News & Horses:
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News Articles
HGF Culminates Wellington 2023 season with an international victory
Eight years later, history repeats itself: March 18th will be remembered the the day that Mejorano HGF followed the steps of his father Grandioso , winning a CDI Grand Prix level in Wellington, Florida. With a lot of emotions to process, Kerrigan and Mejorano HGF were the first ones to go into the arena for the GPS of the CDI 3* on Saturday. The judges rewarded the piaffe and the passage with multiple 8s and even 9s With a final score of 68.872%, Kerrigan and Mejorano HGF cantered with joy in their lap of honor (GRAND PRIX SPECIAL) This first win of Kerrigan is the result of her hard work and perseverance. We are extremely happy of this combination and what the future will bring. Show by show, this duo keep improving and winning more experience at the senior level. Stride by stride they are working through adjustments to improve their results HGF culminates Wellington 2023 season with the best icing on the cake, a victory and the PRE breed on top of the leaderboard. “He’s an extraordinary horse, super talented in all aspects of the grand prix,” said the 26-year-old. “I’ve really been focused on the flow of everything – in and out of transitions – so everything had a lot of harmony and that was the main goal for this weekend, and I think I accomplished that. My piaffe/passage tour was quite smooth and I was happy with how the changes felt in the ring. It’s a very long test, but I was able to settle in and enjoy it. “Mejarano is a product of the breeding in the States that we strive for. It’s special to be able to do it with him knowing that he was born here and show that off. He tries his heart out for me every time,” added the Ocala-based Gluch, who has recently started training with fellow Ocala rider, Shelly Francis, after years training with Charlotte Bredahl. “Mejorano has always had a talent for piaffe/passage,” she added. “It’s taken me a few years to tune that all up so it shows in the ring, where his rhythm and cadence and activity come together. He has a very expressive front end to be able to show off the half-passes along with the changes is very fun to do.” This wouldn’t be possible without the guidance of Maria Lithander and her endless support. Next stop for us is the CDI 3* in WEC Ocala in a month. We are ready for it
Grandioso Sweeps the Grand Prix at Madrid Horse Week
Grandioso and Jose Daniel Martin Dockx made a strong return to the showring at the Madrid Horse Week last weekend. The pair had not competed since the European Championships in August. Strong scores of 74.3 in the Grand Prix and 77.55 in the Kur demonstrate that Grandioso and Dani are looking forward to an exciting year in 2016. A highlight of the weekend was achieving the first score of "10" in a competition--received from one of the international panel for piaffe during the Freestyle, which means that Dani and Grandioso earned a perfect score on all 3 movements of piaffe in the Kur. Photo credits: Pedro Gidinho, Equinae and Ecuestre Online.
Another Outstanding Clinic with Nicholas Fyffe
(submitted by Betsy Bougie) Australian native and rising international dressage star, Nicholas Fyffe, returned to Hampton Green Farm this weekend to educate and inspire us. The clinic, hosted by Andrea Landis, was a great success, filling two days with riders from youth through professional. In addition to being a top professional, Nicholas is a generous, positive and thorough clinician. The riders and auditors often you heard the encouraging words: “You can do this”, “be really patient”, “I have 100% faith that you can do this” and even “I make mistakes”. Nicholas inspired us with his faith in us as riders and the horses we train. Hands-on approach makes a big impact. Nicholas rode many of the horses at the clinic so that he could understand what the rider was feeling and to inform his teaching. On many occasions he reassuringly said to the horse “you can do this”, as he worked through each area of resistance or tension calmly and with positive energy. Nicholas’ training philosophy is finding the easiest way to have the horse understand what he wants them to do. “I always want to think about how I can make my riding simpler. When a horse doesn’t understand me then I look at it from their perspective and think “how can I do something with this horse that they DO understand?” and it’s usually getting it done in a very simple way. For me, the less aids the better. The single aid is the simplest aid and it’s the easiest too for the horse to understand.” This positive and straight forward approach was well received by the attendees. Even when the ride “isn’t so pretty” the effect of Nicholas’ confident approach and keen eye gave riders of every level tools for an incredibly rewarding experience. I myself, count down the days between clinics with Nicholas. Having participated in two Fyffe clinics now, I’m much more confident in my ability to train my 4 y/o PRE Botero HGF. The clinic was filled with positive comments from riders and auditors. “He doesn’t make you feel like it’s not in your power to get better”, said professional rider and trainer, Val Noblet, who rode her 16 y/o Hanoverian “Wunderboy” on Saturday. She added, “He also very respectful and is really good at listening to the rider and likes to know how you feel about things covered in your ride. He gives you homework that you can feel positive about and instills in you a feeling that if you put in the work, you’re capable of getting something out of it.” Rider Bernadette Radke, who brought in her horse Set To Jet shared, “He gives you a REAL lesson as opposed to ignoring you, belittling you or just telling you what you’d like to hear; like “oh your horse is wonderful and you two make a lovely pair” which is what a lot of dressage riders unfortunately DO like to hear.” What did we learn? or relearn? Two fundamentals of dressage are relaxation and submission. Nicholas helped each rider find more of both. For some of the top riders the lesson was very technical. For one horse and rider he worked on getting more reactivity in the hind legs for the start of piaffe, which resulted in good activity in the half pass. For my younger horse it was about adjusting his neck position and providing firmer consequences for resistance to my left rein. For others it was about generating more energy and responsiveness to the leg aids. Nicholas stated, “My training is about the easiest way to have the horse understand what I want them to do...It’s not just about using these aids at these times, it’s about reading the horse and the situation every time and acting appropriately.” By the end of the clinic, each of us was sharper with our aids and corrections. Nicholas was extremely meticulous and challenged me to get out of my comfort zone. He was tough and respectful. He generously shared his ability to train different horses and different riders across all the levels while he delivered 100% focus and enthusiasm from the first ride to the last. That’s what you get with Nicholas Fyffe: incredible talent, patience and wisdom, plus positivity, presence and heart. Val summed it up best: “When you have someone come in with that much positive energy that positive energy gets passed through you and who can’t be inspired by that?” Thanks for inspiring us once again Nicholas and thank you to Andrea Landis for hosting and coordinating another wonderful clinic at Hampton Green Farm.
Cosaco XI Laid to Rest
On Monday, May 7, Grand Prix competitor and HGF breeding stallion Cosaco XI was humanely euthanized due to a progressively worsening lameness condition. Cosaco XI was a 1996 PRE stallion bred in Antequerra, Spain by the Dehesa de Yeguas breeding farm. He was trained to Grand Prix by Daniel Martin Dockx and competed at that level primarily by Pati Pierucci, with national and international scores ranging from 63-67%. Cosaco had an exceptional ability for piaffe and passage and a trot tour known for expression and elevation. At only 15.3 and classic in type, Cosaco was often overlooked in the warm-up, but in the ring he filled the arena with his presence and had many fans. He worked hard for all of his riders, and was a proud representative of his breed. Cosaco spent the last three years in retirement on the green fields of Fruitport, Michigan, breeding to HGF mares. Cosaco has produced a number of exceptional offspring including: Condesa HGF and Cocinero HGF, owned by Red Raven Farm Bibiana HGF owned by Richard and Melanie James of Christchurch, New Zealand Cocota HGF owned by Maria Lithander Mariposa HGF owned by Janne Rumbaugh CanCan HGF owned by Rhianna Pankhurst Califa HGF, owned by HGF Conquero HGF, owned by HGF and trained in Fuengirola, Spain, by Daniel Martin Dockx Cosaco HGF, born on May 10 Cochise HGF, owned by Isabel A Ferreira Gould R.I.P. Cosaco. You live on in your offspring.
Hampton Green Farm in the News
We've been making the news recently. Some highlights of our recent press coverage... Robert Dover on Dover'sWorld.com: "I am so excited to have a young horse again after so many years, and HGF Fiero has been a total pleasure to deal with...The other day as I led him into his stall, he began to passage down the aisle-way and when I held him back he produced what I know will be a perfect, classical piaffe. You have to love that!" Courtney King Dye on DressageDaily.com: "He's in his prime now, and she can't just wait around for me to get better or ask someone else top to ride him, and give him back to me if I'm better right before the Olympic qualifications. I agree that just wouldn't be fair. But he'll come to me right after, and I have plenty of her young horses getting ready for me!” Kim Boyer on Eurodressage.com: "My opinion has always been that Spain is full of good horses, and yet so few make it into the hands of top riders who can compete them at top levels. Why is this and why has the world-class success of a few not brought the same opportunities to so many others? The full answer to this is complicated and a topic for another day, but the conundrum is best illustrated at SICAB." Video Interview about the HGF horses in Spain, Katharina Braren,TopIberian . Links: http://doversworld.com/blog/2010/11/more-thanks/ http://www.dressagedaily.com/index.php?option=com_content[&]view=article[&]id=5669:courtney-king-dye-getting-ready-to-ride[&]catid=344:december-2010[&]Itemid=437 http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2010/12/02/state-sicab-2010
HGF Offers COSACO XI for Outside Breedings
After many years of turning down requests for stallion services, we are pleased to announce that we will now offer breedings to Cosaco XI beginning this spring. Cosaco was regretfully retired this year from all dressage competition, and will now begin his new role of professional breeding stallion.Cosaco XI is an imported 16 hand 1996 grey stallion, approved for breeding by the Cria Caballar in Spain. Cosaco had a brief but notable career as one of the first PRE stallions to compete at Grand Prix in the United States. In 2006, he was USDF All Breeds Horse of the Year at the Grand Prix level with a median score of over 65%. He is classic in type, with special aptitude for piaffe and passage--receiving a 10 for piaffe his first year at Grand Prix. He has a gentle, affectionate personality, a moderate temperament under saddle, and can be handled by an amateur or child. He knows the difference between the schooling and show rings, and enjoys rising to the occasion of competition. (His scores and awards are listed on his webpage under Stallions.)He is a favorite among dressage spectators and photographers, who have used his image on websites, articles, numerous publications and advertisements. Cosaco’s offspring are exceptional, in both conformation and movement. There are a number of them on the ground at HGF, and all who have been x-rayed for pre-purchase have shown clean radiographs. This is the first time that Hampton Green Farm has offered one of its performance stallions for outside breedings, and HGF stands by the quality of the stallion and his ability to improve dressage performance potential in any breed.Fee: $2500.00Contact: hamptongreenfarm@aol.com; 231-865-6000
Spring News
April and May are traditionally quiet months at HGF in Wellington as the horses wind down from their show season in Florida and the riders take a breather. In April, Ana Gilmour attended her last two weekend seminars as she prepares for her USDF Trainers Certification exam this summer. Maria is experimenting with some play piaffe and passage exercises with the three younger horses, with help on the ground from Juan Matute. We plan to do one more smaller show in Florida before the horses ship up to Michigan on the 20th.As the weather warms up for Spring in Fruitport, our attention turns to our mares and babies. In April, HGF Michigan was the site for PRE Studbook Revision for 11 horses from around the area--five from HGF--- and all passed the keen evaluation of ANCCE vet Ana Gragera. All the young horses are now turned out round the clock and are enjoying the warmer temperatures by rough-housing with their pasture mates and even jumping the occasional fence. Our summer staff is getting ready to work with our large group of two to four year olds who will either begin or continue their education in manners and equitation.We are expecting a good group of babies this year from sires Bolero and Cosaco. The mares are in good health and we should have offspring on the ground in June. Our wonderful vets from West Michigan Veterinary Service pride themselves on 100% accuracy in ultrasound gender prediction--and they have never been wrong at HGF. This year we are expecting one of our largest crops of boys, including a number of bays (castanos) with the most desirable performance bloodlines out of Spain and at HGF--Albero II (Grandioso/Adelante/Cuatrero), Remache (Camaron), and Utrerano (Bolero). Our grays will feature the champion dressage bloodlines of both Cosaco and Idilio, and we expect males and females.Finally, HGF is happy to support and promote the PRE Expo at the end of May in City of Industry, California. We plan to attend this event, hosted by USPRE, which will bring together the largest group of PRE breeders and stock in the country. For more information, see http://www.feriadelcaballoespanol.com/. Upcoming May dates: May 15-17 Grandioso and Courtney at Lamplight CDI in St. Charles, IL May 16-17 May Dressage in Wellington May 21 Stallions arrive in Michigan May 29-31 PRE Expo Check back to stay updated on all our news and activities. Happy Spring!