Re: Various happenings at Beaver Dam Farm this summer --
This message is from: Beaver Dam Farm [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hello Everybody from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm -- I need to get off my soapbox for a bit re the DVD Evaluations, and tell you about what's happening at the farm. INTERNSHIP PROGRAM -- We're very pleased this year to have applications from quite a few American and Canadian girls. It makes our summers just that much more international to have a good mixture of European and North American interns. -- This year is shaping up very nicely. We have girls coming from Germany and Holland, and also have a girl coming from England this season. She'll be the first British girl we've had. -- Because of the fact that the girls come and go throughout the season, we still have places for a few more interns. Our minimum stay is 6 weeks, but I have to tell you that in all the years we've been offering the Internship Program, the girls who stay the longest get the most out of the program. -- It always takes them a certain period of time to settle in, and that can be two weeks, so they really need more time to make friends and to really understand the culture and people of Nova Scotia. -- So, for those of you who have daughters or granddaughters you think would be suitable, please have them email us. - In order to qualify for this program, the girls need a good level of riding and horsemanship. NEW! HIP - Horse Immersion Program - This program is for girls between 14 - 17 . . . girls whose horsemanship isn't yet at the level for the Internship Program. This is a learning program, and the cost is $650 U.S. per week, and it includes room, board, riding lessons, horsemanship lessons, plus all the horse activities. -- The girls stay in our home, in a nice bedroom with one other girl, and we always try to mix up the nationalities which allows the girls to make the most of the cultural exchange. --Along with riding and other horse activities, the days are filled with shared barn work, cooking, hiking, lawn games, and time at the beach. As so many of our guests say each summer . . . .What a wonderful opportunity these girls have to be here at the farm? NOVA SCOTIA RIDING VACATION - Beginner to Intermediate Level - Our teaching is based on dressage, and almost all our saddles are dressage saddles. Very small classes. One on one lessons if needed. -- For beginners, we start them out on the lungeline in the Round Pen. -- It's a great way to gain confidence. We have two sand rings, plus our grass driving dressage arena. Lessons take place in all three areas, plus on the trail. -- The vacation is four days and includes a gourmet lunch each day (at least one on the trail), a Wine Cheese Welcome Party on Sunday night - A Wine Cheese Beach Party with Horses, a gift certificate from Carol Arthur to Gabrieu's Bistrot (#1 restaurant in Nova Scotia). -- Our program has always been based on our serious desire to teach riding and driving, along with an equal desire to give our guests a fun vacation they won't forget. NOVA SCOTIA DRIVING VACATIONS - Beginners Beyond - a 4-DAY program packed full of instruction, fellowship, and fun. Those doing the Riding Vacation and those doing Driving Vacation are joined together for many social occasions, including the gourmet lunches on the deck overlooking the ocean. -- We're also all together for the two Wine Cheese Parties -- At Hill House, and on the beach. -- The Driving Vacation is geared toward beginners, but we have sufficient staff and we're small enough so that drivers with experience can also benefit and enjoy themselves with our quality driving horses. -- As always, our goal is serious instruction coupled with lots of fun and laughs. CONSIGNMENT HORSE PROGRAM - We're looking for a few more extra nice horses to sell under our name in this year's Consignment Program. -- If you have such a horse that you need to sell, give us a call. - We only sell horses that are here at Beaver Dam Farm, and in our training program. -- People sometimes ask us to sell their horse while it remains on their property. This we can't do, and we don't see how anybody else could either. - The only way we can sell a horse is if we know the animal extremely well. That means working with him daily, and truly getting to know all his good, great, and not so great aspects. -- With this knowledge under our belt, we can honestly and enthusiastically talk about him to buyers. -- We're really concerned, for all three parties (the horse, the seller, and the buyer) that the match we make is as good as can be. -- Our consigning owners love their horses, and want them to go to a good and proper home. We respect this, and try our best -- try our darndest to make it happen. -- The fact that the consigned horses we sell are sold under the Beaver Dam Farm name means a lot to the buyers, and means everything to us. That's why we stress that we'll only take qualilty horses. FITNESS FOR FEMMES -
Re: back from california
This message is from: oe Wilson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Greetings from the Wilsons in northern Utah We just returned from warm and smoggy California. We were first hosted by Lisa Pedersen at the Cedar City spread. What a great way to enjoy Fjords and all the surroundings. Lisa and Jeff have a wonderful area to enjoy Fjords. They have miles of driving areas and a beautiful set up at their home for dressage and getting ready for the show season. Lisa drove to California with us and we met Jeff at Martin's auction. We wanted a buggy to take out and drive in the mountains and off trails. Jeff helped OE scope out a wagonette that would serve us just fine. We then turned the logistics over to Lisa who did us proud and helped us obtain the wagonette. My nerves couldn't handle the auction. Good thing she is cool hand Lisa. We also attended the equine affair in Pomono. WOW!!! lots of horse stuff. Karen Kramer was there with her fjords so we got to meet her. All in all it was a great trip. OE and I can't thank Lisa and Jeff enough for taking us under their wings and treating us so great. They both are so willing to help us with learning the ropes of driving and the ins and outs of Fjord life. We are so grateful to them and want to thank them publicly. OE and Pat Wilson Uff Da Fjords Hyde Park, UT
Fw: Evaluated Fjords worth more money..
This message is from: bushnell [EMAIL PROTECTED] This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] An evaluated Fjord can be worth more dollars than an unevaluated one. Carol posted this as one of her reasons for DVD evaluations. As much as I like and respect Carol, I don't think there is ANY way to prove this point one way or the other. Margaret IF THAT WERE NOT the case, there would be no justification for having a very expensive and elite complex evaluation system, would there? It is a widely accepted breed cross-section concept that evaluations are a marketing tool.(I seem to well recall pro evaluation folks cite the monetary advantage as incentive even!) Question.. who desires an elitist grading system that stamps their allegedly perfect Fjords more valuable and desirable than others that aren't? ..(A system which requires excessive funds and extenuating effort.) Answer.. those affluent few who want a marketing edge or prestige. America is wired for competitive excellence, you just naturally prefer an auto that is custom stickered with a longer warrantee for a few thousand dollars more. Fjords all come from the same genetic factory as well, but for a few thousand dollars more you can have an evaluated Deluxe Edition ...even though it is a blood cousin to an economy model that is not evaluated. Don't tell me it's not about money, it's ALWAYS about money. Some of the largest breeders, those whom evaluators might deem most needy, stay home on the farm raising Fjords because it is impractical, no--impossible! to drag umpteen stock to Timbuktu for an expensive approval rating. (many can't drive far enough or run fast enough, ha) They labor at home with stock that now might be deemed third rate because they have been naive enough to fund and tolerate an exclusive graded system that undermines their market, even though their economy Fjords are cousins to the evaluated Deluxe Edition--endorsed by an elitist evaluating clique that caters to an affluent few. It strikes me that the DVD idea of Carol's is a bid for a fair shake!--for every Fjord, --for every farm. I'm not necessarily saying that WE would use such a system here, because our video efforts SHOULD be touched up! hah =)) But why not explore the idea fully without personal recriminations? A thought on hairy legs being a consideration, shave them! or add a disclaimer for unseen considerations ...which is probably something that should already be in place as it occurs to me that all EC members possibly stand liable for random sanctioned MISjudgments anyhow. What does everyone want from an evaluation I ask myself? (just guessing, feel free to chime in) 1) unbiased, uninvolved, impartial judges, who have no client connection or conflict of interest whatsoever, just like the rulebook REQUIRES. for me this excludes Fjord breeders as judges, who are market competitors and who prefer their own breeding predilections (and my stock may not look like theirs.) If their stallion is a blue and other stallions red..well, you do the math. 2) horses, NOT handlers, judged against the Fjord Standard ONLY. 3) realistic affordable equal opportunity for EVERY member participation. 4) a more comprehensive record system that represents the breed as an ENTIRETY. The DVD idea fits ALL these criteria. But more than all of the above, I wish for a shift away from the mating perfect to perfect agenda and mentality. Yesterday a board member of the EC stated, there has been talk about breeding the best to the best, that's always the way it should be. the way it should be?! (sputter) according to whom? Directional selection breeding is OUTDATED! If the present evaluation process has best-to-best breeding as their agenda we are in an alarming state of affairs for genetic breed conservation. Ruthie, nw mt us (who says to herself she will now permanently shut up on the subject, maybe =))
Re: virtual evals
This message is from: CHERYL GARNICA [EMAIL PROTECTED] re: virtual evals: A newbie to fjords, so this brings up a couple of questions: If more fjords evaluated, do you think there would be more breedings? It has been mentioned this would perhaps tap a good gene pool. So if more breedings, more fjords in numbers, would their market value drop? Would they become an ordinary breed because of the numbers? I can see pros and cons for DVD evals. Not sure how it would financially effect they current larger breeding farms? Cheryl in S. Cal --- Sara Faull [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This message is from: Sara Faull [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have long thought that evaluations in N.A. were misrepresentative because they are not equally available to everyone. Because this continent is so large there are big chunks that are never close to an evaluation- Living in Maine we are used to being far away from everything- the closest vet is 2 hours away, farriers come from an hour and a half... add to that the seasonal nature of Maine- almost all of our income for the year is made in the few summer months- hauling horses hundreds of miles for an evaluation will nearly always be impossible- I think the video evals are an idea worth exploring- at least as a tool to improve the breed- maybe a horse cannot get an official blue ribbon with video but could just get a number score- this process is after all about maintaining quality. Perhaps one judge could travel to the farms that wish to do a video eval to observe the process, and run their hands over the horse and submit written comments - maybe they do not submit a score for the horse. I think it would be cheaper to have one judge travel to remote states than to try to hold evaluations in enough places to make it possible for all horses to get evaluated. Sara Gouldsboro. Maine
Re: Blue Earth 2006
This message is from: Pat Holland [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi All, The Blue Earth show is July 24, 25, 25. Most of the work is done for this year...thanks to my committee, Rich and Nancy Hotovy,(draft) Jessica Katzman (trail) and Andrew Hinrichs (driving), Patti Jo Walter (undersaddle), Susie Sadlon.(trophies), and Martha and Guy Martin (hospitality). We will be meeting at the MWFHC Winter meeting to finalize a few things then I will have a tentative show bill to hand out at the general meeting. I have tweaked our class description list to be in compliance with the newly formed NFHR set of show rules, but you will see your familiar Blue Earth Show is keeping with the standard we've set and successfully run for 20 years. Jim Havelhurst has been hired to judge and once again I will be asking for volunteers for ring steward and gate people as well as three safety delegates. Thank you to all whom made last years Blue Earth show such a success. Issues brought up regarding last years show have been worked out and your show committe has once again been working hard through out the winter to provide all of you another great venue to show your Fjords and enjoy the show that dovetails with the Fjord saying -little horse with a big heart. well we've outgrown the little but our hearts are in the right place. See you in Winona in a few weeks. Pat Holland
Re:DVD Evaluations
This message is from: Beaver Dam Farm [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia --- Karen, This discussion has been interesting with lots of informed, polite input. -- That is, up until now with your inflammatory comments. Regarding my comment about not likeing to trailer horses. -- I think it was obvious to most people that I was tallking about Arthur and I personally trailering horses, something we haven't done much of, and something I personally fret about. -- When we ship horses for customers, we use a PROFESSIONAL HAULER. Men who have big equipment, and who do this for a living. Regarding your comments about Beaver Dam Farm participating in Evaluations. -- No we haven't! Which is precisely why I'm interested in DVD Evaluations. -- We've never been able to go to an Evaluation because of DISTANCE, and the fact we run a seasonal business. Regarding your comment that our interest in DVD Evaluations might seem a bit self serving . . . Well, of course, it would be very self serving. DVD Evaluations would allow us to get all our horses evaluated, which if you understood the purpose of Evaluations, you'd know that's what it's all about. Regarding your comment that . . . doesn't it figure that this individual (me) could spare some time and expense . . . -- No, it doesn't figure! We work for a living. Now, hopefully, we can get back to the excellent discussion we've been having. -- And whether or not my idea of DVD Evaluations ever comes about, it seems to me that valid, workable ideas have surfaced that will likely prove beneficial to the Registry and to the breed as well. Kind Regards, Carol Rivoire Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II, Ltd. Phone: 902-386-2304 Fax: 902-386-2149 URL: www.beaverdamfarm.com E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Raised by the Sea in Health and Tranquility Visit our NEW Riding Vacation page on our website today! http://www.beaverdamfarm.com/pages/riding-vacation/index.html
Re: Evaluated Fjords Worth More Money
This message is from: Lois Berenyi [EMAIL PROTECTED] One of my observations over the years is that Miss America is not necessarily the most beautiful, most talented woman in the land. She just showed up for the competition. This applies to people, dogs, horses, artwork, resumes, etc. I think competitions are useful and the breed owes something to the men and women who promote and go to the considerable expense of hiring trainers or devoting their own considerable time to condition their stock and then to exhibit them but that is mostly done for the individual's self-interest and the advancement of the breed is a byproduct for the rest of us. What could be valuable via DVD would be to select several blue-ribbon evaluated stallions and mares and compile a DVD of how they were judged, why they were superior and possibly where they could be a bit better. I'm sure this would be at least of the same interest as a grooming video dealing with mane-trimming and could generate revenue for the association. When I had a Friesian weanling judged I videotaped the entire evaluation of a half dozen weanlings just to record the Dutch judges comments on conformation and movement. I did a similar tape when the filly was judged as a three-year-old. It was very useful to me and helped develop an eye for what was desiredand what was undesirable. But again, the top scoring Friesian was not necessarily the best in the landjust the best of those who showed up. Lois Berenyi - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: fjordhorse@angus.mystery.com Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 5:44 AM Subject: Evaluated Fjords Worth More Money This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] An evaluated Fjord can be worth more dollars than an unevaluated one. Carol posted this as one of her reasons for DVD evaluations. As much as I like and respect Carol, I don't think there is ANY way to prove this point one way or the other. It is going to depend on the particular Fjord and the buyer's needs. It would be just as correct to say that an unevaluated Fjord can be worth more dollars than an evaluated one. Let's not confuse opinions with facts. Margaret A. Bogie Ironwood Farm Rixeyville, VA http://www.ironwood-farm.com ***Fjords for Sale: 2002 Brown Dun mare, 2003 Gray and Brown Dun geldings, 2005 Red Dun colt***
virtual evals
This message is from: Sara Faull [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have long thought that evaluations in N.A. were misrepresentative because they are not equally available to everyone. Because this continent is so large there are big chunks that are never close to an evaluation- Living in Maine we are used to being far away from everything- the closest vet is 2 hours away, farriers come from an hour and a half... add to that the seasonal nature of Maine- almost all of our income for the year is made in the few summer months- hauling horses hundreds of miles for an evaluation will nearly always be impossible- I think the video evals are an idea worth exploring- at least as a tool to improve the breed- maybe a horse cannot get an official blue ribbon with video but could just get a number score- this process is after all about maintaining quality. Perhaps one judge could travel to the farms that wish to do a video eval to observe the process, and run their hands over the horse and submit written comments - maybe they do not submit a score for the horse. I think it would be cheaper to have one judge travel to remote states than to try to hold evaluations in enough places to make it possible for all horses to get evaluated. Sara Gouldsboro. Maine
Evaluated Fjords Worth More Money
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] An evaluated Fjord can be worth more dollars than an unevaluated one. Carol posted this as one of her reasons for DVD evaluations. As much as I like and respect Carol, I don't think there is ANY way to prove this point one way or the other. It is going to depend on the particular Fjord and the buyer's needs. It would be just as correct to say that an unevaluated Fjord can be worth more dollars than an evaluated one. Let's not confuse opinions with facts. Margaret A. Bogie Ironwood Farm Rixeyville, VA http://www.ironwood-farm.com ***Fjords for Sale: 2002 Brown Dun mare, 2003 Gray and Brown Dun geldings, 2005 Red Dun colt***
Re: fjordhorse-digest V2006 #29
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have read a lot about the pros and cons about the live and DVD evaluations. A lot of people seem very opiniated one way or another. So am I. An evaluation is a tool of advertisement. It does not say that every evaluated horse is better than one that is not evaluted. I just says that you have proven certain qualities. It is the same as having a vet check when you sell or buy or horse. You prove the condition of the horse that day. That does not mean that is healt hier than a horse that didn't have a vet check... I simply say: You get out what you put into it! If you invest in a lot of training and advertisement chances are your horse is going to be better known than others; if you have a professional trainer ride or drive your horse at the evaluation (live or DVD) chances are that it will be shown closer to his full potential. A back yard breeder that loves watching his horse, but never had any formal training on how to demonstrate his horse won't really benefit from DVD evaluation because he still wouldn't know what a judge is looking for. He would have even less advise around him than at a live evaluation where maybe an experienced person offers to take the horse in the ring or help clip the mane just right to help look the best. To me complaining about the money aspect is pointless. In Germany, evaluations, regardless what breed, are mandetory. Unless you are a professional rider you are not even authorized to ride your own horse. $300-500 per month boarding plus paying a proffesional trainer for 100 days plus evaluation fees for judges..you easily have to spend several thousand dollars to get your horse evaluated. And even then the final testing and scoring is based on a single day performance. If your horse had a bad day you may have to invest the money for the 100 day testing twice or you still don't get the breeding permission at all. Breeding a horse with pedigree in Germany is only for well situated people. Here in the USA you have a choice. You will be able to register you horse with the NFHR wether or not you have the time and/or money to get your horse evaluated. I am all for evaluations especially since Ford breeders are so far and few between. I see an evaluation as a form of advertising. If you don't have the time or money to bring your horse across state boarders to get it officially evaluated you can take certain measurements (canon bone, height) yourself or train your horse for local shows. If somebody is serious enough about the performance of their breeding stallion they can show hism for example at local dressage shows. Once they receive a number of rides in the 60% range in first level dressage, it is a pretty safe bet that they would get a blue ribbon in the advanced English test. The same holds true for reigning. With riding local shows one can also qualify for the excellence and or versatility award. There are many ways to demonstrate the quality of your horse and educate people about the value of your horse for breeding. Evaluations are just one of them. To me live evaluations are the only realistic ones if you choose evaluations as your tool of advertisement. Otherwise we could also suggest to cancel horse shows and send in DVD for the various classes instead. That way we could save ourselves some more money and don't subject our horses to the stress of showing and being away from home. Heike
Winter Meeting membership Dues
This message is from: Jon A. Ofjord [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi all: Just a reminder to those of you on the list who will be attending the Midwest Fjordhorse Club winter meeting coming up February 18-19, you can pay your membership dues to the club at that time. Thanks to Sophie Fiedler for the reminder to do this. I'll be looking forward to seeing you folks in a couple of weeks. Jon Mary Ofjord North Coast Fjords Grand Marais, MN 55604 www.northcoastfjords.com
Re: fjordhorse-digest V2006 #28
This message is from: Beaver Dam Farm [EMAIL PROTECTED] Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II, Ltd. Phone: 902-386-2304 Fax: 902-386-2149 URL: www.beaverdamfarm.com E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Raised by the Sea in Health and Tranquility Visit our NEW Riding Vacation page on our website today! http://www.beaverdamfarm.com/pages/riding-vacation/index.html Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia Hi Pat, I was wondering two things about your message. #1 - You don't really mean, evaluated and approved in North America, do you? -- I don't believe the NFHR has an approval system. #2 - When you say 61 stallions have been evaluated - Is that the total number? - How many blues, reds, yellows are in that group? Or are all 61 rated blue? Thanks, Carol This message is from: Pat Wolfe [EMAIL PROTECTED] I'M IMPRESSED Take a look at the Stallion Photo Gallery in the North America Record Book, Volume 2! 61 stallions have been evaluated and approved in North America under the NFHR evaluation program. In addition there are at least 8 stallions here in North America, evaluated and approved as breeding stallions in their countries of origin before being imported! We have 69 plus excellent choices for breeding and improving our general gene pool. Compare this to Denmark's 52 stallions standing at stud. Compare this to Norway and Holland- similar numbers to Denmark.
