Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

DECEMBER 2010

www.ebonyparkstud.com.au

Interview with Loes van der Leest - Ebony Park’s new young horse rider from HollandNews from Holland - in English!Tash’s Friesian training tip - the 7 keys to ridingPictures of all the stallions - including Zeus of Ebony Park!

EBONY PARK CHRISTMAS GIFT JUST FOR YOU -

INSIDE NOW!

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

DIAMOND SUCCESS CLUB

RIDING PROGRAMS

Natasha has also developed a riding program to assist riders with getting the basics right, getting their head and body

where it needs to be, competition advice and training

all the way to the elementary movements of two track work, counter canter and turn on the

haunches.

If this sounds like something you need email

info@yourridingsuccess.com

with the subject “Is It Right For Me?” and Natasha will respond

personally to your situation if the program would assist you in

getting the results you want.

Natasha is about to launch her Diamond Success Club on

Friday!!!!

This club is for anyone who is looking to get more support and motivation with their riding and wants an inside look into how

Natasha trains and thinks.

Email info@yourridingsuccess.com

with the subject “Sounds Good” and Natasha will send you a personal invitation when the program is ready to launch.

HAVE YOU VISITED www.yourridingsuccess.com

YET?!?!?Everyone is raving about Natasha’s book “How to achieve lasting riding success”

After reading it you will:

• Be able to define what success is to you

• Know the THREE keys that are present in EVERY successful rider and how you need to have what they have if you want the same results.

• Have done your riding goals and developed your own commitment and action plan for success

Here is what some superstars had to say about the book:

“I have read the e-book and I found it really inspiring and helpful.” ~ Rebecca

“It’s awesome!” ~ Chantelle

So go to www.yourridingsuccess.com now and fill in your details on the right hand side. You will then be sent the link to the e-book in PDF and audio format immediately! Enjoy :)

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

From the EditorWelcome to the first issue of The Friesian Magazine.

We are very excited about releasing our f i r s t i ssue o f t h i s magazine just in time for Christmas!

What a busy year it has been - between breeding, competitions and breaking in new horses, we have had our hands very full!

This month we introduce our newest member on the team, Loes - she is from Holland, the country Friesians are native to, and therefore is very at home with the Friesians!

After another season of foaling, I talk about joint ill and it’s symptoms and treatments.

We are very excited to bring you news and results in the Friesian home of Holland - translated from Dutch by Loes!

Natasha cooks up one of her special offers for owning your dream horse from Ebony Park in the spirit of the festive season, and launches her new online coaching program. Looking forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts!

All in all it has been a wonderful and eventful year!

Have a very Merry Christmas, and a safe New Year,

Kate Langdon

IN THIS ISSUE

• PAGE 4: NEWS FROM HOLLAND

• PAGE 5: TASH’S TRAINING TIP

• PAGE 6-7: KATE’S FRIESIAN TIP - JOINT ILL

• PAGE 8 - NOTE FROM TASH AND 2011 DATES

• PAGE 9 - YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT

• PAGE 10 - PHOTO GALLERY

• PAGE 11 - 5 MINUTES WITH LOES

• PAGE 12 - CONTACT INFORMATION

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

JASPER 366

We thought i would be interesting to give you some results from the Dutch Keuring’s for horses that are related to our stallions!

These mares were upgraded to Ster 1st Premie status in Aug/Sept

Weja Kula: Sire Teunis 332 (Elko’s sire)

Mirre Best: Sire Jasper 366 (Jorrit’s sire), Dam’s sire Teunis 332

Xandra: Dam’s sire Teunis

Stallions upgraded to Ster status:

Winsome: Sire Anne 340 (Abe’s sire)

Thewis: Sire Jasper 366 (Jorrit’s sire)

Wibald: Dam’s Sire Teunis 332 (Elko’s sire)

NEWS FROM HOLLANDThe annual KFPS Stallion Inspection will take place in 2011 in the WTC Expo in Leeuwarden on January 6, 7 and 8. Last year, thousands of visitors enjoyed the dozens of Friesian stallions presented during this event - sounds very exciting! The program starts on Thursday with the young stallions undergoing their second round of judging - this is a very prestigious event, with around 8,000 young stallions starting in the event, and only 3 making it all the way through to the end. The best of them will be presented again on Friday afternoon. Many clinics will be offered on Friday morning, and most of the clinics will be given not only in Dutch but also in English so that our foreign members can follow along - so if you happen to be in the area you should go and have a look! :) Friday evening is once again reserved for entertainment starring our Friesian horses. This year, you can enjoy several shows like a sjees, an indoor marathon, wagon as well as a show driving; also included in the program will be the parade of champions and a dressage routine choreographed to music. Wow!! wish I was in Holland for this event, it sounds amazing!

Saturday is when the approved KFPS studbook stallions are presented to both the jury and spectators. You can then become acquainted with the newest crop of stallions: seven stallions have been approved with excellent ratings this year in the Netherlands. But you will also be seeing the older stallions in the judging ring. Big names, former champions of the stallion inspection – they can always count on a warm welcome from the audience, and the real show-offs are sure to respond with extra enthusiasm to the thundering applause.

The KFPS Central Inspection was held in late October, and promised to provide a good look at the crème de la crème of the studbookʼs mares. Despite current trends, a record number of horses have been registered for this Central Inspection – a sign not only that the quality of the breed is on the rise but also that the breedersʼ enthusiasm to compare each otherʼs best mares is as boundless as ever. More than 300 horses participated in this two day event. Of all of the horses being presented, the leading sires are Beart 411 with 24 offspring and Onne 376 with 21. Doatsen 420 and Tsjalke 397 sired 11 apiece.

KEURING RESULTS

DOB: 20/05/1995Height: 158cm

Jasper is the sire of our youngest stallion Jorrit, and currently has 4

approved offspring.He has gorgeous movement and is one of the few Friesians that has reached Grand Prix in dressage

photo courtesy of US Friesian Referral

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

I have had a blast training our new rider from Holland Loes. She is taking over the ride on my stallion Jorrit as well as starting my 3 year old colt Zeus (by Elko). When training her I repeated the 7 things I am always thinking about when I ride. And hey, I love to share so I would love to share them with you :)

1. Inside leg, outside rein

If I have this, I have the horse. When my horse is soft and through I have him through my inside leg and my outside rein. Put simply inside leg asks the inside of the horse to bend, inside rein is only needed to back up the inside leg. Outside rein gives my horse the framework to soften into and how I establish a connection with him and administer my 1/2 halts. My outside leg only comes on if the horse swings his hind legs out.

2. Do the opposite

Do the opposite is if the horse wants to go fast, make him go slow, if the horse wants to go slow, make him go quick. If the horse wants to put his shoulders right, put his shoulders left and if he wants to swing his haunches

out make him go with his haunches in.

3. Transitions

These should be easy and effortless with your back moving with the horses back. Easy to say, challenging to do, as both you and your horse like to fall into old habits and relax about it. I am always riding for an 11 with every transition and if I don’t get it, I do it three times more.

4. Off a light leg

A dressage horse has to move off a light leg. It looks ugly if the rider needs to kick and force the movement. Again easy to say, harder to do with some horses.

5. React to a soft hand

The horse must feel the rein and react not push down on it and run through it.

6. The horse must go alone

This was said by Michael Klimke when he came down to Australia and I have never forgotten it! So I constantly stop riding, take my legs off and if the horse halts, I know he is not going alone. Krya Kurkland also says the horse should stay in half pass forever until you say stop or tell the horse to do something else.

7. Does it look good?

This is the most important thing. Top trainers say use your eyes if it looks beautiful it is right. If it looks awful it is not right.

Now have the 'secret' to dressage! Always so easy in principle, but a

TTT - Tash’s Training Tip

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

Joint ill is the common term for a joint infection caused by a variety of bacteria, in the foal

(also known as septic arthritis). The infection often spreads to

the bones surrounding the joints, and the foal is generally shows other symptoms such as diarrhoea, high temperatures, pneumonia, septicaemia etc.

Joint ill is most commonly seen in very young foals less than a week old (but can affect foals up to 4 months of age), and is

usually caused by bacteria which spread through the blood

stream. The reason why the joints are affected from bacteria in the bloodstream is due to a number of reasons, the first being that foals have more fragile immune systems, as

their initial immunity is derived solely from their mothers first

milk (called colostrum). Another

reason is that there is a huge amount of blood flow to the

bones, as they are growing so rapidly in a young foal – the bacteria may lodge in the

growth plates or the bones, as well as the joint, and the

infection will spread from there.

Joint ill is the most common cause of lameness in foals, so it

is wise to treat any lameness, especially in very young foals, as suspicious. Typically, the infected joint will swell up, be painful for

the foal, and feel hot to touch. A day or so later, the foal will become lame (to

varying degrees), but this is not always the case. The more commonly affected

joints are the stifles, hocks and knees.

A vet who suspects joint ill will take a sample of fluid from the joint, as well as

blood from the foal. White blood cell counts will be

increased generally in both blood and joint fluid, which

indicate an infection.

X-rays may also be taken, to make sure the problem is not a bone fracture, and to monitor

the spread of infection from the joint to the bone.

As soon as joint ill is suspected, the vet will start your foal on a course of antibiotics, and once samples of blood and joint fluid have been taken and examined,

the antibiotics can be tailored to target the specific type of

bacteria causing the infection. Foals will generally be kept on antibiotics for around 3 weeks

after the swelling and lameness has gone down, just to make

sure the infection is completely gone.

Affected joints need to be treated quickly and aggressively

to achieve the best possible outcome. This is due to the swelling in the joint causing irreparable damage to the

cartilage and possible serious damage to the growing joint.

Generally the vet will lavage the joints that are affected – this

means using a needle to pump and wash sterile fluid through

the joint, to flush all of the things (such as inflammatory

cells, bacteria etc) that we don’t want, out of the joint, and to relieve some of the swelling.

Many foals who have joint ill are also systemically unwell – they

may have diarrhoea, an umbilical infection, or a number

of other problems, which all need to be treated accordingly – basically this is just common sense – keep a really close eye

on your sick foal, and make sure the bet is called if you

have any concerns!

The foal will also need to be keep fairly confined for a period

of time – in a stable or small yard, to prevent excessive

weight bearing on the joints –

Kate’s Friesian Tip - JOINT ILL

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

< Something that people often overlook is the effect antibiotics

have on the rest of the foal – especially the normal gut

bacteria in the foal. Due to the antibiotics killing off all of this

normal gut flora, and the stress the foal is probably going to be under, the foal may develop gut

ulcers – this is painful for the foal, and will cause the foal to

possibly go off its milk. Preventative treatment is

probably a good idea!!

There are a number of management strategies that you can put in place that will

ensure that you have the best chance of preventing joint ill

happening in the first place (it will not eliminate the risk, but

will certainly reduce it!). These include ensuring that your foal

is suckling within an hour of birth, and that your mare has adequate colostrum, that your

mare is vaccinated appropriately and has had time

to build up antibodies to her local environment; disinfecting

the umbilicus of the foal at birth, ensuring there is a clean

environment for the mare to foal – it is important to rest and

rotate paddocks and yards used for foaling, as well and ensuring that they are not overcrowded

(overstocking increases environmental contamination).

The earlier the disease is detected, the better the

outcome.

Here at Ebony Park, we recently had one of our

purebred foals go quite lame – we called the vet straight away, as we were concerned it was joint ill. Luckily for us, and for

the foal, this wasn’t the case – it was a kick from one of the other horses – but how do you tell the

difference between joint ill or not?

There were a number of reasons why we didn’t need to panic – the first was that the

foal was already 3 weeks old, and getting old enough that a joint ill was not going to be a

common problem (but it can still affect foals up to 4 months of age, so it was not ruled out).

The second reason was that the foal had no swelling or heat in the joints, and no

other secondary signs that indicated that it was sick,

such as diarrhoea, depression, lack or nursing etc. She was also in a clean environment, had no signs of

navel infection, and had adequate colostrum intake in

her first 12 hours – all indications that she had the

best chance possible of remaining healthy!

We like to keep our mares and foals in together a day or so after the mare have foaled

– there are a number of positives and negatives that

you can argue for this practice, the main negative

being what we have seen here

– that the foal was kicked, probably by another mare or an

older foal that it was playing with. However, we firmly believe that the social interaction with the other mares and foals is

very important, especially when our horses are young, and we like to let them be horses as

much as possible before they are broken in – we find that this gives them better manners and makes them able to be put in with other horses without too much fuss later in life, as they

know how to behave and interact with other horses.

Kate’s Friesian Tip - JOINT ILL

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

Note from TashHi Fabulous Superstars!

What a year! I don't know about you but this year has flown!!!!!!! Looking back this year personally has been one of tremendous growth, learning and excitement as I love ever closer to my long term goals and desires for the future.

Last month I had Equitana with Abe and what an amazing learning opportunity that was! My usual calm cool as a cucumber rock, decided he was a rockstar and wanted to show the crowd his 'real' moves aka very extended canter, pigroot and other interesting movements whist lovely didn't please the judges all that much! Thanks to Abe I have to grow again as a rider and a trainer and get better! I really believe our horse is our mirror and to demand excellence from our horse we first must demand it from ourselves. Since mid 2009 my focus has been split and I have gone through a lot in my personal life. This means for the first time the horses did take a back seat. I didn't mean for it to happen but as my very wise mother always says "you can't serve two masters" and I did try. I think I tried to serve about 4!!! And then wondered why I wasn't getting the results in any of them that I wanted! So for me 2011 is my year to get back on track with my riding and training. How about you? What are you focused on as 2010 ends and 2011 begins?

This month we have the Victorian Championships which I am very excited about! I have been doing some different things and look forward to the feedback from the judges! We also have our last foal for the season due out of my star mare Gjanna which I can't wait to see!!!!! Loes and I also need to start getting focused on the Keuring in April 2011, and the Friesian Gala which the stallions and the mares will be involved in.

Christmas is our happiest month here at Ebony Park and this year I have issued a challenge to Kate and I ... hey what can I say I thrive on challenge!!! So. What I I would love you to do is pick up the phone right now and call us! You see the challenge I have set is Kate and I have to answer the phone in the Christmas Spirit ... what does that mean? Well I'll let you call yourself and find out! But seriously I would love to get a call so I can personally wish you Merry Christmas!

To your joy happiness and Christmas success,

Natasha Althoff

DIARYDATES

FRI 10 DEC - SUN 12 DEC

VIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

FRI 24 DEC 12PM - YOUR

CHRISTMAS GIFT

ENDS

SAT 25 DEC - CHRISTMAS!

2011 DATES

SAT 1 JAN - NEW YEARS DAY

FRI 1 APRIL - FRIESIAN GALA

FRI 1 & SAT 2 APRIL - KEURING

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

Here at Ebony Park we are all getting ready for Christmas!

What I love about Christmas is the giving! So in the spirit of Christmas I have thought long and hard about what I can give you special guys as my way of saying thank you for all the love and support this year.

So I have decided to offer an unprecedented 25% off ANY horse at Ebony Park. This goes for the riding horses, the young horses, purebreds and partbreds.

Looking at the horses we have here, what I would love more than anything is to have them placed in their own special home. Being pure or part Friesian all my horses want to be loved and thought of as number one.

Being a stud they don't get the hugs and attention each individual would love to have. So my mission is to find the right owner for each one of my horses so they can give back to their owner and be a great dream horse for them!

For some of you I know you have contacted me about perhaps being the lucky owner of one of these horses. But at the time for whatever reason it wasn't the right time. I'm wondering if now is the right time? So if perhaps now is the time, we are having our own 24 days to Christmas sale. So from today until Friday 24th December 12pm you can purchase any Ebony Park horse and receive 25% off the purchase price!

You can go to our website to see what horses we have but a full Christmas Sale Catalogue will be sent to you Friday so you can make a choice. We can't wait to have a chat to you to see if one of our horses is right for you!

Know this offer is only to FRIENDS of Ebony Park. So no one else gets this offer. When you ring us to have a chat about one of our horses we will ask you if you have the special offer password. That password is ... MISTLETOE.

P.S. - Of course we have our Ebony Park payment plans on any of our horses you wish to own.P.P.S. - Don't forget to say the word 'Mistletoe' so we know you are a friend of ours!!! :)

YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT!

25% OFF!!!

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

PHOTO GALLERY

Loes riding Zeus for the first time!

Elko and the team in the Christmas spirit

Kate and Natasha

Tash at Equitana with Abe

Tash at Equitana with Abe at the ribbon presentationsKate and Tash having some fun!

Elko trying out for a position on Santa’s sleigh

Natasha and Jorrit

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

STATSFavourite Food: spaghetti

Favourite Colour: yellow (only because black isn’t really a colour!)

Height: 163cm

DOB: 16/07/1987

Favourite Movie: Crossroads

Place of Birth: Leeuwaeden, Holland

FACTS ABOUT LOES Loes came to Ebony Park as she wanted to see how Friesians go in other places and have a look at how popular they are here in Australia as compared to their native Holland. She was keen to ride the horses - young greener horses like Paris and Anika, as well as more educated purebreds such as Jorrit, and bring her dressage riding to a higher level, learning the higher movements though Natasha’s coaching, and to see a bit of Australia of course!

Below: Loes riding our 3yo Friesian colt, Zeus (by Elko)

5 Minutes with LOES

1. How long have you been working with Friesians?

Before I rode friesians I had my own horses – I got my first horse when I was 7, a black pony that we used to call my little friesian (I still have him - I give carriage and riding lessons on

him, and he is now 19 years old!).When I was at school (a horse course) I had to have a horse to ride, and there was a lady who had a friesian mare that had fallen off and couldn’t ride anymore, so I was able to finish my school on that horse – I was 16 when I started riding Friesian horses. I started to compete with this mare in dressage (her sire was Sjaard, the same sire as Jolanda).While I was at school I went to a friesian stud to do practical training. I also went California for 3 months to do some practical training at a Friesian stud (this is where I learnt English).

After school I started to work at the same friesian barn where I did my practical training. I broke in the Friesian horses, and rode them for customers who came to look at the horses for purchase. So I am confident with young horses, and breaking them in, and I have come here to learn dressage at a higher level!

2. What do you love about Friesians?Their character - I love that they are so quiet but they still have personality, and I like that they are black with long manes and feathers on their feet I also love their movement and that they are so distinctive and different.

3. Who is your favourite Friesian here at Ebony Park?This is a difficult question!! I would have to say Jorrit, because I get to ride him! But they are all beautiful! :)

4. What is different about training Friesians compared to other horses?When you are training a Warmblood, when they are playing up they tend to go for longer - eg. bucking they will just keep going until they get you off, and they tend to do more stupid things for longer. Whereas the Friesians tend to get tired more easily and quieten down more quickly - they wont buck for as long when they are trying to do silly things. They tend to get habituated to what you are trying to do to them earlier, and don’t tend to freak out as much - they trust more quickly.

5. Do you prefer mares, stallions or geldings to ride?

I like all of them – however the stallions are more showy and proud, and I like this the most!

Ebony Park Friesian Magazine

The only stud in Australasia with TWO Ster foalbook stallions with current KFPS breeding permits. Our third stallion, Ebony Park

Abe, was awarded the Sports Predicate for excellence in dressage, and is Australasia’s highest graded Friesian stallion

winning at the Inter II level.

To claim your free Breeding Gift Pack, including the Ebony Park Stallion DVD and your 7 Step Breeding Guide valued at $47, please email us at

info@ebonyparkstud.com.au or visitwww.ebonyparkstud.com.au

As always we would like to thank our sponsors and wish them a Merry Christmas:

BREEDING SEASON 2010

CONTACT USIf you would like to have a chat with us dial 03 9796 8690 or 0422 227 364 (remember you simply have to call this month to hear what welcome we will use, and to allow us to personally wish you a Merry Christmas).

Ebony Park is located in Narre Warren in Victoria, one hour's drive from the Melbourne Airport.If you share the love of the Friesian horse and would like to see the stallions or the youngstock, please contact us and make an appointment. We can also assist you with locating your new Friesian or with training.

Visit Us: 611 Belgrave-Hallam Road, Narre Warren East VIC 3804

Website: www.ebonyparkstud.com.au

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