The Annual Meeting in Conroe, Texas 2005

Introduction

The annual ATA meeting and convention was hosted by Pam and Bob Norton of Flying Change Farm this year in beautiful Conroe, just outside of Houston in Texas. The organization was excellent, and a huge congrats and thank you to Pam and Bob for getting this excellent show together. Most of the photos you will see throughout this report were taken by Pam Norton and if you wish to order copies, please feel free to get in touch with her right here!

The Mare Show + inspection

The meeting started out by everybody gathering for the big Breed Show on thursday morning. The list of attending horses was thankfully very long, which made for an interesting show and a great opportunity to evaluate a number of mares, including young fillies, and Arabian and TB mares in classes judged in hand on a triangle. Rhea Gibble was the judge and handled the many classes and over 30 horses well, without losing her concentration or enthusiasm. The quality of mares shown was good, even though it seems impossible to compare outgrown weanling fillies with finished and fully matured mares - a concept in US breed classes that just seems very odd to European spectators. Nevertheless, the show made for some interesting comparisons among mares. In the end, it was our very special pleasure to see that three former TI sales horses (PS Kolomba, Hennie *M* and Tropenlilie) stood in front.

Grand Champion: PS Kolomba (EH Michelangelo x EH Arogno)	Res Grand Champion: Hennie *M * (EH Münchhausen x Eh Rockefeller)

Champion Filly: Tropenlilie (EH Latimer x Elan xx)	Res Champion Filly: Kiera (Tanzeln x Memelruf)

Champion Mare (Arabs and Tbs): I'm a copper girl (Serenity Ibcar ox x Borkas)

Up next was the mare inspection on friday, which turned out to be a constant up and down for several owners. The standards for the approval of Arabian and TB mares were stricter than in the years before, and rightly so. We saw some really nice examples of good outside-blood mares presented at this meeting that were approved into the stud books. The mare inspection was run with alternating judges: Sam Eidt and Brad Kerbs had the honor and privilige to judge the mares. The highest scoring mare of this inspection was Fair One by Grafioso out of Fair Rock by EH Rockefeller with 57 points.

New model mare: Fair One *M*

Later that day, a class for colts with a voluntary inspection was offered by the ATA. Owners brought colts to determine if they could be consdiered "stallion candidates" or not. Keep in mind that this can only be meant as a guide, not a final verdict. It is virtually impossible to determine if a yearling colt will later be stallion material or not. Some that look perfect at this age will not turn out to be what they promised, and others with less desireable fatures at this time during their development might be stunning sires one day. The first two colts that were presented were of very high quality. one was a chestnut colt by Kougar von C (by EH Gribaldi), owned by Jeff White. This prospect showed excellent, supple movement with good knee action, and a very harmonious overall appearance, balanced gaits and correct enough foundation. He was proposed as a "stallion prospect" by judge Brad Kerbs. The same was true for the second colt Fairwind by Windfall *Pg*, who was bred and is owned bay Stacey Ellis and who displayed excellent conformation, a lovely top line, and great type, all paired with correct movement and an especially noteworthy canter. He too, was announced at a stallion prospect by Brad Kerbs, by saying "do NOT geld this horse"! Next in line was a bay colt by Peron's Brilliance, a half Arabian son of the Olympic dressage star Peron TSF. This colt was out of a purebred Arabian mare, so carried 3/4 ox blood. He was a bit on the lanky side and in contrast to the other colts, not a yearling, but a fresh weanling. What was most impressive was the excellent trot, with great rhythm and balance and a supple back. Maybe not as harmonious in his current growth state, Brad Kerbs pointed out that right now, he would not necessarily call the colt "stallion material", but that this could change fast and that the movement of this colt was really something special.

Champion Colt: Fairwind (Windfall *Pg* x EH Ravel)	Res Champion Colt: Mondmiresche (Harper x Carino *E*)

The Stallions

The friday was also the first day for the stallion inspection, which started by the hard surface performance and later, the triangle in hand. All five stallion prospects showed good size, but deviations in the foundations and problams with a supple trot on hard surface became the first apparent observation for us. The youngest candidate was Copernicus, who was 2.7 years old, and the oldest was Hyllos, who was already 5 years old. The triangle performance showed that some colts were not prepared all too well and instead of focusing on their trot work, were obsessed by eating their handlers' arms. A lot of the handling in this class was done by the Poll brothers Ferdinand and Christian, and they did a superb job with these young stallions. They did make the comment that it would help their job (and evetually also the stallions) if their preparation had been more thorough. There is little we can add to that! A similar observation was made during saturday morning's free jumping. The best jumper in terms of technique and talent was the Impressionist-son Notable, who, despite a rather stiff back, jumped with great power and enthusiasm. He would certainly be a great sport horse for that discipline! The at liberty performance was an ideal opportunity to see more of the young stallions' movement and athleticism. The rather low quality of the canter is something we also observe at German inspections and clearly shows that the breed needs to dramatically change its course in that respect! A good riding horse has foremost a great balanced walk and canter, and then a good trot. The trot is the one gaits that riders will be able to develop the most, but a good canter, the foundation for any serious dressage work, can't be trained "into" a horse. The average Trakehner at this point, no matter if in Europe or North America, clearly lacks quality in that gait and we wish that would be more stressed by inspections committees around the globe. The afternoon was then reserved to the final announcements, and only one stallion of this year's crop was approved: Copernicus by Pyatt Charly.

Pyatt Charly EH Charly Chaplin EH Mackensen by Patron ES Ballerina by Diamant ES Pricialla EH Anduc by EH Marduc Perka by Kemal xx Cosmopolitain Onassis EH Consul by Swazi xx ES Ovation by Magnet Firm Stand xx Norcliffe xx by Backpasser xx No Vacillating xx by On and on xx

Copernicus’s sire Pyatt Charly was approved in Neumünster, Germany, in 1999 and was soon after imported to the US by Sherry Tourino of Fantasy Farms in Nipomo, Ca. Very sadly, after an excellent performance career, Pyatt Charly had to be put down due to a severe spinal injury. His sire is EH Charly Chaplin by EH Mackensen, who was one of the Trakehner breed’s most consistent and successful National dressage horses with over 50 wins at advanced FEI levels to Grand Prix. Only one other approved son is entered into the German Stallion Book I at this time, the equally successful dressage stallion Polarzauber G. The stallion line traces back to the Polish import Patron, a substantial black stallion, who left over 100 registered main stud book mares in Germany and sired versatile performance horses to the advanced levels in all disciplines. EH Mackensen and the outstanding EH Sokrates are his most prominent sons. The line originates with the century sire Tempüelhüter at the main stud Trakehnen. Like the sire, Pyatt Charly’s dam Priscilla II, an elite mare in Germany, came from a Polish Trakehner line. Her sire was the popular EH Anduc, one of the breed’s top dressage producers and sire of numerous FEI dressage horses, e.g. the current Grand Prix star Mon Acteur TSF (whose dam is also by Patron!). EH Anduc was a member of the greater Halali dressage line that also produced Atoll and the elite stallions Hyllos (e.g. sire of Solero TSF) and Marduc (sire of e.g. EH Herzzauber and EH Lehndorffs). The third dam sire Kemal xx was a Never Say Die xx son tracing straight back to Nearco xx. He was leased to Poland, where he had some influence on the Trakehner breed. Pyatt Charly is not the only Trakehner stallion carrying his blood. The Grand Prix stallion EH Napoleon Quatre (by EH Arogno), also carries Kemal xx in his damline.

Copernics’s dam Cosmopolitain is a daughter of the EH Consul son Onassis, who also only bred for one season in Germany after his approval in 1986, and then left for the USA, standing at Flying Change Farm for Pam Norton in Hockley, TX. Onassis’ dam was the famous elite mare Ovation by Magnet, who founded a very successful branch of the O69A Oka family, tracing back to the private stud of the Countess zu Schlobitten in East Prussia. This line also produced the approved CCI*** eventer Octavio (by Amiego) and the younger premium stallion Oliver Twist (by EH Monteverdi). Onassis’ sire EH Consul was one of the most influential stallions of the past decades leaving numerous main stud book mares and stallion dams (e.g. Konsula, dam of King Arthur TSF, or EH Tänzerin V, dam of Tambour, Thalys and Travell), sport horses (CCI**** eventer Vilano, Grand Prix dressage gelding Harlem) and high quality sons (e.g. EH Rockefeller, Guter Planet, Echantee, etc). He also had significant influence on the Hanoverian breed with several daughters producing some of the best Hanoverian stallions of the past years (e.g.. the champion Don Frederico), or sport horses (e.g. Bonaparte, Team Gold medalist in dressage at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2005 European Championships in Hagen). EH Consul’s dam line originates with the Trakehnen bred mare Corrida by Bussard, which also produced the two times Olympic show jumper Almox Prints J. EH Consul’s direct dam line also produced the stallions Cornus, Connery, and Checkpoint. Cosmopolitain’s dam Firm Stand xx is a TB mare of classic, North American blood with stallions like Buckpasser xx and Nasrullah xx appearing in her past generations. That makes for some degree of line breeding to Nasrullah xx, who is also the sire of Kemal’s sire Never Say Die xx in the pedigree of Pyatt Charly.

Comments: Official comments included that the pedigree os much desired in the US, especially since the sire Pyatt Charly has passed away and the Charly Chaplin blood is in fact very rare and much desired among dressage riders. The comission pointed out that the stallion still has a lot of maturation to go through, and only displayed fair stallion type and presence. He moved in a balanced and supple way and was willing during his free jumping performance. The stallion is correct and strong in his joints and entire foundation. We would like to add personal oobservations. The stallion was obviously going through a growth spur at the moment, being butt high and therefore not stepping under his center of gravity the way his supple mechanics hinted he could. Copernicus was very well behaved during all phases, handled by Judy Richie, and impressed with his laid back temperament. He was clearly missing stallion type and as known from most Charly Chaplin offspring, he only had fair Trakehner type. His breeding makes him a very interesting competition horse in dressage for the future and we wish all involved the best of luck for his under saddle career!

The Gala

The day was conluded by the Stallion Exhibition and Performance Show later that night. Very unfortunately, the head rider of the night, Jessica Fortin, had injured her hand prior that day and was unable to handle and ride the many stallions she had been booked for that night. So it was a call for improvising and new handlers and riders were soon found. The stallion exhibition was conducted in hand, by a true marathon for the Poll brothers Ferdinand and Christian, who had come all the way from Germany to handle horses at this show. The exhibition was a great opportunity to finally see some of the stallions in action that so far, had been "cyberspace" faces for most of the attendants. Impressionist, Prince of Prussia, Tycoon, Tanzeln, Onassis, Tzigane, Marschall, Malachi, Radscha and many others were shown in hand. The evening then had some great fun and great rides to offer. The true "crowd favorite" of the night was clearly Schoponi, Schönfeld's pony stallion son, who showed some of the older stallions what it means to "fill a ring with presence" and trot for special applause. Disguised as a race horse and accompanied by several attractive girls, he really did it. The crowd then completely went nuts when Schoponi came back with a pair of moose antlers attached to his head and turned lose in the arena!!


Stallions that participated in the Gala Show under saddle included Prince of Prussia and Peron's Brilliance (who had to accept new riders on VERY short notice and behaved in text-book style), and the grey hunter Marschall. One of the great moments of the evening was Judy Richie on her 21 year old Trakehner gelding Beau Velvet, a former Prix St. Georg horse, who was shown by Judy on bareback and with only a rope sling through his mouth in a freestyle. As if this wasn't enough, Judy had only recently been released from the hospital after an almost fatal road accident with a log rig turning into her car, causing substantial injury to her face (which was broken in 23 places!). A big round of applause to her and her amazingly fit and athletic Trakehner.

Judy and Beau Velvet

The evening was finished with the ATA's Jumper Stakes. $1.700 were donated by major sponsors David Beattie and Shawnda Nadeau. Sadly, many of the entries were pulled, so that the show was an easy win for Twin Gates Farm's impressive Tzigane, with his new rider Helmut Schrant from Sycamore, IL. Taz and Helmut had their 3rd ride together during this show and won over 700 points during the course, most of which were accumulated at the end by thrilling 180° turns performed by this new match. Taz will continue his career in show jumping in Illinois and is scheduled to leave for Sycamore in two weeks. Rider Helmut Schrant, a German native who rides Grand Prix jumpers in the US, was also the rider for Tziagne's famous paternal half brother Advocate during his successful career. Second place was won by his "nephew" Malachi by Advocate.