Archive 2003

Jessica Cole Training Stables

ARCHIVED NEWS -- 2003

2003 Nationals Report

After a year that brought in more youngsters to start than we have ever seen before, we had only a small string of two finished horses for U. S. Nationals, but they were both good ones. Tony and I departed with two finished horses and the Harley in the trailer on Saturday the 11th. We had good driving weather the whole way and a nice layover for the horses at a great little vet clinic in Missouri. The weather in Albuquerque was absolutely GORGEOUS for the entire show until the very last day, when one of those infamous Albuquerque wind storms whipped up and dropped the temperature about 40 degrees overnight and sent winds of 40 mph or more tearing through the fairgrounds, wreaking havoc on everyone's stall decorations and warm-up plans. It wouldn’t be Albuquerque without at least one windstorm, and we were just glad that the winds waited until the show was nearly over. The show was tougher than ever, but we had a respectable one.
		LH So Bittersweet
Donna Spencer's lovely Europia daughter, LH So Bittersweet, gave a good effort in her English Junior Horse class, but a mistake at the very end of the class left her out of a very competitive cut that included several previous National and Scottsdale winners. This was disappointing, but it was only the mare's fourth class under saddle. As Donna says, there will be other horse shows. The mare has all the quality and talent she needs to compete at this level and will be back again.

Four year old Stevie Ray had a whole bunch on his plate, as he competed in the Open English class against the seasoned horses. Stevie had only been to two other shows prior to Nationals, so we were really in some deep water! It was a THRILL to make the cut with him and show back in the last class of the show Saturday night. I have always dreamed of riding in the Open English Final, and this year, I got to do it! What a final it was! At least nine former National Champions entered the ring that night, plus some additional Multi-Top Ten winners and Scottsdale winners, all ridden by trainers who have achieved near-legend status in the English division. Was I intimidated? Not on your life! But nervous? You bet! You really can't imagine the electricity in the air for that class until you are in the thick of it. And it's a mark of honor to be one of the few that ride back in that prestigious "last class of the show".

Stevie Ray V
		Stevie gave a great go, particularly for such an inexperienced four year old! He did not make Top Ten, but finished fourteenth overall--still quite an honor for a pint-sized four year old competing against the big boys. And he sold the next day for a healthy sum to the Van de Weghe family of Colorado, where he will continue his career as an amateur horse next year.

Tony's 2002 Harley Davidson Road King Classic
		We had a great time, and with only two horses there, we had enough time to see some of the wonderful sights and enjoy the fabulous weather. Tony got in some excellent riding opportunities on his bike and even took a trip to San Diego and back while we were there (missing the wild fires by about a week, thank goodness!). I spent a lot of time with my good friend Linda Kinney, who trains in Ohio at Bay Star Arabians, and I got to catch up with several other good friends too.

I also saw LOTS of nice horses, including Canadian National Champion and U.S. Top Ten Western Pleasure Junior Horse Kharaktor, who is out of SH Sharifa, a mare that my parents bred. He gets my vote for the prettiest western horse I have seen all year, and he’s also a terrific mover. Meanwhile, back at the home fort, my reliable and competent helpers Bev Cole, Carol Coates, Nikki Coates, Jenna Litscher, and Carrie Waddell, took great care of the barn and the horses. They were able to keep up on the conditioning and ground work of the training horses so well that it was as though I had never been gone. All of the training horses maintained a steady schedule in my absence, and they went back to work under saddle without a hitch when I returned. These caretakers are the “unsung heros” of the horse business and will make it possible for this year’s green babies to be next year’s big winners. Thanks! To see pictures and read more comments on our trip to the “big dance,” click here to go to the Nationals Gallery. This gallery is still under construction, but a variety of photos are already posted.

2003 Summer Shows Wrap Up!

The sharp, versatile hunter gelding FV Locomotion, owned by Tricia and Scott Kurszewski, amateur rider Brooke Rausch up.
	Four year old Locomotion posted a win in the Hunter Junior Horse class at Norway, MI, and additional good placings in Hunter Pleasure, Dressage, and Sport Horse Under Saddle at the WAHA August Show and the Futurity Festival

The gorgeous 3 year old SA Mozart owned by Katie Schmidt. Champion Half-Arabian Gelding at the WAHA August Show! Mozart will come out under saddle next year and promises to be stunning.

	3 year old Giovann--another of those lovely Versace kids!--owned by Jamie Buedler Winner of his halter futurity at the WAHA Show and Reserve Champion Purebred Gelding at the NIAHAC Fall Show.	Readying to come out under saddle next year.

	Mystic Bey Mirage, first Hunter class, first win! Owned by Caryn Henry. As precocious as they come! With only a few months training, this 3 year old hit the WAHA August Show and the Futurity Festival for her first two blues under saddle AND three Futurity Reserve Championships.


Ribbons all across the stall front and around the corner at the WAHA August Show!	Some of the loot from the Futurity Festival Show.

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	A great amateur hunter team! Sarah Uhing and her huge, gorgeous purebred hunter SH Radical Chic were consistent winners at all the summer shows. They netted FOUR blues and the AOTR Championship at the NIAHAC fall show.



Anticipation or Exhaustion? Waiting to ride at Waukesha.	Did we say it was DRY and DUSTY this summer? Warming up in Madison.

	A Moment of Concentration 15 year old Jenna Litscher & Atyja Quisma posted their first Class A blue at the WAHA August Show and earned another Regional Qualification at the Futurity Festival

The world's best 25 year old lesson horse, Bint Nabu! Haley Gawronski and Bint Nabu (better known as Scooter to her friends!) had two great Walk Trot classes at the WAHA August Show, plus a good placing in their first-ever Egg and Spoon class!

	Wise & Beautiful, CF Penitent & 12 year old Nikki Coates wait for a class. Nikki Coates and her purebred Western gelding earned their first blues at the WAHA Show and the Futurity Festival. Was young Nikki excited? Nah . . . . . . .

Teamwork! Western team Kadance IK and Jamie Buedler won one at the WAHA Show and had many other high placings at WAHA and at the Futurity Festival

	As Smooth and Steady as they come! Linda Schutte and Proof Absolute came to the WAHA show just for one day . . . and left with the blue in one class and several other high placings!

GH Eura Showgirl and owner Caryn Henry.	LAST but not LEAST: the famously challenging, but oh-so-talented Eura Showgirl made it to her first ever show, the Futurity Festival in Madison. Look for good things from this mare as her talents unfold!	Sure enough! Still broke at the horse show!

Growing Up Well
Grace Notes, a 2003 filly by Sandhill Spinnaker and out of Show Tunes, is growing up well! Enjoy her new photos, and see below to read the unique story behind her existence and to see photos of her as a young foal.

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Show Tunes . . . from show star . . .	How Many Wrongs Does it Take To Make a Right?	. . . to super mom !
If you do enough things wrong, it’s got to turn out right—at least so it seems with the birth of a very unique foal with an unplanned pedigree at JCTS in May. Two years ago we started trying to breed Show Tunes (a.k.a. Grover), a lovely homebred English Pleasure mare, with transported semen from a very well bred, young national champion on the west coast. We started early the first year, since she was a maiden, and we wanted to allow for needing a couple of tries before she would settle. A couple of tries! A year and a half and no pregnancy later, we gave up. At first the semen arrived dead. Later it seemed ok, but still she didn’t settle. And she increasingly hated the process. Once or twice she had an anovulatory follicle. We feared she was the problem. Meanwhile, we began hearing stories that he was a problem. The owners changed his location and his handler. Things didn’t improve. Collection charges. Shipping charges. Insemination charges. The ticking clock. Fear of the unknown. Whoa! Finally we decided we had to try breeding Grover with natural cover, just to see if she'd settle at all, but of course it couldn’t be just any stallion and not with just anyone handling her. Ideally, we’d breed her at home, handling the process ourselves, but the only stallion here was her sire, Sandhill Spinnaker, and that seemed a bit close, although we had bred Chateau Lafite (Spinnaker’s sire) to his dam (Farazdac’s Wish) when he we knew he was in his last season and would die soon—and the resulting foal was very good. So we considered options. One kind stallion owner offered to breed Grover for a fee to be paid only if she settled. A very kind offer, but it wasn’t an Arabian. Finally, we bit the proverbial bullet and bred her to Spinnaker. Not only did she settle quite promptly, she conceived twins. We kept one, and everything was uneventful throughout her pregnancy. Then, on May 15, 2003 (which would have been Chateau Lafite’s 23^rd birthday) she foaled quite easily and became instant super mom—as if she’d done it dozens of times and that was her self-chosen mission in life. The resulting foal? We think she’s quite nice, as nice as we’d have expected if we’d carefully chosen an unrelated stallion to nick well with Grover. We’re trying not to be barn blind. See what you think for yourself! And the west coast stallion? The owner acknowledged that he wasn’t settling mares, and he refunded the stud fee.

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