This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Arthur Rivoire)
Hi Everybody from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia -
The absolutely best thing about having bred Fjords for such a long time is
that finally, there are enough of our home-breds out and about and doing
things, that we can say with certainty --- Our breeding program is working.
Nine months ago, we sold BDF Idar, a six year old gelding by Gjest, out of
the Dutch mare, Maryke, to Elaine Olsen in Orange CA. Elaine was already a
Fjord person. She had Rollo, a gelding from Henry Johnson that she'd done
very well with on the California dressage scene.
Arthur and I happened to be visiting friends and family in California last
Spring, and had a video of Idar fooling around with the Pony Club girls on
our farm, being vaulted upon, etc. We were having dinner with Ted and
Elaine Olsen, and I showed the video. Elaine immediately saw his
potential, and decided to purchase him. He was shipped in May last year.
Elaine is serious about her dressage, and thinks Idar has what it takes to
do very well in the sport. Well, she's competed him since mid summer, I
believe it was, and always done well, even winning some classes.
Tonight she called to fill me in on the latest show. She'd just returned
from the San Juan Capistrano Dressage Show. She and BDF Idar competed
Training Level, tests 2 and 4. THEY WON BOTH CLASSES with scores of 67.08
for test #2, and 64.8 test #4.
All the other horses were Warmbloods, and there were several costing
hundreds of thousands of dollars. --- Can you believe it? Competing
against such wildly expensive horses, a Fjord won both the classes he
competed in. In one class there were eight competitors, and in the other
ten. AND A FJORD WON BOTH!!!! TERRIFIC! This is fantastic for the breed.
Elaine says her reception with BDF Idar was terribly enthusiastic. (So much
for breed prejudice). She tells me there was even applause when he
finished his tests. Mostly unheard of in dressage. I think this is telling
us something. --- The horse world is ready for quality Fjords.
She said all the other horses were extremely expensive. --- All were
beautifully turned out --- BDF Idar was the only horse that wasn't bay.
--- All riders had their trainers with them. . . . In other words, the
standards were very high.
Something Digest members will be interested in, is that Elaine and everyone
who saw BDF Idar, agreed this Fjord has a tremendous hindend. Elaine says
that because of BDF Idar's hindquarters, he has a great canter that is
"above average" for any breed. A canter with a lot of propulsion, and a lot
of lift.
The only negative comment the judges had to make about Idar's test was that
he needs to improve his bending.
So, please forgive me for TOOTING, but I couldn't resist. I'm just so
proud! Idar's a wonderful gelding that has all the right components, but
he needed an Elaine Olsen to put in the necessary hours it takes to win
these competitions. And, by the way, Elaine is not a professional rider.
She has three horses in her backyard. She works with an instructor, and
she goes to clinics. She's serious about dressage, and works very hard to
achieve the results.
Telephone calls like this one tonight make everything worthwhile for Arthur
and I. It's extremely satisfying to see horses bred on your own farm, do
so well. We so appreciate getting these phone calls, emails, videos, and
letters. Tonight I'll go to bed and dream about the morning in 1991 in New
Hampshire, when I got up, looked out in the misty field, and found Maryke
had foaled a leggy colt. As a matter of fact, our Solar daughter,
Maggitul, had also foaled a colt the same night. That was BDF Icemann.
He's now in Ontario, and we heard from his owner a few months ago. They
said he's a fantastic gelding with superior gaits, and a great temperament.
. . . Maybe I'll dream about both colts tonight.
Best Regards, Carol
Carol and Arthur Rivoire
Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II
R.R. 7 Pomquet
Antigonish County
Nova Scotia
B2G 2L4
902 386 2304
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/beaverdf
