This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BRIAN C JACOBSEN) Mary,
Sorry to be so slow in replying; There aren't enough hours in the day! I got to travel to Norway one time with my grandfather, and that's the trip where we picked out Valina. Each of us three grandsons were 'given' horses to take care of, and Valina was mine. She quickly became my favorite as she was so sweet and had a demure, almost fey look about her face and eyes. Sleipner was born on our ranch in Carbondale, CO and was sold to Nona Forrester in Rogue River, OR when he was one year old. As you mentioned, Sleipner's sire was Dragtind and his dam was Stina. We liked the combination of Dragtind X Stina very much, so much in fact that we still have 2 of Sleipner's younger sisters on our farm. The Forresters sold Valina, in foal to Sleipner, to a very nice older couple in Arizona. Valina gave birth to Vanja there. I have a nice picture the owners sent us of the two of them pulling a wagon when Vanja was a little older. When Vanja was four, the gentleman became aware of a terminal condition he had, and when he was no longer able to take care of them he sold Valina and Vanja back to my grandfather Harold. Vanja was then sold to some nice folks in Florida. I actually thought she was still there up until a few years ago, but apparently from what Mike and Becky posted, she is evidently somewhere else now. The two horses in Lars' background that I am most familiar with are Grabb and Lenda II. Though we thought all the mares we imported from Norway were beautiful, each in their own way, Lenda II to me was the most beautiful. My wife Barb and I saw her again 2 years ago at Ginny Cowles' Los Trigos Ranch in New Mexico and she was still breathtaking. At 16 years old, she had a two-day-old-foal by her side, and you would have had a hard time convincing anyone she was over 6 or 8 years old. I believe Ginny featured her in an ad in the Herald approx. 1-1/2 to 2 years ago. Grabb you have heard about as I have posted bits and pieces about him periodically. After that, I was off at college so I'm not as familiar with Ljosa and Erling. As your Solveig has a double dose of Dragtind, (he's on the top and the bottom of her pedigree), I'm sure she is a very beautiful and talented mare. Again, sorry to be slow. Brian Jacobsen ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
