Westwood Brisingr (Elmo)

And this is Elmo.... our first we have bred ourselves! After sadly losing the first foal due to birth complications, then missing the next season, we finally had Elmo arrive! He is by a little stationbred cremello stallion with amazing movement and even more amazing temperament, out of JK Shari - liver chestnut holsteiner/TB mare. We are very pleased with Elmo - he is very leggy and athletic with awesome look at me trot, and seems to learn quickly. He is currently a white fuzzy bear, but hopefully his summer coat will reveal more gold. Elmo's mission in life is to be a grey - he loves to roll where the fire was and turn various shades of grey and black! At least he has no white socks to scrub.

We hope Elmo will be Sarah's first hack.

Our next job with Elmo is to get him gelded. He is still very well behaved, but we have no need of a stallion, and with one mare here, it will make life a lot easier. Currently the weather is against us, and we have had to cancel vet bookings due to the darned rain.

Elmo is just rising one.

Onewerre Oreo

Introducing Oreo.... (I really need to locate some "better" pics!) Oreo is my rising 3 year old American spotted draft/Warmblood/TB cross. I have owned him since 6 months old, after unsuccessfully trying to breed just the same cross. He has legs like a bull (lots of bone), and a head the size of a small elephant. He moves well for a heavy horse, and has a very laid back temperament (think giant labrador, LOL). He has been my first young horse, and I am really enjoying working with him. He was started last summer by Jody Hartstone using Andrew McLean methods - only 3 weeks work, but I was very impressed with the results, and cant wait to see him under saddle again this summer.
It will be "interesting" to pull his 2 manes and 5 tails to see if there is a sport pony underneath all that hair.... I have already used my big clippers under his chin to remove the Gandalf sized beard, and Oreo thought that was AWESOME! Like I said - he is pretty laid back!

Olympic (Ollie)

This is Ollie, my most special mate - black 12 year old Gisborne stationbred gelding (with Percheron ancestry I am guessing - solid, but grows little feather??) I have owned him since he was 5 years old. I had two friends tell me he was a definite "Debbie" horse and I should buy him (though I already had another horse at the time). It was a meant to be story, and in fact, I had circled the ad for him some 12 months earlier but never went to look at him. Another friend bought him to hunt when her horse was lame, but found him far too slow, and didnt/couldnt jump.

I felt safe the minute I sat on him, and though he didnt know much past hacking round the farm, bought him and have never looked back. He is very sensible, very not forward going (I joke that halt is his best pace), and suits me down to the ground.

Over the years we have had lots of fun together, trekking, adult riding club, NITE teams event, dressage, South Pacific Games, ribbon days, and even a little jumping!

Over the past couple of years, Ollie has had a cruisy time, as I have changed careers to become a teacher. There are just not enough hours in the day! I have brought him back into work many times, but still there are weeks when I cant manage a ride. My mission this summer is to get back in the saddle, and at the very least, get out on some hills and enjoy myself. Now it is written, I will have to do eeet, won't I!

I am going to have to go hunting for more pics of my boy - but this one to start with is of him with his mate Spots out at an ODE (my good friend Amelia borrowed him to ride).