2002 News Wrap Up
2002 was a great year for
the team at SFI. Our horses did extremely
well at the shows and we are thrilled to see so many of them doing well
with their new owners. Outlawed - the horse that was not intended to
be for sale - was sold to Jennifer Taxay at Camino. They were
instantly a perfect match and Jennifer has reported she is thrilled
with him. Blackjack - Outlawed's brother- was sold to Ashley Neal in
the spring as well. She has continued to have huge success with him,
placing in almost every run they competed in at prelim, including the
area IV championships and finally finishing an impressive 10th at his
first CCI* in Ky in the fall. Ashley is still competing Ruthie's first
upper level horse - Better Believe It - at the Intermediate level and
at 19 we are happy to see he is still going strong and blazing around
the xcountry with her.
With Jesse Akers headed off to Med school we needed to place
all of her
upper level eventers in good homes. Jesse has been training with
Andrew for many years now and has purchased some of her top horses from
us. Before the ink was dry on the bill of sale she won her first
outing on Rico and then continued to place at almost every event
leading up to the CCI**. Rico was then sold to Canadian rider Jen
Holling, who calls him her wonder horse, and will be headed to a CCI**
with him this spring. Jovial sold to Amanda Glueck who has enjoyed a
very successful prelim young rider season on him. Roxy Rocket socks
(The Mistress II) was the star of the year. Jesse blazed around
Foxhall CCI*** on her and placed in the top 20, proving the mare is
just as classy as she thinks she is. We were very happy to sell Roxy
to Sally Cousins, a serious team contender for the future. Sally
continued to place in every event on the mare leading up to Fair Hill
CCI***. Unfortunately, Roxy caught a respiratory infection at the
event and could not finish but look out for them at Rolex this spring!
Sally also has Jesse's intermediate horse Coppertop and we will be
looking for them in the results this spring as well.
My wonderful Intermediate horse Tempist Fugit came back to us
to sell
after a successful season with his new owner finishing with a great
showing at Camino CCI*. He was resold to the very first person who
tried him, Maria Fisher, who has reported to us that he has not only
been a fantastic eventer for her but is currently being used as a fill in equitation horse for her daughter. The first of Betsy Watkins
advanced horses to sell - Top Deck- was sold to Maria's trainer Kerry
Philhower and reportedly has been doing well in the jumpers as well as
eventing. Betsy's lovely mare Miss Daisy started a winning show season
before being sold to Karena Smith. Her name has been changed to In The
Black and they will be starting their first events together in Jan.
We were thrilled to finally find a match for Nicole Shinton with The
Grey Pony, who was imported from NZ with Russian and Craighaven Tyrone
in May. I knew he would be the perfect horse for her and am looking
forward to watching these two compete together this winter in Florida.
Before Jesse went off to Med school in Sept. we were able to go on a
whirlwind shopping trip for horses in Ireland and France. We brought
back some very talented horses. Eliot has worked out beautifully for
his new owner Robin Bass, who will be headed for a CCI** on him this
spring. Jumbeau was purchased by Jill Gordon for her very talented
daughter Alex. Alex has been very successful with The Red Dragon,
purchased from us several years ago and Jumbeau was just delivered to
them over Christmas. You will no doubt see this combination blazing
through the Young Riders this spring! Agnes Gray was purchased for
Ruthie to compete and has already won her first outing in the US,
showing the confidence and excellent training she received from former
rider Trevor Smith of Ireland.
There are so many other fantastic horses we sold in 2002!
For anyone
we have lost touch with we would love to get an update.
So now we start 2003 with a whole new string of horses and riders. We
are lucky to have some really talented horses not only to compete but for sale as well. Keep checking the results and news section as I will
be putting out monthly news updates on horses sold and other items and
articles of interest.
Happy New Year to All!
Ruthie and Andrew