This year, 5 of our Hanoverian mares achieved Elite Mare Status by giving birth to their first foals.  Acapella obtained Elite Mare status because of a retroactive rule awarding the title to those mares which pass their MPT and achieve a 1A ranking at a Mare Show.  We are the breeders of two more Elite Mares- EM Ghranada, who had a Shakespeare foal as part of a sales agreement, and EM Ghenoa, owned by Sandy Werkheiser. One mare I bred achieved Elite Mare Candidate status- Lhayla, who had a very high score at her MPT, including a 9 for rideability and an 8.5 for jumping.  Two mares I bred obtained Elite Eligible status- Ghourmet, owned by Sandy Werkheiser and Whuthering Heights, owned by Jenn Pass.  The two young stallions (Shakespeare and Fhitzgerald) are off to Oklahoma for the stallion 70 day test this fall.  We are expecting the first foals from Fhitzgerald in 2010, and the foals from Shakespeare exceeded our expectations, so I hope (pray) that they pass and do well.  Two offspring from my breeding program were winners under saddle at Dressage at Devon in 2009- Somer Hit (aka Sheldon) and Whirlpool.  Other RSF homebreds made their mark again, like Ghlenlivet, Lhunar and Rhavel,  and some new faces competed, like Shakira (aka Rhomance).  We sold our German colt at the Hanoverian Elite Foal Auction.  We were thrilled that he was accepted and we were thrilled with the outcome.  He was bought by people from Spain.   At our GOV inspection, we received a whopping 14 premiums for our foals, 4 Foal of Distinction ribbons and 2 non- Oldenburg Mare of Distinction ribbons.  Nine mares were placed into the main mare book, as we wind down breeding Hanoverians and convert the breeding to Oldenburg (GOV).  I went out for 2 weeks acting as judge for the GOV, and I love to meet the breeders and see what they are producing across this big country of ours.  I also acted as secretary for two Oldenburg Horse Shows and Mare Performance Tests- one in MD and one in CA.
At our Hanoverian inspection, we presented 5 foals and had the co-top colt and the top filly.  The judges said it was the highest quality group they had seen on the tour.  We will attend the fall Hedgeland AHS inspection on October 11th, and bring home Shindig after it is over.
We put down our good friend, Welcome, who had graced our barn with his quiet dignity for 4 years and given us such wonderful foals.

Jim enjoys being retired and we enjoy our lives together on the farm.  The economy has changed the market for all of us.  We seem to be selling fewer foals (a pity- the quality of the foals in the last few years has been unbeleivable here at RSF) and the riding horse market seems to be steady.  We offer really well started young horses under saddle that are honestly represented, and I think they are of equal quality (if not better quality) than what can be found in Europe.

Our broodmare band consists of 22 Elite Mares, and a State Premium mare in Germany.  All but two were trained by us, and many were both bred and trained by us.   We produced and sold 3 Elite Mares.  We produced and sold 2 Elite Mare Candidates.  We bred one Elite Mare Candidate that was trained by her owner.  We bred 4 more mares that have since become Elite mares.  Gold Luck alone has produced 10 Elite mares.  (This may be a record for the AHS- I'm not sure).  Now we look forward to doing the Mare Performance Test for the GOV with our Oldenburg fillies, and support the concept of testing  future broodmares in the jump chute and under saddle to assure that the gaits, rideability, athletic ability and jump are there for the future generations of offspring from my program.

We are busy, and happy, and proud of our horses and our farm.  What more can we ask for?