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Topic: Trakehner impressions from America (Read 1119 times)
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Maren
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Old Hand
 Offline
Posts: 691
The Bouncer
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I was away from here for a while, but am back now!
Travelled the US basically from East to West, some business matters and also some Trakehner matters. Amanya asked me to share some of my impressions, which I will gladly do.
First stop was a wonderful 2 day stay at Valhalla Farm with Jean and Roy Brinkmann, whom I had met before in St. Louis. Last time I've been to Valhalla was in 97 with Martini still alive, but also not so many stallions around like today. Jean was a great host and took the time to introduce me to each single one of her app. 120 horses. Fun weekend, you can tell!
Incantare is my big love. He matured nicely since last fall, his beauty is breathtaking, as is his attitude. There is a certain grace about his movement that is so clearly stamped by Mahagoni, it amazes me. This is one I would be interested to breed to here in Germany, if he is ever available.
Stiletto is just wonderful, very cute, nice mover, but even better jumper, with an interesting pedigree, combining Abdullah and Martini.
Hailo is a copy of Anduc, just double the size! What a foundation. His mind is so focused on work, it was nice to see him under saddle. Very trainable, and clearly on his way to Grand Prix.
Donaufürst was just the sweetest horse, very well behaved and elegand, I'm glad there are still a couple of Mahagoni sons out there that really produce nicely. I saw the most foals by him and was very impressed, especially in the area of neck set and topline he really improved some of the mares.
The one Beaujolais foal that was out in the fields blew my socks off, VERY attractive. It's a pity he doesn't ship, although looking more like an older type Trakehner, but with the wonderful typey face of Karon, Beaujolais sure produces good horses. I was so happy to see him there, all calm and obviously at home. He had such a horrible life in his younger days in Germany, it was great to see him.
And like a ghost, Martini was all around. It was easy to spot his daughters in the mare herd. I know Jean is very sad he's gone, just like so many are sad Kasp is gone, but stallions like them live on forever. Martini laft such a stamp at Valhalla, he'll be around forever. I'm sure some of lucky guys with Kasp foals, especially fillies, will say the same in a few years.
The overall quality of the horses at Valhalla was very good, I saw some under saddle that would be highly priced in Germany, with type, movement and correctness. Jean and I spent a long time horse tlaking, until 1.30 in the morning and I sure had a great time, I hope she had too. It was a wonderful experience and great to see some wonderful American Trakehners.
Next stop was Lara Meyer's place in San Jose, Ca. She just imported a filly from us, a brown/black Latimer baby out of my mare Tropic Flower by Elan xx-Mahagoni, named Tropic Night. SHe was accompanied on the flight by Hennie, a bay 2 year old by Münchhausen out of Henriette by Rockefeller-Patricius xx, who will move on to Kim Hunter's farm in Texas next month. When I left for the US, I had no idea the fillies would ship that soon, so it was a GREAT opportunity to see them only 1 week after they had arrived in LA. It certainly was very important for them to be together, they knew each other from day 1 and have grown up together. Lara is doing a wonderful job with them and I was so pleased and happy to see them there, looking totally comfortable and happy. As if they never had to fly or be locked up in quarantine. That was a very nice experience for me.
I regret not seeing Gay, we wanted to get together and I tried to call her several times, but all I got was the answering machine. Anyway, I'll be back this coming November, so maybe then....
At the same time, the Expo was going on in Sacramento where Lara had put together a breed demonstration. As I understood, the first day was rather chaotic, but the second day, with a huge crowd watching, was great. Lora Giangrande brought her stallion Savant, I only saw a short fraction on video, but it looked great. What a beautiful stallion. There were also two Feuertänzer fillies and Kougar von C, the newly approved Gribaldi son, came all the way from Idahoe. Evidently, Pat Pirelli used him on day two for demonstrations and quite liked him, which probably made Kougar's owner very proud. So that was a success, additionally, Lara told me that the booth really was popular with the visitors and that lots of Trakehner stuff was sold. Good for you guys!!
All in all, I had a wonderful time, can't wait until November to come back. And while I'm at it, is anybody coming over for the Neumünster approvals? Need help with hotels, tickets, transportation, auction? Let me know!!
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Maren
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Old Hand
Offline
Posts: 691
The Bouncer
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Thank you so much, Suzette. You guys are just such wonderful hosts!
I actually had a stop over in Chicago (incoming port this time) of 7 hours, but that's of course too short to actually see something. Anyway, my plan for the future is to slowly travel to all the horsey part in the US and get the best possible impression on your horses. Sooner or later, I'll end up with you, be sure!
I already saw New Spring Farm last year and was impressed. So slowly I'm adding on my "farm hits". 
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Sovereign Farm
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Gold Medallist
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Posts: 481
KALUA by Heling
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Hi Maren!
It sounds like you had a wonderful time in the US! One of these days you'll have to come to Arizona and see our boy! And the mares and babies, of course! Both Aerron and I will be at the inspection again this year so hopefully we'll see you again there.
Heather
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