Reverende de United

Introducing our latest arrival...

Paso Fino stallion Reverende de United (Imp.USA). Rev recently arrived from NZ. We thanks Soho Paso Finos in NZ for the opportunity to purchase Rev. Also our thanks to Sea Horse Sea Freight for safely getting him to us. It was a tight schedule, but Alison from SHSF did a magnificent job in organising the land transport in NZ and all the paperwork in good time.

Rev is a magnificent horse to ride and I have already spent some time enjoying him out on the trails (despite the horrible weather since his arrival).

He is from mostly Columbian lines, but matches our predominantly Puerto Rican mares quite well, due to good size, solid bone and excellent gait. We have a line up of pure and partbred mares for him for next spring. He also stands at stud to approved outside mares of all breeds.

mid winter update

The weather is cold. We've had some cracking frosts. So much so, that the frost didn't just sit on the grass, but was high up in the trees! Looked beautiful when the sun came up.

We've also had some wet and windy weather, so with work and uni that didn't leave too many days for riding and working horses.

In May, just before the weather turned bad, we had a clinic here at Narrawin with Trisha Wren from NZ. The Connected Riding clinic went for three days (Yvonne's clinic report here and pictures from the clinic here). On the following day I managed to squeeze in a private lesson with Trisha before I had to dash off to work. The clinic was excellent. Trisha not only knows her stuff, but she is an excellent teacher and a lovely person. Add to that a great group of participants, and yeah, we had a great weekend.

On other news, congratulations to Jenny Jones from Sydney on purchasing Bluey. We first met Jenny and her husband Gareth about a year ago. They got hooked on Pasos, and Jenny fell in love with Bluey. Since then, they have acquired another Narrawin bred horse, Dacio NS.

Here is a short video clip from one of the clinic sessions. Riders are Paula from Singapore on Samba (Paso Fino), Jenny on Bluey (Paso Creole) and yours truly on Carlotta (Paso Creole).

autumn update

After the summer went out with a big bang, we enjoyed some relatively quiet times and pleasant weather. Time was spent mending fences, spreading super and doing other farm jobs.

We continued working some of the greener horses and actually got some nice rides in on some of the older ones.

Nele from Litli Stadur Icelandics brought her young stallion Skelmir for starting, so we spent a fair bit of time with him. Here are some picture of him (accompanied by PP mare Flamenca) as he started going out on the trails. Photos by Greg Lehey.

summer update

During summer, I had time off from uni, and used it to work some of the young horses.We finished the basic work with Castellano and Bailador. Both did really well and are now listed with other horses on our sales page.

Allsvin NS gaining new life experiences after we brought him in for further work. Allsvin a.k.a. Wotan is now owned by Yvonne Lehey.

Bailador during one of the last sessions in the riding arena. After that, we took him out on the trails. He is one nicely gaited and intelligent little gelding!

Castellano is a very different type of horse, but he also impressed with his willingness to work and his laid back attitude.

Right at the end of summer, we had a very bad, very large bushfire at Dereel. Lucky for us, but unlucky for other residents, it burned on the other side of the main road. It was the last really hot day of the summer. Terrible conditions with low moisture, high temperatures and strong wind and a sudden change due late in the afternoon. It was a scary day. The fire started just over two kms from us, but the wind blew it away. Several houses and sheds were lost on the far side of Dereel.

It drove home the need the need to be prepared. I certainly put my bushfire plan into action by moving horses and preparing the house.

spring update

It feels as though winter hung in there with a vengeance, but spring is finally here.

The horses have nearly finished shedding out. Gone are the hairy yaks, replaced by shiny ponies. They seem to be making the best of it by taking turns eating, sleeping and running around having fun. It's good to see after so many months of dreary, cold weather.

We waved goodbye to Molly (a.k.a. Narrawin's Unchained Melody). She went to Tassie to be Phoebe Harper's new little horse. Phoebe had been campaigning another Smokey daughter in endurance, and recently completed the Quilty in Tasmania. Sadly, her beautiful mare died recently. So it came that another Smokey daughter went to Tasmania. We hear that Phoebe and Molly are getting along like a house on fire. Stay tuned for great news from this awesome team!

We brought another three geldings home from OliVaylle:

• AuSome Mentiroso: Wildmoor Pilgrim Son (American Saddlebred) x RN's Carinita (Imp.USA) (Paso Fino)
• AuSome Alegria: Wildmoor Pilgrim Son (American Saddlebred) x Guantanamera de la Raza (Imp.USA) (Paso Fino)
• AuSome Castellano: Don Cristobal Mako (Imp.USA) (Paso Fino) x Kobada's Piccaninny (American Saddlebred)

All three are big boys and show excellent gait potential. Our plan is to start them under saddle, develop their gait potential and then offer them as going pleasure riding horses.Having ridden their parents and being well familiar with their bloodlines on both the SB and Paso Fino side, I am positive that they have the potential to be outstanding riding horses.

We are currently starting Castellano and Bailador (AuSome Bolero (Paso Fino) x Lucero (Peruvian Paso)) under saddle.

We have Samba, Bluey and Zara in work. I have just started riding Zara in the bit (Maestro), here are a couple of photos from her first ride in the bit the other day. She is in four reins at the moment:

Photos by Yvonne Lehey.

winter update

I haven't written a lot of updates lately. Well, it is winter, and like a lot of other horse people, we are sort of in hibernation :-). It's just too wet and cold out there. I feed the horses and promise to spend more time with them soon. Sadly, it also means there aren't a lot of occasions to go riding. But... the days are getting longer and before long, spring will be here!


Meanwhile, we have said goodbye to Armando NS and Narrawin's Romantic Courage, they have gone to their new homes in the Hunter Valley and Western Victoria respectively.

Winter ride on Samba (Photo by Yvonne Lehey)

Thanks to Yvonne Lehey, Samba has joined our broodmare and riding horse herd. And in a couple of weeks, I'm picking up three Paso Creole geldings. They will all be started under saddle (after winter!!) and given some work. I'm really looking forward to working with a few new horses again. I'll post details and pictures when I have them.

Despite the horrible weather, we managed to plant some trees for windbreaks. The acquisition of a shiny new tractor resulted in some slashing gettung done around the place, but there are quite a few jobs which will have to wait until better weather, such as spraying and fencing upgrades.

The planned upgrade of narrawin.com has been put on hold until the end of my last semester at Uni, but I have been updating the existing website to keep the sales listing and other horse info current.

The following stallions will be standing at stud for the 2012/2013 season:

• Wildmoor Pilgrim Son - American Saddlebred
• Sovran's Midnight Express (Imp.USA) - American Saddlebred
• Ramirez (aka Shepherd Hill Bruce) - Andalusian
• AuSome Compay - Paso Creole
• Chango NS - Peruvian Paso

For more info, please go to their respective pages, accessible via Narrawin's stallion page.

update

I have updated the sales page and the mares page. Finally!

So far, there have been no firm enquiries on Chango, so he will go back to the asking price of $6,500 tonight. However, the mystery horse purchase will go ahead regardless, subject to a vet check and all that stuff. I will publish more news if and when he arrives.

Rolly was picked up and has gone to his new home at Carlyle Stud. He is such a pleasant fellow and I will miss him. I'm very happy that he has gone to a stud home. The foals we bred from him were very nice, and I hope that he will produce many more for his new owners.

 

Photos by Yvonne Lehey, July 2010