I have to apologize for the late update but will try to fill in everything that has been missed. We had our plates very full this spring with plenty of horses for sale, our own competition horses, and two breeding stallions. I will do the updates in that order!

Horses For Sale/Sold Update

We had great fun following up on our sales horses this spring:

• I got to see The Grey Pony jump around the Advanced at Rocking Horse with Nicole Shinton in great form. Nicole and "Bobo" started together at Training Level three years ago and have formed quite a partnership; they make the Advanced tracks look easy.
  
  
• Jill Gordon was seen this spring on her daughter's Jumbeau and The Red Dragon . Alex is off to college and lucky Mom got to enjoy the ride on both horses at Training level this season.
  
  
• The Countryman was sold to Ted White's friend Craig Peterson (Ted purchased the fabulous Carolina Knockout from us last year). So far they are having a winning season at Novice together and have qualified for the Novice Championships.
  
  
• Two of the kindest horses I have ever sold - Advanced packers Eliot and Clayton - were sold to the "Duke Girls" in Canada. Patricia Duke has reported that the girls not only love their new horses but placed first and second against each other in a huge jumper class at an A show and got to do the victory gallop together. I am so glad these two wonderful horses have such a great and loving home!
  
  
• At the end of 2004 Rainey Andrews flew down to buy the horse of her dreams Blainroe Cross only to find out several months later that she is pregnant! Blainroe Cross has been given a vacation while Rainey takes care of her family duties but I promise you this will be an exciting combination to watch in the future!
  
  
• Bob Story called to let us know that Finley has been the best hunt horse he could ever ask for and has requested that I let him know first when any others like him come along.
  
  
• I got to see the gorgeous Casino with new owner Anne Wilson at Pine Top where she once again won her Novice Division. He had grown a full hand since I discovered him in Ireland and he was five years old at the time! Casino was a prospect when Anne brought him over and his huge success in the United States is something she should be proud of.
  
  
• Gayle Davis and The Chameleon keep showing up in the top of the results at Preliminary Level in Area 1. Gayle has added another very colorful SFI import to her barn in Pick N Mix . In their first outing together they placed third and Gayle is sure to be the standout at the events with her two spotted athletes!
  
  
• Instant Appeal is continuing his winning streak with Mary Beth Hudson . After winning almost everything at Preliminary this combination is now winning in the Open divisions of Intermediate and is sure to be a force at the NAYRC this year!
  
  

I am sure I am missing many more of you out there and would love updates, news, and pictures of all of our Imports. We enjoy seeing our horses out there winning as much as we enjoy placing them in their new homes.

SFI Competition Horses Update

As always goes with eventers we had an interesting season on the SFI competition horses:

• Kiwi Groove, my project/work in progress, was the star of the season and gets my most improved award. He put in great performances all season at Preliminary and rounded out the season with a solid finish at the VA CCI*. I have been careful to bring him along slowly since he had some issues to work out and it seems to have paid off. The classic format of the CCI* with steeplechase in VA was an excellent education for him and he came home from it a better, wiser, stronger horse. We are now heading to the Radnor CCI** with fingers crossed that it will stay in the classic format for 2005!
  
  
• Tinkatoo and I have taken our time to get a new partnership and things just keep getting better. He has been consistently winning the dressage with double clear jumping rounds. The only thing so far keeping him from winning has been the cross-country time as I have been very careful to get to know him before I push for more. Tinkatoo has had one rider his whole eventing career thus far and he is a much taller, stronger rider than I am! He has exceeded my expectations in every way, even forgiving me for a huge rider error at Poplar this spring that caused me to part company with him when he had to jump an Intermediate cross-country fence from a stand still (he made it - I didn't!).
  
  Our spring season had to be cut short due to the large amount of breeding contracts he had for the late spring and early summer season. We decided to forgo the Bromont CCI** and the Preliminary Championships in order to get all the mares in foal he is committed to so we can concentrate on our move up to Intermediate later on in the summer. Tinkatoo has impressed the professionals and amateurs alike with his talent and fantastic temperament and has been bred to everything from FEI dressage mares to 4 star event mares for next year's foal crop. My attempts to import a Tinkatoo baby of competition age were quickly foiled when I could not find one in Ireland that did not have a huge price tag. His babies are proving to be exceptional and we are just going to have to produce our own over here.
  
  In the meantime I am looking forward to the move up to Intermediate this summer and our goal of the Radnor CCI** this fall if I can manage to stay with his huge jump and scope!
  
  
• Zach's Account has had the spring off to breed. After a successful start in eventing he will be showing his versatility by heading to the hunter ring. He also has been trained to start competing in the dressage ring but time only allows us to do so much!!!! He takes to everything easily and excels in everything we try with him.
  
  
• Dutch Twist ("Oliver") has performed well despite being on the back burner for most of the season. He moved into jumping and eventing very quickly so I decided to take the time to let him get solid at Training Level before I pushed him on up the levels. He is very talented but a worrier in that sometimes he tries too hard to please. We will continue to develop him over the summer and our goal is to do some Preliminary Events in the fall. In his last event he scored a 23.5 in the dressage and jumped double clear so I think we are getting there!!!
  
  
• We have a new addition to the competition horses in High Society III (Trevor). I just happened to spot him cross-country schooling one day this winter and was delighted to find out he was for sale. I am very excited about Trevor as he suits me well. Although he had started Preliminary Level he was quite green and I am taking the summer to strengthen him physically and mentally before we start the fall season. Sharon White had done a fantastic job getting him going in the right direction before I bought him and we are working on continuing his education so his knowledge will catch up with his incredible athleticism!!!

Breeding Update

We did not expect to be so busy breeding this spring but Tinkatoo got in double the anticipated bookings so it has been very hectic in getting them done and competing at the same time.

Zach's Account has been put to several lovely warmblood mares and still has some more to cover.

Tinkatoo has bred to some incredible mares including an Art Deco eventer, a winning two star mare, a top placed mare at Rolex, and a Holsteiner FEI mare amongst many others. For the first time we have bred two mares of our own, one to Zach and one to Tinks, and will have our own babies on the ground next year. We are anxiously awaiting the first Tinkatoo foals since as I stated before we were unable to find one we could afford overseas! I am hoping to get some competition photos of Tink's babies in Ireland and will post them here when they are received.

* * *
I hope you enjoyed my long winded update. I promise to update in the near future. We are also doing some improvements to the website and I welcome input, comments, and critiques!