Exciting news

[grullagirl]

I'm eagerly awaiting which mares are in foal to Gringo for next year as well. I definately love his foals but i'm more biased with them since i saw them born LOL. The funny thing is both Max and Zerlina love to chat to you when you see them, just like there daddy. I believe Hawk is getting test bred this year to several mares but i'm not sure? Which mares is he bred to for next years foals Mrs.Michelle? Can't wait for some Rio foals in years to come as well .

[Michelle Clarke]

Gringo is bred to Tasa again for another terrific foal! Leza and our new mare, Joy, are both bred to Charro and looking very prego! We bred Hawk to Mari for a tester foal. We tried to breed Hawk to Sycha, but she had none of it; actually got flat mad about it! When Leza was in heat, we brought out Gringo and she looked at him dancing around grunting, looked at me and was like "are you kidding?". Those older mares don't like the young, obnoxious boys! Guess they'll have to learn some good manners before they can court the more experienced ladies!

I left Nesa off this year so I could focus on working with her some and then get her bred to Gringo in spring. I am also hoping to get Leza bred to Gringo but she has to be very convinced when she has a foal at her side, so I may have to leave her off and wait another year to get that done. I am sure Tasa will go back to Gringo also; then she'll have a year or two off.

Morgan (our QH) will be off for two years to allow her belly to retention. I'm not sure if I'll breed Mari or not. I have a full sister to Tasa that I am working on. Nova is four this year, already 15'3 and a really cool mare. I am getting her under saddle and just don't know if I'll breed her yet, show her for awhile or even sell her. If I do breed her, she'll go to Gringo.

Joy will most likely be bred to Rio (and Mari if I rebreed her). If Leza does not take to Gringo, we'll try Rio - or if Gringo has enough girls, I'll go to Rio anyway. Same with Nesa. If we keep Hawk intact, I may try Sycha again; if she rejects him, I'll just be AIing her to a Lusitano. Also, when I bring Morgan back on, I am breeding her to a Luso and then plan on taking a filly from that to one of the Kiger boys...

Teanna will go to Charro for sure - no use waiting there!

It also depends on what Hawk produces and what we decide there plus the economy, etc. I don't have any coming four year olds next year that I'd like to breed now that I've decided to sell ChaCha. I do have a three coming two year olds that I am undecided on...I like to put some training on them first usually and breed them when they are four.

So, four for next spring coming and possibly breeding six for the following year. Since I don't really stand Charro to outside mares, I have some lined up for Rio next spring too. Some local folks that have been trying to breed to Charro for years - they are very excited about Rio being on deck for breeding!! This will be such a great chance to not only see what he produces but get him out and about.

[sbutter]

Here is the next very important question....will you be able to get pictures of the outside mares with their Rio foals ? I can't wait to see them!!!

[grullagirl]

Wow im sure all these foals will turn out to be absolutely spectacular. Morgan crossed on luso is gonna produce a pretty neat foal. Are you going to AI Sycha this year to a luso or wait till next year?

[Michelle Clarke]

I will hope to get follow ups on all the outside foals as they grow.

Sycha will have to wait until next year...I don't want to be breeding this late and have foals in this horrid heat!

[grullagirl]

That is true. Although when you think about it Max was born in cold weather when a couple days before it wasin the 90's .
Have you seen the luso stallion Xato? I think he would make an interesting cross on the kiger mares.

[angelsdream]

I bred my kiger mare to Xato this year for a 2012 foal, very excited to see what he produces! She said she had a lot of inquiries from kiger owners but no one booked other than me so she's excited to see this foal get here in hopes other kiger owners will breed to him!

[angelsdream]

Michelle,
Im also awaiting the Hawk foal next year, I have always loved him and so glad you have chosen to breed him finally! How is he in training?

Sounds like you've Rio booked up, which is great - he's a nice stallion and he needs some foals on the ground! Wowzer at the line up you will have for 2013....your program keeps getting better and better each year!

[Michelle Clarke]

Thanks guys...I've worked so hard to get this far into the program already; it stinks that the economy tanked but so far we're holding on! On the flip side - I do have some awesome horses right now that people can get for way below what they should be. I really need to put up on the new site more about our training. Our horses go through so much training that they are prepared for most situations in their life - if not, they sure know how to use their heads instead of freak out and react.

I really went through a stage last year that I was convinced that my horses needed to look like everyone elses' as far as "in a frame" with "confirmed gaits" so I could compete with other videos folks were comparing. What I learned is that everyone has their own flavor of dressage or training - that comes with the relationship they build with that horse. What I can give them is a sane, safe horse that has a good work ethic, a willing disposition, with a "wait and see" attitude that already has the foundation of being soft on the rein and responsive to the seat and leg. Those are my strong points and that is what I need to stick with - someone somewhere has got to appreciate that!!

That being said, I know that Dianne breeds for disposition too and with the combination of Chinooks conformation and the easy going horses she raises, it's just a perfect match that is way overdue. I am so happy both of our situations have allowed for this merging.

Angel...Eric just commented today that Hawk has been the easiest horse in his whole career to train. He is just a doll and tries his heart out all the time - not a mean or argumentative bone in his body. Now - if he passes that on, I can put up with a few conformation things I would like to be different...but as usual, the conformation stuff is just my personal nit-picky preference!

[angelsdream]

It's hard to try and breed for what other's want or what the market is or what other's think is great but like you said - after all that fades, what your program is left with is a versatile horse that can do most anything and has an amazing brain to go with it - and that to me is worth more than what "OTHER"S" think is great. Stick to your program and people will see it. A well rounded horse is better than one that's just good at one discipline, as the market has always been - one discipline will be popular for a while and people will breed for that one discipline and after a few years, that fades and something else becomes popular - so what the world needs is a horse that can go from one thing to the next!! and you have it, we all have it in the kigers!

Glad to hear that about Hawk - I know that is Eric's horse and his favorite so am expecting great things from that guy as well.

I also agree that Dianne has some nice horses she has bred over the years - so glad you guys have worked together like this.

[grullagirl]

I think all of us on the board would agree that we would snatch up your horses in an instant Mrs. Michelle. I'm glad that you aren't trying to conform to a specific fad. Breeding trends will always come and go, in my opinion the ones that keep on going with what they want not what the market desires at any one point or the other last for the long haul. I hope to eventually start a breeding program myself one day and hope that i can produce the versatile horses that are represented on this board!