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2013 in Review
It’s hard to believe that this is the 10th HGF Year in Review article that we’ve posted on our site. Those of you who are faithful readers of our annual reports, we hope we’ve kept your attention over the years, and that the story of our farm, its horses and people, will keep your interest for many more years to come. We thought it would be hard to outdo 2012, but 2013 surely had its highlights! Grandioso and Daniel Martin Dockx kicked off the year with a string of CDI wins that started with Sunshine Tour, went to Madrid, then on to a really big victory at the GP and GP Kur at the Glock Show in Treffen, Austria. At every show, the scores went higher, but the 79% in the Kur at Treffen put the pair on the map in Europe. Dani would later say, “In my career, there is now only ‘before Treffen’ and ‘after Treffen’. From there, Grandioso astonished the multi-national crowd at Aachen by finishing 8th in the GP Kur with over 78%, among only the most elite horses of America and Europe. Their performance at the European Championships was consistent with the trajectory of the year, scoring their personal best in both the Grand Prix and the Special and finishing 22nd overall. At the end of the outdoor season for 2013, Daniel and Grandioso were ranked 23rd in the world in the FEI rankings, and the pair returned to Malaga for a period of rest and to continue their work with trainer Jan Bemelmans. In the meantime, Daniel was preparing Michigan-born Vaquero HGF for the National Young Horse Championships. Throughout the year, Vaquero was ranked 6th overall in the RFHE (Spanish Federation) rankings for 6 year olds, and 1st in the Copa ANCCE (PRE Rankings). He maintained this position following the Championships in October, and has since been put on the developing list for Spain. A last minute decision to participate in the Breeders Cup at SICAB in December resulted in the pair taking 3rd and achieving something never done before in the history of SICAB—the first American-born, and possibly foreign-born, horse to medal at the highly competitive Spanish Breeders Finals in Sevilla. Daniel continues to work with several other HGF horses, including Bolero CXLVIII who has made considerable progress since returning to Spain in April this year. In their first national outing at PSG, they scored 70%, and have started to prepare for the Grand Prix, for which the horse shows special talent. On the homefront, HGF horses and riders have had their share of success. HGF-sponsored Rachel Chowanec, on Lendon Gray’s Embrujado XI, was again USEF Reserve National Champion, this time at the Young Rider division. Cuatrero IV and Kerrigan Gluch were invited to both NAJYRCs and the Festival of Champions, until an unfortunate injury sidelined their year. HGF-bred horses and their riders continue to make headlines: Cindy Ramirez Smith and Carina HGF received a Gold Medal from the United States Eventing Association; Nicholas Fyffe and Fiero HGF were added to the 2014 National Futures Squad for Australia; Decoroso HGF and Decente HGF were USDF All Breeds winners with their owners and riders; and all our owners had a great year learning and showing on their horses. This past summer, HGF in Michigan hosted over 15 charity events, impacting our community with support for various causes. Hampton Green Farm was named the 2013 “Agent of Change” by the Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce, for its work for local charities. Additionally, HGF hosted perhaps our favorite event of the year for the 3rd time—the Dressage4Kids Lendon Youth Dressage Festival Midwest. This year we had almost 50 riders, a very honest and meaningful dinner speech by Nicholas Fyffe and a fantastic lecture on training for soundness by Dr. Rob Van Wessum. The EDAP program (Emerging Dressage Athlete) and the various Dressage4Kids events are growing nationally and HGF is proud to offer this opportunity to our local youth riders. Many HGF horses found new homes this past year. One of our shining stars in the international Grand Prix circuit, HGF-bred Encanto XI, was sold to Wellington, Florida, shortly after taking second in the GPS at Sunshine Tour. Grandioso’s full brother, Grandioso VII (Adelante) was sold to a prominent breeder in Spain, and two very talented sons of Bolero were sold to an Adult Amateur and a young rider, respectively. Several foals have gone to professionals this year, as well. Nine foals were born at HGF in Michigan in 2013, coming at a time when we need to replenish our herds, especially with several of our older mares retiring. We had a strong crop of 2013 babies, from the performance bloodlines of Albero II and Remache, and we are excited to present them for sale when they are ready. And, not least, the Global Dressage Festival finally resolved all of its legal issues with the Village of Wellington in late 2013. In addition to restoring the property’s inherent rights to be used for equestrian commercial activities, the GDF show grounds is now able to be used year-round, as will the Van Kampen Arena, designated for non-profit use for 28 days per year. The GDF is a game-changer in American dressage, and now that the series has no less than 7 CDIs, including a Nations Cup (concurrent with the Florida Youth Dressage Championships), a 5 Star, and three CDIWs, the GDF will soon establish Wellington as the Winter Dressage Capital for the world. 2014 is now here and we have so much to look forward to! Dani and Grandioso start the road to Normandy, which we hope will lead to a position again on the Spanish team for the World Equestrian Games. The D4K Winter Intensive Training (WIT) program at HGF is kicking off with the Dover Horsemanship clinic this week and our students are gearing up for international level competition this winter. USPRE will host its annual celebration in Wellington on January 21-26. (For more information, see www.usprea.com.) The PRE horse continues to shine in the world, wherever it is given the opportunity. Young horses mature. Riders gain more skills. Magic sometimes happens. Stay tuned and we’ll see if we can do it again this year! All the best for 2014!
TEAM 70: Cindy Ramirez-Smith Does It Again
Cindy Ramirez-Smith, professional dressage trainer from Templeton California, continues her winning tradition on HGF horses with her latest scores with her husband Eric's 4 year old Carina HGF (Sevillana x Camaron). Two weeks ago they scored 75.3 and 75.2 at Training Level 2 and 3 at Gavilan Chapter Summer show at Osierlea in San Juan Bautista, CA, winning both classes and Open High Score for the show. 6 Year old Decoroso HGF (Quintera x Decoroso) is also continuing to perform well. They have started 2nd level, with scores up to 67%. Considering his age, Cindy says she is "working on building a super strong foundation, rather than being in too much of a hurry. I am looking forward to our progress." So are we! Follow Cindy and her horses on Facebook at theHampton Green Forum .
"Andalusians Three Day Eventing?"
by: Eric Smith (Reprinted from ) When I was asked to write an article on why Andalusians would make good event horses, I had to reflect on our decision to event our mare, Carina HGF. Although the Andalusian is often thought of as a dressage horse, many of the qualities that are sought after in dressage, such as intelligence, athleticism and temperament, are the same qualities that have helped our mare succeed in eventing. We acquired Carina HGF from Kim Boyer at Hampton Green Farm in Michigan. Her intent was to keep Carina as her own mount until we persuaded her to sell her to us as a performance horse and possible breeding companion to our stallion, Decoroso HGF. Although the Andalusian is not typically known for jumping, we saw Carina’s athleticism as a three year old and Cindy suspected, given her twenty two year background in eventing that she would excel over fences. Carina’s dressage training started immediately upon her arrival in California. Twice she scored in excess of 75% in training level test in her first year of showing. Six months later we started showing her over fences. She first showed in the hunter ring and then dabbled in show jumping. She proved to be a brave and careful jumper. Carina competed in her first combined event at a schooling show in January and finished second by less than a point in a field of thirty two. Last weekend, Carina took the lead on day one in dressage with a score of 76.5% and never relinquished it, as she went double clear in both stadium and cross country jumping for a first place finish in the beginner novice division at the USEA sanctioned Twin Rivers Winter Horse Trials. At any level of eventing, a three day horse trial is extremely stressful– both for the horse, and the rider. Even if your dressage is spectacular on day one, the specter that you could have a refusal on cross country on day two or have a rail down in stadium jumping on day three is always present and foremost on your mind. Since scoring is cumulative over three days, there is as much pressure on the leader to keep the lead as there is on the rest of the field to move into the lead. Carina’s temperament, focus and determination are some of the attributes that are well suited for eventing. In the high octane world of eventing—a world dominated by thoroughbreds and warmbloods– we are often complimented on the bold and confident nature of our horse. We are counting on Carina’s athleticism, focus and determination as we move up to Novice level later this Spring. Wish us luck! For more information, contact Pedro Nadales at 011-34-617-39-25-93 or yeguadanadales@gmail.com or contact Hampton Green Farm.
Carina HGF
Congratulations to Cindy and Eric Smith of Templeton, California in their recent purchase of Carina HGF, a 2008 bright bay filly by Camaron IX out of Sevillana LXXX. Cindy joined the HGF family last October when she purchased Decoroso HGF, a 2006 Chestnut Stallion, an exciting young prospect with whom she has won every class she's entered with scores to 70%. Cindy and Eric returned to Hampton Green in search of a perfect mount for Eric and breeding mare for Deco. Carina shows her father's beautiful expression and suspension in front, with her mother's powerful hind end and quick hind leg. Originally intended to be a breeding prospect for HGF, we were happy to see this special filly go to professional riders who are serious about developing and campaigning their PRE horses. In other news, Encanto XI and Dani Martin wrapped up the Sunshine Tour with another successful go at the Grand Prix last weekend. In only their second time at the test, and both done in the international arena, Dani finished 5th in a class of 19, with a score of 64.4. For full results seehttp://sunshinetour.net/documentos/fotos/1263_5.pdf . Dani and Encanto next look forward to accompanying the Spanish Team to CDI Saumur, France, at the end of April.