We  just heard from Bijou's new owner Amanda Young  in Australia and she is  very excited , having won  their first 1*  by  10 marks  and the smart  dressage score 67%.
Although Bijou  (  Willy to his fan club ) was a successful 3* eventer in NZ ,  Amanda had  not  ridden at this  level for over 5  years so this was a great thrill for her.
Not only did they win a fancy  "blue ribbon"., there was also a smart rug ( at least 3 sizes  too big for the little fellow ) , a service fee to a  stallion, supplements, and a nice headcollar .

What fun......... !!!

We have  wonderful reports from Heather Gillette  about  her two  NZ  boys   sourced through QNZH.  This is a particularly satisfying story as Heather  and her  generous owner Kathy McDermott from New Jersey  .........felt confident enough to proceed and buy   having only  seen video of  the horses.

Heather was introduced to QNZH  via Lori Smith , a wonderful working pupil we had  4   years ago, and is now working and riding for Heather .
Heather initially  purchased Charlton Scribe , a talented young eventer  bred and produced by Nicoli Fife, Charlton Stud   .   He was going super  in his competitions in USA  and  tragically  died from colic during an operation.
A couple of months later , Heather  contacted us again and said she was so thrilled with Scribe , could we  help her find a replacement . 

Our Questionare ( Questy  ) has  recently competed in  two  3*'s  with Heather , her first at this level  for a long time and  he was a legend.    Heather said the jumps were huge and they just kept coming at her but Questy knew his job and was brilliant.
Questy was previously  ridden to great success at 3* level  here in NZ   by Bryce Newman and bred by Lady Anna Weir,  well known breeder of many successful eventers in NZ .
He is by Westminster ,   renowned TB sire of many   eventers .

G Star ( Gerry ) has been placed in all his events to date and  is getting alot of admiring comments .    He has outstanding form over a fence and is really enjoying his new life  of luxury .  He is a full TB but looks and moves like a warmblood.
Jerry was campaigned to One* level by Sarah Tyler and previous to that , SJed to 1.20m by Julie Hart .

The  Taupo Horse Trials were  held  last weekend , 17-18th October .
350 horses were  competing and emphasis was on the CIC*** class  - riders were  campaigning for selection of  the Trans Tasman Team , heading to   Adelaide CCI*** beg of November.
This  team will be announced any day so watch this space !!!
The CIC*** was cleaned up by Clarke Johnstone , showing his class  winning with  his great campaigner Oakley Vision  and 2nd on his younger mount Orient Express .  
Heelan Tompkins  was 3rd on her Olympic mount Sugoi .
The CIC** class was won by Lizzie Browne on her talented  young horse Push Play.
The 3 Novice classes were won by Danni Loader on Waitangi Spy Sweeper,  Jess Woods and Too Predictable and Bryce Newman on Rhomale.
QNZH's are delighted to see Rhomale win with such ease as we sourced this stunning horse for Bryce off the track here in Cambridge barely  9 mnths ago.
Also a big congratulations to Nathalie Emson and her lovely horse Master Manoeuvre,  a well deserved 4th in Novice. Another one of our finds and it is great to see Nathalie looking so polished and confident now she has moved up a level.
There were also several divisions of Pre Novice and Training classes.

It is a shame the xc caused so many problems.  Just about every rider we spoke to on the Saturday made a comment , about how tough a test it was ( in particular the Novice class ) .    Maybe the riders need to address this issue in a more appropriate, correct  manner in future. And maybe the powers that  be should listen .
It just seems unnecessary to frighten  horses ( i.e. at  fence 2 in xc  )  beginning of the season.
It certainly does not do the sport  here in NZ any favours !!!

For full results of the event, click here .

This morning we went to  visit the  latest  addition to our  team,  at Seaton Park  .  
This is where all our mares foal under 24 hour   professional supervision.
We  are very happy ( and lucky ) to have  the most  devine liver chestnut colt, with 3  white socks ......... and  "YES "  he is already showing grey around the muzzle , so definitely will be grey.
He has very long  legs almost as long as his mother  "Ma's"......  she is 16.1 hh  .
He is by our stallion Grasshopper .

Click here to see the  video of  our new  foal.

Well , it was great to see the Brits take  the double Gold medals at the European Eventing Champs last week.   It  was special for  Kristina Cook on her world class  thorougbred " Miners Frolic " to clean up the individuals.  The event was  certainly  a great test ,  notably  3 of the German team were eliminated xc and the superbly performed  Flint Curtis   had the misfortune to  have  a couple of run offs xc .   Lets fact it,  this result  is extremelly refreshing  with  the xc  having such an important influence on the final results at the higher levels of eventing as it should  be  !!!
 
Last week was a busy one for QNZH's.    We spent several days dodging the rain thanks to the superb indoor  facility at Little Valley  Farm,  showing our clients from Taiwan some nice horses .   It was a great success and the 6 horses they chose  will be heading into quarantine on the 25th October. 

The competition season here in NZ is well under way now.  Everyone is hyped up and got their team on track and all the horses have their summer coats through  and looking sleek.  As always , we are  out and about "scanning " for super horses for our clients.

The only 'negative '  here right now the the dreadful cold snap that has hit us in last few days.  It is like the middle of winter and there is water everywhere .... check out the pic !!!
 Winter rugs are out in force again , very confusing for the poor horses having just had a super sunny spell  prior to this.