Monday 9 April 2012

We Welcome Rei-Huia Toffee

Rei-Huia Sport Horses had their disbursement sale late last month and Nick and I went along to offer them a hand. I was not planning on buying any more horses but I registered to bid as there were a couple in the sale that I was determined not to let go to anyone other than myself if the money was silly. 

Rei-Huia Toffee was one of those horses and so when her turn came to be sold, I started to bid. I had a limit that I was determined not to go over so when I bid within $50 of that limit, I was pretty sure that she would be going home with someone else but it seemed that the other bidder had reached their limit so the hammer fell and Toffee was mine!

Toffee is a fairly unremarkable looking creature at present, being 2 years old and in the middle of a growth spurt but her breeding is far from unremarkable. She is about as blue blooded as they come being by the Welton Crackerjack son Lord Welton and out of Scarlet Rising who is a daughter of Primitive Rising and who evented to Intermediate in the UK before being exported to NZ where she produced a few foals for Craighaven prior to her sale to Rei-Huia.

Toffee has a few siblings, her most well-performed being the half brother, Clifton Pledge who evented to Intermediate with Jonathan Paget. Unfortunately a fall down a truck ramp ended his International career before it began as it left him with permanent fluidy knees (technical term, haha!) but he looks to be a super horse and sounds to be honest and kind with it. See various professional photos of him below:











Primitive Rising - Scarlet Rising's sire and Toffee's Grandsire

Scarlet Rising - Toffee's Dam

Lord Welton - Toffee's Sire




And now to some photos of Toffee herself ...





So, plans for Toffee are to start her in the spring and get her in foal to Brennan. Once she has been lightly started and had a little bit of mileage she will be turned away to foal as a four year old and then brought into proper work once her foal has been weaned. Exciting!

Sunday 8 April 2012

Learning to Post

Today Brennan put his schoolmaster hat on and gave one of my oldest friends her first ride in twenty years and then gave her 12 year old daughter her very first trot off the lead rein. By the end of their ride they were doing 20m circles at rising trot - Way to go team! Just LOVE this pony. I know I say it a lot but, especially after an experience like he gave me today, I just cannot believe how lucky I am to have him. He has the most giving temperament and tries so hard to please all the time. I think being able to put a near total beginner on him in a big paddock with no lead rein and just let them get on with it, really speaks volumes. 

Here are some photos from today:

Amanda and B - Not too shabby at all!



 Anna and Brennan off the Lead = Awesome work!