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| Nov
06 |
Paint Horse Africa was honoured to participate in the Western Cape’s first annual Sport Horse Stallion Night. The event was organized by Ms Karin Koep of Farm France stallion station, hosted by her and Dageraad Stud’s Stanley Davidoff, attended by some 160 guests. After chilled bubbly and mouth-watering hors dourves, dazzling presentations of 10 stallions were enjoyed, including the showing of gentle giant Dageraad himself, as well as Kilshane Clover – along with our two Paint boys. This was followed by a gormet dinner, ending with a superb performance by the globally acclaimed cast members of Carmen in Khayelitsha. |
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| March
06 |
“Stars”
for a Day: Our two California girls, Mona and Rene
participated in their first photo shoot for a non-horse-related
publication. They worked with a gorgeous, jean-clad model
on Noordhoek beach for an Austrian magazine. Both mares
relished in the additional attention. Despite an array
of new and exciting distractions, these four-legged Super
Models obediently responded to hand and voice commands,
much to the relief of their beautiful bareback rider.
The German photographer commented that these were “the
best horses I’ve ever worked with”. This earned
Mona and Rene a few carrots on return to their home paddocks. |
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| Dec
05 |
From Boys to Men: Pueblo and Leo graduated from colts to stallions in Dec 05. Confirmation of their readiness for commercial breeding was made by Stellenbosch-based Dr Rachel Shuttleworth. Both boys quickly developed the necessary affection for the “phantom”. Unlike teaser mares, the dummy neither moved, nipped nor kicked! Subsequent tests showed that both had excellent fertility, despite their relative youth. Though we expected to start breeding to outside mares at the start of the 2006/7 breeding season, a few services were provided in the season prior. And, yes, theirs are SPOTTED! |
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| July
05 |
Paint
Herd Meets Rona & Kevin: Friends Kevin Connolly
and Rona Crow dropped by Noordhoek one weekend morning.
Kevin had been responsible for transporting all six of
our original imported Paints into CapeTown from LA International
Airport. He also handled the arduous immigration and quarantine
requirements on our behalf. Rona endeared herself further
to The Herd, presenting them with a bag of fresh, delicious
carrots! |
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Apr
05
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Pueblo’s
First Outride: This was, in fact, Pueblo’s
first EVER ride. While he had been lunged and led while
saddled, the morning of our beach ride was his first with
a human on-board. He did not resist being bridled or mounted.
After lunging him in the paddocks without incident, ridden
by an experienced groom, he proceeded to follow the three
mares through the wetlands and down to edge of the sea.
This exceptional colt readily trotted, cantered and “whoa’d”
over the next two hours, catering to a beach-side photo
session with Horse Quarterly editor, Johann Thernon. |
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| Feb
05 |
Rene,
Su & Leo Arrive in Noordhoek: These young horses’ long overseas journey ended with their safe transport from the Quarantine Station to their new home. As they had arrived in the heat of a Southern summer, coming from the cold Northern winter, their coats had been shaved. While nervous at first, their new-found “freedom” was greeted with bucking, bolting, and plenty of loud, joyful snorts! The newbees were wary of the three encumbent Paints, who stood, enticed, at the edge of a neighbouring paddock. At the end, it was Su that initiated the effort to say “hello” to her curious, new herd members. |
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| Jan
05 |
Paint
Horse Batch #2 Touch Down: Rene, Su and Leo landed in Cape Town on 8 Jan 05, where they were transported to Milnerton Quarantine Station. We were able to get our first ogle of this younger batch of horses from the office window, as the horses were led from their stables by their grooms. Their journey had been an arduous one. After being trucked from their respective homes, they were put into a pre-quarantine area for 8wks. Thereafter, the ~36hrs that followed took them from California, to the Netherlands, Belgium, and finally South Africa. Needless to say, after a few days rest, they were FRISKY in the exercise yard, as the photos show! |
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| Aug
04 |
Maiden Paint Horses Arrive in RSA: Mona, Rae and Pueblo flew into CapeTown on 9 Aug 04 – two weeks ahead of their new owners! After the perfunctory 30-day quarantine period, they were trucked to their Noordhoek home. Having never actually seen these horses in the flesh before, their arrival was especially exciting. All were in excellent condition – lean, shiny and unblemished. Once unconstrained, they went wonderfully wild – rearing, bucking, farting, and racing around the paddocks, kicking up heals with joy. |
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| May
04 |
Paint Horse Picking. Paint Horse Africa started screening for Paint Horses in May05. After considering availability and logistical costs from various continents, it was decided to source from US breeders….all via the internet. Conformation and health were given top priority in the initial screening process, with a bias towards proven bloodlines, focused on horses 1-6yrs of age. Those with HERDA (Doc O Lena) bloodlines avoided completely; Impressive bloodlines were considered only if each parent had tested HYPP N/N (negative) and after the target horse was separately confirmed as HYPP N/N by UC Davies Labs. The primary search was also limited to horses with potential to reach 15h to 16h+. Colour and pattern genetics were only overlayed in the final screening process. After assessing literally dozens of websites and references, hundreds of candidates and thousands of photos, across North America, three were initially chosen: Pueblo (Utah), Mona (California) and Rae (Nevada) for the first round of import in Aug04. The second batch was brought into South Africa in Jan05: Leo (Texas), Su (Iowa) and Rene (California). |
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