As our foaling, breeding and show year is winding down, its nice to take a moment and reflect back on the year so far.

First. we could not be happier with the positive feedback we have received from the mare owners and their new Noble foals. The time and money involved in breeding a mare is substantial, so the resulting foal must meet the goals as best as possible for the mare owners. So when mare owners tell me they want to keep for themselves their Noble babies, I know we have not only met their goals but exceeded them!

One of my business goals has been to train and show under saddle some of my PRE mares. Not an easy task by any means, because as a breeder, babies must come first. As luck would have it, Kudu was purchased open and presented the perfect opportunity to move ahead with this goal. She was started in mid-January under saddle and shown this summer scoring in the high 60's (69.2) at Training level 3 & 4. This is a huge accomplishment given the fact that she had multiple disruptions in her training due to being bred with a total of 8 weeks out of training and only being ridden 4 days a week! It is truly a testament to this breeds high trainability, willingness to work with his rider and their athletic ability for dressage. Now we can sit back and wait for her 2010 foal due in May by our dressage stallion Noble GF. If you ever wanted a PRE with color, size and tons of athletic ability, you don't want to miss this one.

Our dressage stallion Noble, is developing by leaps and bounds under the careful tutelage of his trainer, Michael Etherly. The heritage of his pedigree is showing through with his natural talent for the work of dressage and carefully being developed under Michael's skillful riding. This pair will be making a big debut on the dressage circuit for the 2010 show season and we are planning a little surprise that will be announced early next year.

Centella has left for her new home and the owners are kind enough to keep me informed of her progress and even include pictures which I love. This was such a perfect match for both of them and I know they will have many happy years together.

The boys, Justino and Regalo are now weaned! Yippe! They are hanging out under the watchful eye of my gelding who is relishing in his new job as "colt sitter"!

Little Red, aka Adora is growing by the day. What a beauty she is and is shedding out a lovely liver chestnut color. If she is still with us next year, plans will be made to prepare her to be shown in hand at USDF Dressage Sport Horse Breed shows and perhaps the PRE Halter Performance shows.

I hope you have enjoyed our Guest Writer, Charles Wilhelm and have discovered a few helpful hints for training your horse whether young or old. We will be introducing a new Guest Writer with a focus on the PRE and dressage. Please check back for further details.

Until next time,

Erin

Sincerely,