News

WATCH this awesome video !!!

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:55:00 GMT

We just found this wonderful video clip of Mark Todd and his wonder horse Charisma ( aka "Podge" ) , blasting around Badminton in 1984 showing such tremendous heart and scope. Keep in mind Charisma was only 15.3 hh and Todd is a good 6' or taller. ENJOY ...

Click here to view !!!

"Quincey sold to France !!!

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Congratulaions to Sidney Dufresne on the purchase of "Quincey" our 3* eventer in UK .

It is a great sale as Sidney has been Quincey's regular rider , forming a super partnership in 2011 and moved up to 3* level , finishing the season with a classy double clear in the Blenheim CCI***.

We are going to look forward to further good results with this pair and the move up to 4* this year 2012..... exciting !!!

Farewell to 2011 !!!!

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:09:00 GMT

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our wonderful friends and clients around the world and may 2012 bring you great success and happy times with your horses !!!

Sincere apologies for lack of News updates since July .... EEK how time flies when you are busy and having fun !!!!

One of my New Years Resolutions is to keep the site updated and humming with news and of course a selection of gorgeous horses we have listed for sale with us .

NZ riders and NZ bred horses seemed to stand out in the International scene this year , particularly in UK and Europe and we have some outstanding new combinations coming through to add power to our NZ eventing team.

Making NZ Show Jumping history , superstar, Katy McVean had outstanding result finishing 6th in the World Cup final with Dunstan Delphi and sadly had to sell this world class mare when the offers just kept getting bigger and bigger.

On a note for those interested in breeding, both Parklane Hawk ( Fox-Pitt) and Dunstan Delphi are out of TB mares by "Brilliant Invader " !!! They just keep popping up ....

Winner of Burghley 2011 was William Fox-Pitt riding the exceptional NZ TB Parklane Hawk .

Parker was purchased via QNZH's on my advice almost 2 years ago . William says Parker is one of his hopes for London this year .

Very exciting ....

We recently found yet another young NZ eventhorse for William . Hoping to see great results this year with "Freddie Mac", big fancy moving, scopey guy by TB stallion Heroicity.

Our gorgeous 3* eventer "Quincey " based in UK and ridden by Sidney Dufresne ( France ) did a super double clear jumping around a stiff track at Blenheim CCI*** in September to finish the season on a great note.

Once again I was wanted to make the mad dash over to watch at the last minute ( as I do !!! ) but sadly my passport had expired . Was not meant to be I guess .

Meanwhile in NZ our spring eventing season was full on from Sept to beginning of December.

QNZH's had 4 horses out and about competing - "Millinka" (Milly ) , "Topper II", "Biggles" and "Ella".

All four horses are home bred and mainly grey - just about need to buy shares in the "blue shampoo biz" I think.

Off we went most weekends and they went super well and stepped up to their next levels with me as pilot !!!

Sadly results did not always look too fancy on paper due to the 'odd' rider error ( oops !!!) however horses were all stars and are looking very flash indeed and very much admired so I am thrilled to bits !!!

We have had many horse sales in last few months so been super busy ( not complaining though !!!).

- TAHITI - 6 TB's/sporthorse have arrived safe and sound and new owners are thrilled.

- CHINA - 3 show jumpers sold to large riding club based Beijing China.

- Santa Mara ( Cheleken Sporthorses )

- BMW Lanza ( BMW sporthorses )

- a young Lansing/Corlando mare from Kenji Nishizuka.

- TAIWAN clients have bought 8 jumpers

- Reunite ( ex Megan Stacey )

- Bordeaux ( ex Megan Stacey )

- Cortex ( ex Morewynstowe Stud )

- Henry Higgens ( ex Melissa Watson )

- AMS Surprise ( ex Steph Leifting )

- Chasing Demons ( ex Lizzie Brown )

- Shikimo ( ex Nicolette Butcher )

- Starlight Dobbin ( ex Tina Fagen)

Locally here in NZ we have found and sold 4 stunning TB's straight off the track in last weeks !!!

This is a new sideline for us. Presenting quality , correct and sound in brain and limb TB's off the track.

The plan is to source and place quality TB's out of racing quickly with reasonable pricing . They are all perfectly sound, sane good looking, and very nice horses.

Congratulations to Kylee McCambridge on her purchase of the gorgeous 5 yo "Amazing Spy" . Kylee is delighted with Spy and we look forward to seeing her out and about this upcoming season.

Congratulations to Megan Stacey , with purchase of the classy 5 yo TB 'Paddy" and also the

3 yo TB "Charles" who looks and moves like a big warmblood. Megan dropped her 2 jumpers off at my farm I sold for her and ended up taking the 2 TB's home on trial and bought them both ..... worked out well for us both .

Also congratualtions to Bridget Quaid of Christchurch purchasing the very stunning 5 yo mare "Rose "

( Kapstaad / Starway mare ).

We have currently 2 lovely 3 yo geldings here by St Rheims and a flashy 4 yo gelding by Nouvre . They are the next bunch to find fab new homes for and there will be more to come ..... feel free to call by and take a look at what he have available.

Back in September we sold our own well performed Pre novice eventer "Felix " to a wonderful new home in Christchurch and they love him to bits. Early days yet but a great partnership is developing with his new rider Kendra.

All the best Kendra... you will have so much fun this year with "Felix".

Go girl !!!!

Trip to UK - BLOG

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 09:54:00 GMT

Well, I tend to be a spur of the moment girl....... and several friends suggested I JUST HAD TO go to the UK to watch Quincey ( one of my lovely homebreds ) have his first big CCI*** start with 24 yo French rider Sidney Dufresne .  So bought a ticket at last minute and left 4 days later .......!!!
Arrived at Headley , to stay with great mate Mark Todd. Had a most enjoyable first afternoon chilling out watching Toddy train his superstar horses Ben ( Badminton winner ) and Kinky .
Mark has a cute character cottage he is redecorating , just over the road from his   yard at Headley Stud. The stud is a " to die for "  property belonging to American event rider Jules Stiller, whom he also trains.
Headed north to Bramham next day and stayed with good client Greta Potter first night. They kindly lent me their very cool campervan so I could stay in lorry park at Bramham . Dressage day was stinking hot and we were all pleased with Quincey's dressage test, although he did fluff one canter change and got disunited behind another movement , basically still a bit green at this level , however he went well for his level of training.
Walked the 'meaty ' XC with the French team and their trainer Laurent Bousquet as Sidney is French of course !!!
XC day seemed to be carnage in the CCI***. Gosh , was I getting nervous after seeing so many horses   fall and run off jumps including some big names .   I positioned myself on a sofa in the members stand with Eric ( NZ team trainer ) and watched on big screen. Poor Erik has to put up with me poking and pinching him whilst Quincey rocked around the XC like a superstar.... I was so thrilled he went clear with ease and a few time faults...PHEW !!!
  Sat night had yummy BBQ dinner at Fox-Pitts lorry and caught up with Blyth and Paul for drinkies.
Quincey SJed well on last day,  a tad tired and despite rolling 2 rails, still moved up 5 places to finish 16th. All in all a good result for his first big 3* and we were all happy .
Sadly, I have Quincey for sale now as it is ridiculous having a 3* horse in UK and I cannot get to see him go.   Anyone that is interested please  message me here or ring me direct for video links and further info.

It was brill to see Polly Stockton get 2nd in the CCI*** class on her great old campaigner Regulus and catch up with her mum and dad and baby Jake ( new addition ) and close friend Tiddles .
Also , it was a  popular win for Jock Paget , taking away the CIC*** class with his new ride Clifton Lush ( ex Joe Meyers ).

Bramham over so I headed back to Headley. It was farewell to Bettina Hoy who had been staying with Mark for some weeks with her eventers and heading back to Germany. What a special lady !! I have always admired her and was a treat to meet her and get to know her a little.
My next adventure was driving into middle of London by myself ( with help of a trusty Sat Nav) , to visit Aliba , a great mate of Todd's .
A delightful and fun hostess but sadly had some little drama's involving my car, like nowhere to park the bloody thing ,,, and locked keys and all my wordly belongings in car ,,,, lets not go there !!!

Next stop was my dear friend Lucy Jackson  near Tetsworth. Had a awesome catch up and a yummy impromptu BBQ , and lots of giggles .   Lucy has built up a great team of talented horses so that is looking exciting for her future !!!!
Nearby was a good friend/client Katie Wick and her NZ eventer Prime Mecury Bay (Jimmy ) so briefly said hi and met the new addition to the family, baby  Felix . Katie has her hands full there with ' mini me ' little  Felix !!! Jimmy is looking amazing and really grown up now , with a big neck and topline, great to see. They love Jimmy to bits !!!
On way back to Headley , called by to visit Erik and Steph Duvander at their charming cottage in Upper Basildon. They are happily settled and the kids are loving their new school and fast making friends. Erik is a crucial  part of the NZ Eventing Team network and works tirelessly with the goal of NZ back to winning GOLD MEDALS again !!!!
My next port of call was to visit Clarke Johnstone , a new arrival in UK with his 4 talented eventers   he has flown in from NZ . His base is around the corner from Gatcombe Park. What a fab yard , all relatively new and so spic and span !!! Clarke was very proud to show me around and his horses had arrived and settled in well . We headed down to the local pub ( as you do in UK ) for a pint and a meal.
Next day was pouring rain and freezing but I headed up the M4 once again to go see Blyth Tait and Paul O'Brien. It was a bit special for me as they are close to Guiting Power,
a quaint old village I was based in back in 1982 when I was in the UK with an eventer called Raupo. I have many fond memories so it was nice to go back and have a peek around again.
Blythe and Paul have a cute cottage in the small picturesque  Bledington  and of course we just wandered down to the pub for the eve .
Santos and his  cool new 3* ride Sonate V ( see pic ) are based at Eddie Stibbes wonderful yard, with everything one would need to prepare an event horse to the high levels.
Running out of days at this stage , but a mad dash down to Dorset was next on agenda to visit my great mates/clients William and Alice Fox-Pitt and check out the two horses I have recently sourced for them from NZ . William was very organised despite packing to leave for Lumuhlen 4* and kindly rode Parker ( Parklane Hawk ) for me. He is looking really good , and had not been out since his big win of the CCI*** Blenheim at end of last season due to a niggling splint but was gearing up for his first start. Then William treated me to watching Billy ( Henton For Fun ) do some dressage and some jumping,,,, gosh, I had forgotten how seriously flash he is. He just floats around with that "look at me " air about him . He is only a baby still at 4 yo so plenty of time for him .
Flew back to Headley in time to go out for a nice Italian meal in Newbury with Becky Elvin and Logan Rawlings. Becky is Mark's amazing secretary and Logan is American eventer based in UK whom I first met couple of years ago when she worked for Fox-Pitts.   Ironically , Logan was one of my very earliest Amercican clients. Back when she was only 16 yo, her family imported off video a super NZ eventer via QNZH for Logan to compete in USA.
Sadly my last day in UK was finally hot...ish FINALLY  so just lazed around in the sun as much as I could .
I had run out of days to visit some of the other NZ riders and friends  .......... will have to allow more days to do everything next time around.

Back in NZ , although it is mid winter, the day I got back was blue skies and bright sunshine and very hairy horses !!!
NZ , I do love you !!!!

NZ EVENTERS ROCK !!!!!!

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:15:00 GMT

Well, it has been an exciting few weeks for NZ eventing !!!

Firstly our legend Mark Todd wins the Badminton Horse Trials on his ear riding the talented NZB Landvision , at 10 yo a relatively young inexperienced horse.
As well the other 2 NZ riders shone and took top honours as well.
Caroline Powell riding the wonderful campaigner Lenamore was 6th and Andrew Nicolson took out 10th on Avebury and 12th on Nereo.
The field this year was powerful with 6 riders scoring in the 30's and 33 riders scoring under 50 in the dressage phase.
There were 50 clear jump rounds XC , slightly on the high side but then the time was hard to make and only 7 inside the time.
The SJ had a nail biting finish , with the top 12 riders within a rail of each other.

This weekend Clarke Johnstone won impressively with dressage score of 45 and double clean jumping, the Sydney round of the FEI World Cup Qualifier with his classy NZ TB Orient Express.

This great combination recently won the first World Cup Qualifier at Kihikihi here in NZ , so are now the leaders of the series to date.
And of course he was in NZ team with Orient Express to win the bronze medal at WEG last year.
Clarke is taking his team of horses to the UK at end of May to base and compete with high goals in mind .

On a sad note, out thoughts are with John Twomey , he had a nasty fall at the water jump at Sydney World Cup and is in serious condition but not critical ( as reported).
We wish you a speedy recovery mate , get better quick !!!

Mark Todd has a website now !!!

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 21:52:00 GMT

Check out Mark Todd's brand new website , newly launched .
You can keep up to date with all latest news , results , and his fantastic team of world class horses .
Click here to see it !!!

Todd is also a featured rider on the Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event website and you can read the first instalment by clicking here .

Exciting year ahead for Mark Todd Eventing Team !!!!

Blyth Tait chooses a NZ eventer .....

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:36:00 GMT

Blyth Tait has searched high and low for the right horse to get back in the groove with.   The search has  included NZ , Australia , UK and Europe and he has found the horse he wanted,    based here in NZ. So that says alot really for our lovely NZ eventers !!!!

"Santos" is a gorgeous and very talented small TB gelding by Grosvenor ( same sire as many other top class horses including "Parklane Hawk" now with William Fox-Pitt ) .   He is just the right 'fit' for Blyth and has alot more to offer once they have developed their partnership.
Jenna Mahoney, his owner/rider has produced   him well and he is solid 3* level with good results and has completed Adelaide 4* with Jenna a couple of years ago. Jenna has kept a share in the horse so this will be really exciting for her to be involved.

Blyth and "Santos" head off on a jet plane for UK about mid April........ GOOD LUCK  BLYTH from QNZH "s !!!!

Mark Todd interview on future plans etc ......

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:16:00 GMT

Here is a great interview with kiwi legend Mark Todd .
He speaks about the fabulous horses in his team, plans for the future including Baminton this year, 2010 Olympics and beyond ....... maybe.
Check it out, very interesting !!!!!
Click here .

"Playtime NZPH" sold to USA !!!!

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:46:00 GMT

Yet another very happy client !!!   We have sold the stunning and super talented one* eventer "Playtime NZPH" to the Ellis family ( New Jersey, USA) for their rider Val Vizcarrondo to compete . Lizzie Brown has done a superb job as always , producing this flamboyant young horse to one* level.
Val is over the moon , to put it midly , to have this stunning horse in her stable .   Already been out XC schooling and training and lining up some starts towards the end of March .
Sadly Lizzie has had to sell some of her younger horses to finance the big move to UK in April  with her two 3* horses in tow , a costly year or so ahead .

Blyth Tait returns to Eventing in UK......

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:33:00 GMT

It is exciting news that Blyth Tait has decided to make a come back to International eventing , basing himself in the UK . Great news for NZ Eventing.   We shall almost have THE famous " DREAM TEAM " again .
Blyth is busy shopping at the moment to find super horses and will be back on the British eventing  circuit very soon.

On the other hand , it is sad news that Jonathon Paget may loose the ride on his fine WEG horse "Clifton Promise". The horse is on the open market for sale but we gather Jock would dearly love to keep the ride on this talented horse . Hopefully a syndicate can be arranged soon, as such a shame to break this unique partnership between horse and rider.

UK is going to be invaded by talented young riders from NZ this season. All heading over with their good horses to train and up their game with high goals for the future.
Jesse Campbell is already based at Andrew Nicolson's yard near Marlborough with his two 2* eventers.
NZ team rider Clarke Johnstone and fellow rider Lizzie Brown are both heading over mid April with a super bunch of horses to compete.

Don't worry . there are still plenty of horses and riders left in NZ ,,, our last 2 horse trials have had record entries of over 400 and I  beleive it is the same again this weekend coming at Puhinui. There is always stunning new horses coming up through the ranks here or just popping up on the scene so we are never short of talent !!!!

2011 is here ....... news update !!!!

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:28:00 GMT

Well, New Years Eve has slipped by and we would like to wish all our wonderful friends and loyal clients all the best for 2011 with great success and happiness !!!!
It seems to be one of the hottest summers I can remember at the moment here in NZ , or am I just imagining it ? Hearing reports of snow and crappy weather in UK and USA . Meanwhile we just hanging out here in the heat.

At beginning of December , we welcomed Emma Salt to our team . Emma worked for us 5 years ago so it is great she is able to come back and help as she knows how it all works and is experienced and mature. She is loving the riding and has got back into jumping much to her delight .

Some sad news at the farm , we had to put our grand old Brilliant Invader mare " Billie" to sleep  because was beginning to suffer . She had reached the ripe old age of 23 and had 12 beautiful babies so she did super well . R.I.P. Billie, you will always be  a legend !!!!

We were graced with Mark Todd's presence for a week or so prior to Xmas . He had to get back here to renew his UK visa as the UK immigration officials were starting to get a bit difficult everytime he arrived back at Heathrow. Poor Mark was a tad nervous about it all but all sorted now and he is "very officially " allowed to stay on in UK thank goodness and get on with the job of winning NZ some more medals !!!

We took our team out SJing at end of Jan ( rider a bit rusty I might add ) and have couple of shows to attend in February then off eventing again in March .
The Horse Trials Autumn season started 29th Jan , and the SJing circuit has been in full swing all summer . It is always exciting when a new season is under way, as we are constantly searching for new talent for our clients and they just keep popping up !!!!

We have had some super sales recently . Congratulations to the lucky new owners !!!
   -      Izzy McLauchlin from Adelaide , Australia is totally thrilled with her new boy "George" ( aka "Matariki " ex Kate Lambie ). Going superbly and very excited about season ahead. I hear on grapevine someone want to steal him off you Izzy ??
-        Greta Potter ( resident both UK and NZ ) is loving her new horse " Hoki " ( aka "Valuation " ex Kate Wood ). He has already been on clinics and giving Greta great confidence . She is living the dream with Hoki, she cannot believe how perfect he is for her .
-         Julie and Belinda Isbister from Perth Australia , purchased an extremely talented young TB off the track and named him Scottie ( Scott Free ). He has arrived in Perth  two weeks ago , looking a tad travel weary but is picking up and Bel can hardly wait to get stuck into his schooling and begin his new career.

Fox-Pitt buys another NZ Eventer with QNZH !!!!

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:01:00 GMT

We are very excited to have found another fantastic eventer  for William Fox-Pitt.
"Henton For Fun" ( "Billy" ) is only 4 yo but oozes talent.  As you can see from the video link here ,  he has quite some jump !!!!
Up and coming young event rider Jesse Campbell,  owned him and has done a lovely job producing him to date .
Jesse is sadly selling his talented team of horses as he is  now working/riding   for 'the legend '   Andrew Nicholson in UK.
"Billy" will fly out later in January to join fellow NZ 3* eventer "Parklane Hawk" in Fox-Pitts stable, whom we sourced for William a year ago.
GOOD LUCK WILLIAM WITH YOUR NZ EVENTERS !!!!

Puhinui International 3 Day Event

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:18:00 GMT

The NZ eventing season has just finished for 2010 with Puhinui International 3 Day Event held just up the road from Auckland Airport.  I had a super fun and very interesting weekend scanning for talent as always,   with the company of two " extremely entertaining " guests from Perth , Australia.

Congratulations to Lizzie Brown on "Henton Attorney General" showing fantastic form in all 3 phases to win the CCI*** class by a large margin of 14 marks !!!     It was also super for Brent Jury up from South Island on his lovely big Grosvener " S.E. Big " coming 2nd. Very consistant after his win at Richfields taking out the Forest Gate Trophey for National CIC*** title 2 weeks ago.

The CCI** class was won by Clarke Johnstone ( fresh home from winning bronze team medal WEG) on his classy TB " KS Secrets ".

Kate Cavanagh from South Island with her smart Gibalter Rock has a super win in the CCI*. Well worth the long trip up Kate !!!

Prize for most exciting entrance of the day goes to Jesse Campbell as he entered the ring at a proper FULL GALLOP .... way to go !!! Sadly his stunning young horse had got a 'big' fright at SJ entrance 30 mins prior when he was asked to enter ring for Best Presented horse and the other horses has just been running out past him etc from the 2* prize giving. He got very overwhelmed , so a full gallop was required to get back into the arena .  In conjunction with losing both front shoes during the drama ( ground rock hard ) , it was definitely was not an ideal way to start the SJ round when he was in fact winning, and consequently had 3 rails earlier on the  round dropping to 6th .
Very annoying but these things happen.    Crazy as it may seem, the Ground Jury got very "prissey" about it all and handed out a YELLOW CARD to Jesse and did threaten to fine $2,000... goodness me !!!!   Seriously a bit over reacting it seems as we all saw what went on and it was just common sense and good horsemanship at the end of the day that had to be done !!!!

The eventers all go SJing down here in NZ January and February until our eventing season starts up again in earnest at end of February.
And hang out at the beach a bit .......... YEAH !!!!

Another sale to Australia !!!

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:36:00 GMT

Congratulations to Jeanan from Sydney Australia on her purchase of the gorgous young TB eventer "Squirt " ( NOT the little girl in the pic attached !!! )
Having searched in Australia, she decided to travel over ' the ditch ' ( to NZ) and check out some of the lovely youngsters we have listed for sale and was delighted with the horses we showed.
Good luck Jeanan with your new boy, we look forward to plenty updates and pics.

Busy November update ...........

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 01:39:00 GMT

It it has been an extremely busy couple of months. QNZH team was on the road EVERY weekend for 7 weeks eventing and with 2 of our horses Felix and Topper.
Both started out at pre training level, stepped up to Training and finished super confident at Pre Novice . So that was great  !!! Now going to concentrate on SJing for the summer months and bring out some of the smart young ones, can't wait....

Very happy with 5 lovely healthy "Grasshopper" foals this spring, they are all grey and one dark bay . Grassy has painted them all with white sox which is nice.

Sadly, dear Sophie had to be put down when her baby was only 3 days old. A foster mother was not available at the time so she is being hand reared here at the house. Intensive and time consuming , I am lacking sleep but enjoying it immensly. Visitors get to feed the foal out of her bowl , much to their delight !!!

The most recent guest was  our loyal client Heather Gillette from USA (  we sourced her fab 3* horses , "Opera Groove" and "Our Questionare" ). Heather and hubby Eric were having a "belated honey moon" and had a great time exploring NZ.
From vineyards, to beaches, they really got around and even managed to fit in a day at Richfields Horse Trials with us as we scouted for talent !!!!

Still have not found a replacement for Anka our beloved groom/rider.   Not rushing into it as really want the right person that will just slot in.   So , JOB IS STILL AVAILABLE here in Cambridge with our small team of eventers and jumpers. Anka is coming to stay when she finishes university in Auckland mid December so will be great to catch up with her again . She has not seen all the babies yet !!!

At the moment we are trying to 'will' it to rain. It is so dry and dusty here already and only just end of spring. After weeks of non stop rain......... we are now blessed with weeks of NO RAIN .......ahhhhhhh!!!!