news and updates
Welcome to the Newsletter of NZ Horses.com!!
April 2010 :
8 April 2010
NZHorses.com Relocated BACK to NZ with INCREDIBLE New Facilities!!
The month of March was a very busy time for us - we relocated to NZ, got married and moved into our new facilities - all in the space of 3 weeks! During that time we also attended the Horse of the Year show in Hastings, NZ - I was not impressed with this destination for our honeymoon! Was great to catch up with lots of people that we don't get to see on a day to day basis.
Megan Jones Wins HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing
Last weekend was the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing held in Kihikihi in the North Island. Our Aussie friend, Megan Jones, again flew from Australia to compete in the 3*** class on Kirby Park Irish Jester. Like last year, Megan was in the lead early and held her placing to the end. The only thing left to do is come back next year and make it 3 in a row!!
February 2010 :
16 February 2010
"Woodburn" and Philip Dutton and "Neville Barbados" and Boyd Martin are listed in the "A" List team for WEG
It is with huge pleasure that we congratulate Phillip and Boyd on their selection for the A list American team (announced in November 09) for the WEG. Both of these combinations are special to NZHorses.com for different reasons.
Boyd is a long time friend and business associate so we are super excited to see him compete at his first WEG - we are certain there will be more to come too!
Ross and I keep a very keen eye on the progress of Phillip Dutton and Woodburn, who won their first WEG selection trial yesterday.
Woodburn is one of our major success stories. Ross originally found Woodburn and sold him to US eventing rider, Liz Millikin.
Woody, as he was known, was a very flash 5 year old competing at small jumper shows in NZ. At the time, he was ridden by a family friend, Tony. Tony told Ross he was a bit much horse for him - he had some definite quirks - bucking and playing at shows! Ross says he took one look at the horse and knew that this horse had some awesome talent - he had 4**** eventer stamped all over him.
Ross told Liz that he had found a super nice horse that had all the qualities to make an upper level horse but needed some time. Some time down the track, Woodburn was passed to Phillip, who does an amazing job piloting this horse to some incredible successes.
In a Chronicle of the Horse magazine last year, equestrian and eventing legend James Wofford picked Phillip and Woody to win the Rolex competition out of some very stiff competition. As we know, they didn't, but I am sure that there are many more competitions that they will win. It is certainly so exciting to see a horse that caught Ross's eye so many year ago go on and become an incredible success.
CONGRATULATIONS PHILLIP AND BOYD - NZHORSES WISHES YOU BOTH SUCCESS IN YOUR SELECTION TRIALS FOR THE WEG!
Ross and Woodburn - 5 years old in New Zealand.
Quite Cassini to Arrive in NZ in April 2010
We introduced "Quite Cassini" in January - the clip of him jumping is below - check him out! This lovely new addition to the family is set to arrive in NZ in April. He is being ridden and kept in tip top shape by our friend Carsten Esser in Germany. NZ Horses.com and Scott, Deb, Paige and Olivia are proud to present Quite Cassini :
More updates and photos to come closer to his arrival in NZ!
January 2010 :
10 January 2010
Welcome to a brand new year - new opportunities, new horses, and new experiences! May this be an awesome year full of success!
SO! Where do I start? So much has happened in such a short space of time!
Perhaps the most exciting thing for NZ Horses.com is the purchase of "Quite Cassini". We, along with our business partners Scott and Deb, are extremely excited at the prospect of breeding and campaigning him over the coming years.
A little about him . . . "Quite Cassini" is an exceptional talent - he is a 5 year old stallion, 16.3 hh by Cassini. He is superbly bred and as you will agree, can jump the moon! As you can imagine, Ross is counting down the "sleeps" until "Quite Cassini" arrives in New Zealand in April. Check him out on the link below :
Quite Cassini Jumping Indoors - Germany
This year has gotten off to a flying start! We have already sold quite a number of horses.
Notably, Playtime NZPH, who has been campaigning in Australia as a showjumper, has recently been purchased by the Brown Family of New Zealand for the talented Eventing rider Lizzie Brown. Lizzie has had much success with her lovely 3 *** horse Henton Attorney General and is now setting her sights on producing Playtime to the same standard. CONGRATULATIONS on the purcahse of this stunning horse - we are confident that he will be a valuable asset to your team!
Playtime NZPH is pictured below :
More Horses Recently Sold by NZ Horses.com . . .
Classic Z :
Congratulations to Susie Hayward of Brackley Farm in NZ's South Island. Ross was very impressed by "Bruno" after simply watching him canter around an arena in a video clip sent to us via email.
Although a big stallion, "Bruno" is certainly easy to handle and lovely to ride - well educated, balanced and a sweet soft jump.
"Classic Z" offers world reknown bloodlines. His sire "Caretino" is one of Germany's top stallion and has produced horses that excel in both dressage and jumper rings, reknown for their outstanding movement, tremendous scope and very careful jumping ability. This young stallion (only 4 at the time of importing) boasts some of the world's best in his bloodlines - Capitol, Cor De La Bryere (on both sides), Lord and Calletto II.
To top it all off, "Classic Z" is approved and registered with Zangersheide, Belgium. Coming to NZ makes him the only Zangersheide approved stallion in the Southern Hemisphere! "Classic Z" is so well bred that when Zangersheide found out that his owner had him on the market, they wanted to buy him back! Luckly, Susie had already sealed the deal!!
Pictured below is the stunning, versatile stallion, "Classic Z".
Adelaide International Three Day Event - CCI****
13 November to 15 November 2009
Adelaide - hot hot hot! With temperatures consistently recorded at an average of 40 degree C (or 104 degree Fahrenheit) riders, horses and spectators were all struggling to stay cool. It was so hot, Ross and I decided not to venture onto the cross country course, but stay in the shade and watch the big screen. The annual event has never operated under such extreme conditions and sensibly the officials decided to shorten the CIC2** and the CCI2** cross country courses.
Although we haven't attended the Adelaide International 3DE since 2006, it is certainly one event to look forward to in the eventing year and provides an awesome opportunity to catch up with riders and clients that we may not have seen for some time.
This year there was a strong contingent of New Zealand riders competing in the Trans Tasman NZ team. Clarke Johnstone with 2 mounts Oakley Vision and Orient Express, Jenna Mahoney and Santos and Heelan Thompkins with Suigoi as well as their team of supporters including Vaughn Jefferis, all made the trek over the ditch to challenge the Aussies. Ross, of course, felt right at home amongst his Kiwi countrymen! Not having attended the Adelaide 3DE before, Vaughn (NZ Olympic rider and WEG medalist) enlisted Ross's help to check out the scene and scout out the best food and beverages in the area. From their feedback at the event, the riders were all happy with their results and will be vying for a position to be back next year!
While there was some extremely tough competition in the dressage arena, the cross country course proved to be an extremely challenging test for the large majority of horse and rider combinations. Refusals, run offs and falls plagued many riders in all 3 classes. In the 4****, many hot favourites fell victim to the technical lines, big fences and I'm sure, the heat. Consequently, the results after the second day were no reflection of the standings after the dressage phase. With an impeccable XC ride, Stuart Tinney and Vettori rose from 14th to 1st after the second day, and after an equally impressive show jump round, took home the trophy!
Pictured below is Stuart Tinney and Vettori.
A VERY SPECIAL HORSE : VETTORI DEFIES CRITICS AND WINS AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL 3DE!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO STUART AND VETTORI!
This is a very special win for us as nzhorses.com sold Vettori to Stuart and Karen Tinney as a 5 year old. From the moment he rode Vettori, Ross knew he was a special horse. "Everyone doubted his ability as an eventing horse because he was a little heavy and not an extravagant mover. But he is one of those horses that gives you an amazing feeling over a fence. You have to have a horse that can jump to win at the top level!"
"He is an amazing horse," said Stuart and Karen, who were obviously very happy with their little "pony"!
Pictured below : Ross and 5 year old Vettori.
Pictured below : Vettori - 5 years old
November, 2009
02 November 2009
Welcome to the very first edition of nzhorses.com newsletter. It is often difficult to keep in regular contact with all our friends and valued clients all over the world, so we decided that it would be simple and easier to write a newsletter each month to keep you all updated with our news and of course success stories!
Recently we have been very busy selling lots of horses (26 in the last 3 months) and traveling overseas. Ross is of course still very busy with his ever growing farrier business here in Australia. Ross and I have also branched out into a new area of our business which we are extremely excited about. More on this later . . . And of course wedding preparations are under way for next year.
Some of our recent sales include :
"Valentijn Van De Heuvel" purchased by Margaret Chow and daughter Anson, Hong Kong
After a very long stay in quarantine, Ohio met his new family and the first comment we had from Margaret was "is he supposed to weigh this much?" He quickly settled into his new life of luxury and now enjoys regular lessons with Anson.
Congratulations on your purchase of "Ohio" - we know that Anson and Ohio will go along way together!
On our way home from Asia in October, we visited Ohio in his new home at the HK Jockey Club. We were very pleased to see our big gentle giant settled in so well. He is very comfortable and it is very obvious that he is enjoying being completely spoiled by his new owner. Anson and Ohio are a match made in heaven!
We originally imported Ohio from Ludo Philipaerts in Belgium along with 5 other European bred jumping horses. Ohio was quickly chosen as one of the favourites for his laid back personality, ridability and of course scopey jump. Ross really enjoyed producing this horse and at the time of sale, we had planned to start him in his first World Cup class at Brisbane Royal.
"KS Secrets" purchased by Clarke Johnstone and Family, NZ
Clarke is a competitive rider based in NZ. Clarke currently has several upper level eventing horses and has added Secrets to his arsenal for the coming season. Previously ridden by Chris Burton in Australian, KS Secrets is an exceptionally fancy horse both on the flat and out on the XC course. He has many impressive wins and placings to his name already. Under the watchful eye of Olympic and World Equestrian Games rider Vaughn Jefferis, Clarke and Secrets are sure to be a force to contend with in the future.
Congratulations Clarke and family on the purchase of this very special, talented horse. Good luck for the coming season and of course at the Adelaide Three Day Event with your other 2 horses.
Pictured below is Clarke and his new partner in crime KS Secrets.
