefully, next year we will expand on the endurance riding and do a few novice competitive rides. I am very lucky to have lovely forests to ride in off-road all the time but it is nice to ride in other areas of the country with different terrain. We are having such pleasure from owning Yoldash and he is much admired and loved by everyone. The locals near our yard want to know when he’s coming back. He is such a friendly ‘people’ horse. He loves everyone. Postcript - Jackie Richardson adds: Took the boy to the Futurity Tuesday 17 August. We went to Catherston Stud this time (Jenny Lorriston-Clark's place). He did very well and got 8.36 out of 10, which gave him a First Premium again. There were only 2 in the Endurance section and he just beat the other entry. I see from the results that he was somewhere in the middle for that day and is somewhere in the middle of all the endurance entries for the whole country. We were very proud of the way that he behaved. He loaded himself into the trailer both ways and didn't bat an eyelid at anything at the venue or all the other horses. The assessors liked his lovely friendly attitude. He had to go and have a chat with them when he was turned loose to canter. It was really difficult to get him to canter with me running up and down driving him away. He was only interested in the judges and the camera people. I don't think we will bother next year as we feel that he has proved he is hopefully going to be a good horse. The previous weekend, Annette took him to a local show and entered him in the coloured class in the pouring rain. He ended up 2nd out of 8. He did well as a yearling to beat other more mature horses - perhaps the judge liked duns as the winner was a dun as well. We might take him to another show this weekend and then call it a day for this year.
BEF Futurity Evaluation, July 21Even before Yoldash was born, after reading an article about these evaluations, I wanted to take our foal to this event. It seemed such a good idea to assess the youngstock that you have bred for the discipline that you have bred them for – be it eventing, show-jumping, dressage, etc. The horses, ranging from foals to 3 year olds, are looked at by a vet and any faults are noted for you to watch over the coming years. It could be a case of remedial shoeing or something for your vet to watch or it may just disappear, as they grow older. Then it’s into an indoor school where a team of 3 evaluators look at the horses. There are several venues all over the country, but as Dash is bred for Endurance and this is the first year that they are including this as an evaluation discipline we were restricted to 4 possible venues. Okehampton was our nearest, so we duly entered for 21st July and started the halter training. Yoldash is bred from Firyusa (Fizz), a grey part-bred Arab/Akhal-Teke mare bred by Gill Suttle and Dominik, Darya Hannigan’s beautiful buckskin purebred Akhal-Teke stallion. Dash was born on 4th June and is an absolute joy to us and we love him to bits. He is a cute buckskin colt and is full of inquisitiveness and fun. The day of the evaluation dawned wet and miserable with a vet time of 10.15am. Fizz loaded fine as usual and I thought Dash would follow but he wasn’t impressed and headed off round the field for a few laps before eventually being persuaded that it wasn’t so bad after all. They both travelled well for the long 3-hour journey and weren’t fazed by the sight of the other horses at the venue. We didn’t have to wait long in the queue for our turn and the kindly vet eyed him up and thought that any faults that he might have at 6 weeks old would probably disapear over the next year or so. We were then ushered into the huge indoor arena and the assessors looked him over critically and then we had to walk a triangle a couple of times leading them both and then we let Yoldash go to trot beside his mother round the triangle again. Then came the exciting bit as my husband, Neville, held Dash at one end while I walked Fizz to the other end of the arena. Dash was then released to canter after his mother, jumping the poles marking the triangle on the way, much to everyone’s amusement. We then heard the verdict from the evaluators and they gave him marks for various sections of the assessment form. He was given a combined mark of 8.64 out of 10, which was very good and far exceeded our expectations. This earned him a First Premium rosette. Elite Premiums are for marks 9 and over and are highly prized. The assessors said that they liked him very much and that they thought he had a great future in endurance ahead of him: they liked his balance and paces and thought that he could possibly have a dressage future. This in itself, I found very interesting and is something we might pursue in due course. He also received a Reserve in the Endurance section and a rosette from Endurance GB for just turning up. So a little 6-week-old foal ended up taking home 3 lovely rosettes – can’t be bad. If you ever have a chance to go to one of these events, I would strongly recommend it as I found the evaluators very helpful and impartial. They gave very good advice where necessary. Well worth the money. The results go on the youngster’s record with National Equine Database (NED) and could be useful if you are thinking of selling in the future. Jackie Richardson 30.7.09 Update on Yoldash. Jackie writes in September: he’s growing fast. We took him to the Dorchester Show last week. He did nothing in the class but was very well behaved and enjoyed going to a party. This is a big show with a lot going on so we were pleased at how well he coped with the tannoys and all the horses milling about. It makes it so much easier as Fizzy is very laid back and doesn’t get fazed by much. It all has a calming effect on Dasha. I have a lady come to help me with Natural Horsemanship with the pair of them. We have started Dasha off and he is very good at leading around. Once he is going well we can introduce poles and walking over sheets etc We lead them both out into the forest for walks for a change. He is very independent and likes to stay with us if we are working in the field instead of keeping with his mum all the time. He is such fun and hopefully he will grow into a real ‘companion’ which is the meaning of Yoldash. Thankfully, so far he is still keeping the beautiful buckskin colour.   
The Great Rescue Ride, July 25Maria Marquise Baverstock and Mualim took part in this sponsored ride, organised by Endurance GB as part of their Tally Ho ride near Salisbury Plain, in aid of Horseworld, the Bristol based equine rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming charity. The ride was fifteen miles, starting at Kingston Deverill, near Warminster. Maria reports that the scenery and terrain were wonderful, but Mualim disliked the vetting procedure somewhat!    Akhal Teke Foals - 2009Dominik, the buckskin stallion belonging to Aylesbury Vale Akhal Tekes, (AVAT) has produced three colt foals this year. The first was born on 22 May, Yggdrysil, out of Humisha, Akhal Teke/TB x Welsh. Yoldash arrived next, on 4 June, out of Firyusa, Arab x Akhal Teke, bred at Kyzyl Akhal Tekes. His owners plan an endurance career. Watch this space for a report on his visit to a BEF futurity event at Okehampton. Finally Azar was born on 14 June, out of AVAT Stud’s Akhal Teke mare Oinam: he is a full brother to the Stud’s 2 year old filly Ayazgul.   
Exe Equestrian Club Pleasure Ride, Woodbury Common, March 15'Come and ride an Akhal Teke!’ this was an offer I could not refuse, and last year I drove to Devon to take up Maria Marquise’s kind offer. I rode her lovely big bay mare Mushmula on a couple of hacks round her farm and the Devon countryside. This spring came an even better offer – come and join us on a ten mile pleasure ride!The date coincided with the sunniest weekend of the year so far. This time I rode Perimli, a mare that Maria has on loan. Smaller than Mushmula, black, with a proud classical head – despite having spent much of her life as a brood mare, she is an absolute joy to ride. Maria’s husband Nigel, on Mushmula, joined me on the ride.
Mushmula was barefoot, Perimli had front shoes. Many of the tracks were stony, but we were able to trot for much of the way, with several short canters. The route took us through woodland, gorse covered heath, and over streams, a splendid variety of countryside. Perimli reminded me of horses I had ridden in Turkmenistan and Iran, with what I can only describe as a light, joyous, forward going movement. Her strides were so horizontal, her trot so comfortable, her transitions to canter imperceptible. I barely noticed I had ridden for ten miles! Mushmula’s feet were fine on the hard going – we passed one hairy cob hardly able to put one barefoot hoof in front of another. We left another cob behind us as we crossed a very boggy stream – here was nearly my downfall as I stopped to look for the best way through, and Perimli decided to put her head down on the bank to sniff the mud! But the mares both waded through. Only at the end did Perimli get excited – otherwise both mares happily went in front, behind, passed or were passed without batting an eyelid. These really are horses made for pleasant travelling – perfect for those of us who are not competitive in any way! |
