This week we have had a very busy week at Ebony Park – we have said a heartfelt goodbye to two of our young horses – both have gone to fantastic homes, and we can’t wait to see them progress and learn and grow with their new owners over the coming years!

So for this weeks blog, I thought we would share some pics of both Agamemnon and Hanibal!

Ebony Park Agamemnon

Agamemnon was imported in utero, so he is by dutch stallion Brandus 345, out of Ebony Park Kirsten…

Agamemnon is the foal on the right – wasn’t he cute!!

Before his first training session!

This video was taken the second time he had ever had the white boots on, and only the second time he had ever been lunged, and he just took it all in his stride – what a superstar! 

And one of the first few rides on the lunge – what a superstar!!

Congratulations to Sarah on her decision to learn and grow with this spunk!! We can’t wait to see her out and about competing him in the very near future!!

EP Hanibal

Hanibal is by Ebony Park Elko, out of chestnut warmblood mare Romany Fonteyn, and full brother to Prince!

Both the pics above are Hanibal at the end of 2010 as a 2 year old

Hanibal is the baby of the group of 2008 foals and we think the cutest! He is finer than the others but makes up for it with his gorgeous, inquisitive personality.

Hanibal at the start of 2012, before being broken in…

After falling in love with him over a year ago, Leonie decided to invest in this lovely boy on a payment plan, with 8 weeks of training tacked onto the end… and yesterday all of this hard work paid off and he went home!

Check out Hanibal one of the first times with a saddle on his back!

And then close to the end of his training out in the rain!

Congratulations Leonie!! We can’t wait to see the two of you out and about together soon!!

Join the forum discussion on this post

We have recently had questions about Friesian registration papers from people interested in breeding and purchasing Friesians at Ebony Park… so today I thought I would talk about some of the terminology used by the Friesian society… what does everything mean on the registration certificate – it’s all in dutch!?

Firstly, here are a few of the terms that you will hear in relation to Friesians and their registration or status…

Premie – Only the best quality horses are awarded premies at the Keuring. A 1st Premie is the highest award to the top 5% of horses presented to the judges.  A 2nd premie will be awarded to the top 15% & a 3rd premie to the top 25%. If the horse fails to be awarded a premie at a grading, it will show on their papers as ‘niet geprimeerd’.

Ster  - Also known as Star, is awarded to horses showing a much higher quality conformation and movement, mostly 3+ year old mares and gelding’s who display ideal confirmation and movement. (Although there is a category for older mares and geldings and you are allowed to try your horse for Ster status several times). Ster is awarded to around 20% of Friesian horses.

This status can be awarded to any horse over 3 years of age. The FPS publishes the results of the offspring from the approved stallions which make Ster status. So some stallions will have a high Ster status of their offspring, such as 50%, but mostly they will not get higher than 35% Ster offspring. Horses that receive Ster are also given a new premium. You can have either a first preemie Ster or a second preemie Ster. Horses that receive a 3rd preemie, do not make Ster, but are entered into the stud book.

Stamboek – Studbook. Both mares and geldings can be entered into the Studbook from the age of 3. To be entered they must meet a certain requirement and be a good representation of the breed with no white markings (except a small white star no bigger than your thumb). If they qualify, their height will also be registered and shown on the papers.

Veulenboek – Foalbook – Foals are entered into this book and issued with papers. The microchip details and any premies will be shown on their papers, as well as their pedigree.

Model – Awarded to top 1% of mares who are 7 years or older. This is based on a strict evaluation of various factors including, conformation, movement and performance (under saddle and pulling a carriage), as well as the quality of their offspring.

Preferent – Awared to a mare who has 4 or more offspring who have received Ster Status or to an approved Stallion who has a high percentage of Ster/Model daughters or Approved Stallion sons.

Inbreeding Co-efficient – Because the Friesian breed nearly died out (when the Friesian registry was founded in 1879 there was only one purebred stallion remaining – all of today’s Friesian can trace their ancestry back to that one stallion), all Friesian have an inbreeding coefficient. This is a percentage measure of how much their sire and dam were related to each other. Generally, it is desirable to get less than 5%, and less than 2% is ideal (but less than 12% is acceptable).

Sport Predicate – All Friesian horses are eligible to earn the Sport Predicate.  This title is awarded to horses who have proven to be very successful in their chosen sport – dressage, harness, or show carriage. Abe is the first Australasian Friesian to receive the Sports Predicate in dressage! We are very proud of him

Names – Each year purebred Friesians have to be named after specific letters in the alphabet. For example, in 2012 Friesian owners have to choose their foal names from the letters M, N and O (eg. Onyx…), and in 2011, the letters were J, K and L (Krixus, Loes…). Usually there is no problem if two breeders are wanting the same name for their foals, as they will generally put a stud suffix after the name (eg, “of Ebony Park”).  With this system, horses can easily be identified by their name, as well as the year they were born in.

So, now that you know all of the terminology you need to interpret the stallion registration papers… let’s put that all into practice! Here is Jorrit’s registration papers below… can you read what you are being told about him on the paperwork? If you are confused, refer to the second set of registration papers below, which explain in more detail what you are looking at…

Jorrit FPS Registration Papers (click to enlarge)

Example FPS Registration Papers (click to enlarge)

Source: KFPS website (click here to go there now)

We have just sent out our May edition of the Ebony Park Friesian Magazine – sign up in the box at the top right hand side of the site to read all about it!! 

This month Kate talks about feeding the pregnant mare, Natasha gives us some inspirational stories, Loes goes through the steps for loading a difficult horse on a float, and Danielle talks about how she solved some of her riding problems, and how you can apply it in your riding! 

We have other exciting news!! Ebony Park Abe is for sale! Check out the magazine for more information!! 

To Your Dreams Becoming Reality,

The Ebony Park Team

Lots of people have been asking us recently that they had heard how lazy Friesians were to ride… but is this generally the case? Check out the video where Natasha explains her view on this question…

EP Anika is a 5 year old Friesian x Thoroughbred mare, and one of Abe’s first babies bred here at Ebony Park! 

She is an honest, smart mare who is very willing to learn and lovely to ride and train. She has inherited a lovely trot and spectacular canter from her sire, and we expect big things from her offspring in the eventing world!!

Anika is a very recent addition to our crossbred breeding program – she is 5yo, and was broken in and ridden for a year when she was 3 1/2 – she is calm, unflappable and effortless to ride at home and in new situations. Her first foal is due on 16th October 2012 (she is in foal to Ebony Park Jorrit) – and we can’t wait to see the result! This will be the first time we have mixed the bloodlines of both Abe and Jorrit into one of our crossbred offspring!

She is by Dressage Friesian Ebony Park Abe who has reached the illustrious Grand Prix level in dressage, and has inherited her fathers boldness and confidence both on and off the arena. She is out of a lovely thoroughbred mare who had the sweetest nature and passed this trait onto all of her offspring. She is very lovely and forward to ride and very trainable. Before we decided to add her to our breeding program, she was already starting leg yielding and shoulder-in.

If you are interested in her 2012 foal, click here for more information on our in utero payment options, and to fill out the contact form.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Hey Fabulous Friesian Lovers!!

On behalf of Ebony Park, we hope you had a fantastic Easter, and didn’t eat to much chocolate!!

At the start of the month, we announced the decision to sell Ebony Park Abe, our Grand Prix Friesian stallion! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for an incredible Friesian stallion to go to a fantastic new home! If you know of anyone who may be interested, please pass our details on!

Here are his details below…

We have just sent out our March edition of the Ebony Park Friesian Magazine – sign up in the box at the top right hand side of the site to read all about it!! 

This month Kate talks about the farrier, Natasha talks about the rider in all of us, and Loes and Danielle give us a run through step by step of how to clip a Friesian for competition! 

We have other exciting news!! Ebony Park Abe is for sale! Check out the magazine for more information!!

To Your Dreams Becoming Reality,

The Ebony Park Team

Yay!

I get to do a blog this week for Ebony Park!

For those of you that don’t know, Abe and I were entered in the Grand Prix at Dressage with the Stars last week. I was really super excited, as well as super pumped, as I was trying a new technique thingy (!!) in my riding, and was eager to see how it would all work out.

I had an amazing time at the event, and really enjoyed riding my test on Friday. Abe was a rockstar, and did his best to listen to my new aids, and I was really happy and proud of what we did. Unfortunately, in the world of Grand Prix, nothing much matters except perfection, and Abe and I still have a long way to go before our movements are considered perfect 10′s! We also had a few tiny mistakes which in the world of Grand Prix are unforgiveable and cost dearly!

So unfortunately, we missed out on riding the Kur on the Saturday night by 0.851%, as we scored 57.149% and we needed a 58%! But thats ok… next time!!!!

In the meantime we will be working hard and smart to get better and better and look forward to the next comp!!!!!

Stay tuned for the video – we believe it was filmed by Equestrian Life but we can’t access it yet, as soon as we find it, we will post it so you can see Abe and I doing our thing.

I would like to thank all of you that sent me well wishes and supported us! I love you SO much, and am so grateful and appreciative to have such amazing people like you around us!

Have a super week!!!!!

To Your Success,

Natasha 

EP Orlando (aka Captain!) is by the Grand Prix imported Friesian stallion Abe out of a beautiful Friesian cross bred mare The Carrock Zip, born 3/09/2008.

He is the second 3/4 Friesian bred by Ebony Park… check out the foal pics!

The gorgeous Sarah and her mother Sharon came down to look at Orlando in December 2010 to take advantage of our Christmas sale. It was a tale of love at first sight, with both Sarah and Sharon choosing Orlando as much as Orlando constantly choosing them, and going to them over the fence.

About 4 months later, they couldn’t wait any longer and asked us to start working with him. We are more than happy to work with horses we have bred ourselves, and offer this as a service to our clients. We consider it a privilege to continue to be involved in the journey between the new horse and rider. As with all our Ebony Park horses, we love the constant updates and love having them as part of our extended family! As Orlando was only 2 1/2, we was reluctant to, but they said they didn’t want any pressure put on him, and depending on how he handled it we could stop if it ever got too much.

Here are some early pics of Orlando on the lunge:

Orlando was easy to teach, and loved to please. He had some clear ideas on some things, but it was more a lack of understanding than him actually saying no – once he understood what you wanted, things came very easily to him, and we were on his back, riding without a lunge after 4 weeks!

Check out the video below of Orlando being ridden on the lunge after 4 weeks of training!

Sarah had her first ride on him in June 2011 and was happy and excited. But Orlando still was quite green. The turns were not really there, and there was an unsteadiness in his head. We explained to her that with young horses, you don’t know how long it will take for them to ‘get’ it.

However, a couple of days later, Orlando just totally ‘got’ the whole dressage thing, and became a superstar! So easy to turn, maneuver, do transitions… and he loved working round and through over his back!

We was so happy and excited for Sarah, as this meant he could go home and start his long and illustrious career with her as a dressage horse and eventer!

Here are some pics and Orlando all grown up and ready to go!

Check out footage of him being ridden, and an interview with Sarah (his new owner) and Loes (who broke him in at Ebony Park) below!

Over the last 9 months, Orlando and Sarah have continued to bloom and progress in their dressage training…

… Until the very exciting moment last weekend, at Boneo Park, when they competed together for the very first time! It was all new for them, but Orlando just took it all in and was chilled and relaxed… and they came away with fantastic scores of 64.2% and 60.682% in the Preliminary!! Fantastic work guys, and we can’t wait to see your results in future competitions!!

So what you can learn from this story!?

1. All young horses are different! Some take longer to learn that others.

You need to respect that, and be incredibly patient, loving and generous. To begin with, Orlando wasn’t too sure about contact – if we had forced his head down and ‘made’ him work, we would be in a whole lot of trouble. By just using gentle persistence and encouragement, it became ‘his’ idea to come round and through and now he loves it – it’s also a lot easier for us as the rider.

2. With the young ones, and with all horses we firmly believe it’s the quality of work you do that is important, not the length of time. Orlando was never worked longer than 30mins – usually 20 mins. With each session, as long as he tried, that was considered a ‘great’ session. We never compared the last session to this one, and we were always impressed if he walked, trotted, cantered half straight, and half forward – we were onto a good thing!

3. We am always in awe that a horse allows us to ride on his back. That he carries us, and tries to understand what we want, and where we want him to go. That respect and love has to be there all the time, and we always give the horse a carrot, apple, mouthful of food after we ride back into the washbay to say thanks mate – you did good.

We would like to say a massive, huge, enormous congratulations to Natasha and Ebony Park Abe for their fabulous performance in Big Tour Grand Prix dressage for 2011 – this earned them 2nd place on the Victorian leaderboard!!

We are really excited to have a huge competition weekend planned this weekend at Boneo Park, with Abe competing in the Grand Prix on Saturday, then the Grand Prix Special on Sunday! If you wan to come along and cheer the Ebony Park boys on, their times are posted below the photos…

If you would like to come and cheer on the Ebony Park Team this weekend at Boneo Park, here are the times our boys are competing!

Abe

Grand Prix 1.47pm Indoor arena (Sat 17th March)

Grand Prix Special 2.09pm Indoor arena (Sun 18th March)

Zeus

Novice Outdoor 1 & 2 – time TBC (Sat 17th March)

Achillies (his first competition!!!)

Preliminary 1B Outdoor 1 – 3.25pm (Sun 18th March)

Preliminary 1C Outdoor 2 – 2.19pm (Sun 18th March)

Jorrit

Elementary 3B Outdoor 1 – 9.18am (Sun 18th March)

Elementary 3C Outdoor 2 – 10.39am (Sun 18th March)

Join the forum discussion on this post