A little bit about our Haflingers

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Good-Bye Peeky!





We ended our show season with 2 biggies! The GLHA (Great Lakes Haflinger Association) and the AHR (American Haflinger Registry) shows the last two weekends. The GLHA was in Lansing at the MSU Pavilion, and the AHR was in Mason at the county fairgrounds. We were in many, many classes--every year we wonder why run around the whole show with our heads cut off because we're always rushing to the next class! We have so much fun and it's a lot of work. At the GLHA, we took Atta-Boy, Sunny, and Peeky, along with our daughter and son-in-law, their two girls and a teen girl they brought, our granddaughter, and our other daughter came to show with her three girls. Jim's sister and her husband also came to show. SO! 3 horses and 10 people who wanted to show! WOW! Most of us got to show and did well, all the way down to 2 year old Hannah, who showed in the lead-line class. At this show, we had several potential buyers who were going to meet Peeky. The first group came on Thursday night, and fell in love with Peeky! They agreed to buy her after riding her and seeing her move and work. Since they weren't going to be taking her until the following weekend at Mason, we showed her at both shows. We have more pics of the GLHA show, but they were taken with 2 different cameras, and the second one is unavailable at this time. Soon, I'll have more pics to post. (above, the picture on the left is of Peeky; the one on the right is of Sunny)


At the AHR show, there were many more riding events to be in, and our daughter Holly and Jim's sister and her husband came to the show with us again. We are so pleased with how we did and are truly glad that this can be a family hobby. Of course, we didn't get nearly enough blue and red ribbons, so there's always next year!
Our horse goals for the next year is to really work Star, who's been a brood mare to ride and drive, and also her 2 yr. old filly at the same time. So stay tuned for info on them! We appreciate all the kind and helpful comments we get on our trained horses. We put a lot of time, work, and attention into them so that we have a quality, safe horse to sell. As you can see in the picture of Jim and Peeky above, the presence of a child doesn't faze her--unless Hannah is trying to give her a hay cube!! :) Our horses are around people during feedings twice a day, and all have had children on their backs since they very young. Our haflingers are truly people horses!
So thank you all who were interested in Peeky! We appreciated all your emails and questions, and are glad to know that our blog and video were helpful to you. We will keep working hard on that end as well. She made a decent showing at these shows and know that she will continue to grow as a show horse and as a riding and driving horse.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Early Morning Ride

This morning, Jim rode Atta Boy, and Billie rode Peeky. We also drove them last night with our grandchildren. Megan practiced Driving Sunny and did a great job. She drove him around barrels and around the pole bending set up. She is practicing for the Great Lakes Haflinger Show in Lansing the end of September.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Horse Show in Sand Lake



This past weekend, we went to a horse show in Sand Lake. We brought Peeky, Sunny, and Atta-Boy. Jim's sister and her husband also came along, and they rode Sunny and Atta-Boy in events as well. His sister Debbie rode Sunny in Walk/trot, and placed first in 2 events. In the western classes, there were 12-13 riders and they were placing up to 6th place. Billie Jean got an honorable mention in these events. I have more pictures, but I need to touch them up a little--they are too far away! I like close-ups, and clean, crisp pictures. I'll get those posted soon!

Holly Riding Peek-a-Boo










At the Fremont Show in June, Jim showed Peeky riding English. These pictures were posted back then. Our Daughter, Holly, also showed Peeky at this show, riding Western. Holly got first place on Peeky in Western Pleasure, and in Western Horsemanship. Peeky is becoming such a pleasure to ride and is responding so well to instruction.

Avalanche Ranch









We were a part of our church's Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago, and entered our horses and wagon in the Gerber Baby Food Festival parade to promote our VBS. Three of our older grandkids were visiting and they joined our wagon. One thing we enjoy about our horses is that we can make it a family affair. All of our grandchildren love to ride the horses, and always help feed them when they visit. They even have shown in plenty of horse shows! The older two, Tyler (age 8) and Megan (age 9 1/2) have shown walk-trot. Megan will be joining us at the GLHA show as well.

We brought Sunny and Atta-boy to the parade, our trusty team. This is actually the first parade

we've been in with these horses. Now, they've done just about everything! As you can see, they are nearly identical, which is why they've won best matched pair many years in a row at various events. Recently, we were at the Newaygo County Fair where they won best matched pair as well. Sunny won Grand Champion Supreme Pony of all in the Draft Horse Show. We both got a first and second place in single driving and in riding. Jim took first place in the line driving obstacle course with Atta Boy

This year, the fair board created a new event for the Draft Horse show, called the "Wagon Eight". In this event, two teams started on opposite sides of a figure eight, going different directions. In the middle of the "O"s of the eight, they parked and had to load up the wagon. The loader was called a "swamper", and had to bag a camp chair, load a frying pan, load of wood, roll a sleeping mat, and throw it all on the wagon. Once this was done, the team could drive out of the "O" and being to race around the figure eight. The tricky part was if both teams got the middle at the same time! Thankfully, all 16 teams had good drives, and there was plenty of room for 2 teams to cross over if all stayed on their own side! The entry fee for this event was $75, quite a bit higher than anything else here. But, the payout was grand! First place got $2500!! So, we entered, hoping for first place! Ha, ha, ha! We ended up doing quite well. Jim drove the team, and our son-in-law, Tim, was the swamper. The swamper's job was quite important, as every second counted. Many swampers got caught up in putting that darn camp chair in the bag! Have you ever done this as fast as you can?? We drove this event a total of 4 times, ending up in fourth place. We were pleased with that, and we had so much fun! Another surprise of this event, is that they charged $1 for entry into the stands, and the stands were packed full! It turned out to be a great family event!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Melroe: All the Details


HAFLINGER STALLION: Melroe CVA – A 6 yr. old AHR Registered and
Licensed. Reg. # 17457-01

Sire & Dam are both Dutch Imports.
He is rich copper chestnut in color w/ abundant white mane & tail & stands 60” tall.
Mel was the 2003 AHR National Grand Champion Draft Stallion!
He has a winning Disposition, Confirmation and Movement.
Mel also drives and trail rides down the road, through the woods, crossing creeks and walking down river. (he walk/trot/canters)
He stands very well for trimming, shoeing, washing, spraying, clipping and loading.
Mel has thrown many beautiful foals. He is an easy/quick breeder.
Mel is a very pleasant and easy Stallion to handle!
This is Your Chance to Add this Champions Touch to Your Breeding Program !!!

Thursday, July 5, 2007

For Sale: Melroe, registered Haflinger Stallion








Here is Melroe, a wonderful stallion, owned by New-Way Farms. We bought him as a 2 year old, and have been using him as a stud for the past few years. He has thrown some beautiful colts and fillies. This filly pictured here is the most recent, born at our farm this January. We also have her full-sister, shown at the GLHA futurity in 2005. Both fillies are still at our farm, and they are growing into tall, slender pleasure horses.

Peek-A-Boo News













Here are a few more pictures of Peeky. The gentleman in the picture is Ken McNabb riding her at the clinic. Our Granddaughter Megan, 9 years old, has ridden Peeky many times in the round pen, as well as in the arena. Both do very well together. The top left picture is of her after being washed with a pressure hose. She stands very well for washing and clipping.

Peek-A-Boo News





"Peeky" is a 9 year old registered Haflinger Mare. She is trained to ride English and Western, and has shown in many open shows. The above left picture is of her last show, where she placed very well in English and received first place in both Western Horsemanship and in Western Pleasure. She and Jim attended a 3-day Ken McNabb clinic this May for training. She also had driven Pleasure-style in cart. She trailer loads, clips, washes and leads very easily. She has been ridden many times by both Jim and Billie, as well as daughter Holly and many grandchildren. A DVD has been made showing a week of her life this summer, available upon request. It demonstrates the ease of adults and children riding, brushing/grooming, and leading her, as well as Jim riding her English and Western at the trot and canter, doing side passes, riding at the CMO (Competition Mounted Orienteering), and trail riding through water. She recently attended a CMO, which involved trail riding through the Manistee National Forest. She rides easily through brush, creeks, and ravines as well as down roads and around people. She was born and bred at our farm, and has had two successful foals. She is the perfect addition to your home!

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Who We Are



This is Jim on Atta-Boy News, registered Haflinger gelding and Billie Jean on Alpha-Sun "Sunny", registered Haflinger gelding from an open show 2 years ago in West Michigan. These are our trusty trail horses. Some of the fun rides we've done lately was to go for a midnight trail-ride last night; ride in the Manistee National forest doing compass readings in a competition; ride through cricks and down ravines. We own 31 acres, and we have trails going around the property and throughout. We also practice riding in our arena doing barrels and pole-bending; side-passing over logs; walking over tarps, mats, and wooden bridges; opening mailboxes; walk/trot/cantering at appropriate speeds for English and Western riding. All of this keeps us busy as there is always things to correct for both rider and horse.

Horses and Kids Just Go together!





This was one of the first days out this spring with the horses and kids. 4 of our grandkids were here this time and all wanted a ride on Sunny, our gentle gelding that Billie likes to ride. Our new baby here was born out in the pasture after a big snow-fall. This beautiful filly moves nice and will be tall. More about her later...

For Sale: Melroe, registered Haflinger Gelding

For Sale: Melroe, registered Haflinger Gelding
Scroll through blog to check him out!

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About Me

Hi! We are Jim and Billie Jean of Rocking Horse Farm. We raise and train Haflinger Horses to ride English and Western as well as pleasure drive. Contact us at jnewsted@ncats.net