Busy, busy, busy!

I know I already posted today, but I had to run over and share some of SOM's newest arrivals! **Warning, this is a winded one! feel free to skim through OR just skip to the good parts.. Aka the links, hehe**

One of our fellow Oldenburg breeders and friends, Hannibal Faust from Faust Equestrian Center, gave us sad new today. Unfortunately they are selling the ranch and getting out of the business for a while. Their program was unrivaled and I, as well as many others I'm sure, looked up to them in aspiration. 

They sent one of their former hands over with a hand written letter. The gist of letter read that they were closing things down, and offering their horses up for sale. I was then handed a list of horses with paperwork on each. A few of us in the Oldenburg community were given the opportunity to purchase from Faust a few of their horses before they were listed publicly. 

Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to buy horses bred from such a respectable and reputable operation. I quickly requested three mares, Chronos Priestess, Let It Burn and Her Wicked Wish. I've admired all three before, both at the show grounds and on frequent stalkin---... I mean, "visits" to Faust's ranch. 

I know the list was sent out to others, ShannonHM, being one. So I held off on the rest, wanting to give other quality ranch owners the chance to own a few. At the end of the day I stopped by Faust Equestrian Center to take one last peek at the horses that were left and pick up my three new girls. To my surprise, the sweet old boy Sure Taboo was still there, hanging his head out of his stall and slowly blinking his eyes. One of the hands informed me that he had not been claimed just yet, so I chose to take him home with me along with my new ladies.

As I made my way around the property, I noticed several more mares and fillies that might work well for my program. I didn't want to miss my opportunity to own some of these lovely girls, so I picked up two more mares, Atheist and A Flame Most Rebellious as well as three younger fillies, Hours Of Fortune, A Flame So Sweet and Red Religion.

It's been a long day of loading, unloading and hauling but our 10... YES. 10 new horses have arrived at the ranch safe and sound and are comfortably snoozing in their paddocks for the night. 

On another note, upon my return I peeked in on my one confirmed pregnant mare of the season to see that she had already foaled! A beautiful Egyptian Arabian filly, The Rebel Path. Unfortunately with all of the chaos of today, I missed the birth of this lovely girl. But I have a feeling the excitement with this one won't be her arrival to the world, but what she has in store for the world now that she's here! 

*takes a deep breath* What a day. I am happy to have such lovely new horses, but right now I'm happier to be home, ready to cuddle up with my dog in bed and snooze! Night all!

More pictures, you say??

Well okay then! In light of my new joy and excitement over my newest BCh Wurttemberg boy, I thought I'd treat you all to a few more pictures of the ranch. Here you'll see some snap shots of both properties where our broodmare bands reside and our stallion bachelor barn.

Take a look! 

Broodmare barns-

Stallion barn-

Yeah!

I'm thrilled to announce that SOM has it's first homebred Beginner Champion Wurttemberg, Vielseitig aka "Clash"! Not only was this boy one of my first homebred Wurtts, he has made his way through the Beginner bracket and earned himself a title at 7 years old! I think it's a great accomplishment for my program and I'm very proud of him!

Results are in!

I've been stuck at work all day and unable to check in on the ranch for more than a few minutes... Fortunately my head trainer, Ben, sent me an e-mail of today's show results just in time to lift my spirits after a cold, wet day spent cleaning dog poop and trying to stay out of the rain! What a guy! 

One of my favorite up-and-coming Oldenburg colts, Dance The World, is really proving to be a fierce competitor. He placed first in both his AM classes and took home HPE with scores of 75.0 in Hunter O/F and 76.8 in In-Hand! He also placed first in his PM Hunter class with a score of 79.1 which brought him home with yet another HPE win. It's really no wonder this handsome bay colt is working his way into my heart. He now has 8 beginner points and 1 major under his belt.

And lets not forget about the Oldenburg filly Sweet Tomatoes, who won her PM In-Hand class with a score of 74.4. She is trailing behind our little Dancer. 

There was some tough competition in the AM Intermediate bracket today! Despite the impressive lot of horses entered, our handsome Egyptian Arabian boy Idolized was able to take the first place ribbon in In-Hand with a score of 73.6. This win also earned him another 2 point major, only 2 more to go!

I expected better from our shinning star Arabian mare Panoramic Vision during the morning show, but she made a rockin' comeback this afternoon! Although her score in Hunter O/F was a less than impressive 66.5, it still earned her a blue ribbon against 7 other horses and her second 2 point major! She stole the show in her In-Hand class, placing first with a 76.0 earning her HPE.

And what of the Wurttembergs, you say? They made it to the show grounds this morning too! Our oldest boy Vielseitig placed first in Rare In-Hand with a 65.6. He is only 1 point away from becoming my first homebred Beginner Champion Wurtt! And the blue went to Deutlich for the Rare Dressage class. He has slowly been climbing up the ladder steadily earning points.

SOOO... All in all, it was a wonderful day for the SOM Stables show team! We are always proud of our horses and staff no matter what the results, but everybody loves to take home those pretty blue ribbons!

SOM Training Stables

So, I said I would stick with this, and just to prove it to you (you being whoever happens upon this blog and is bored enough to give in and read it), here is my first OFFICIAL post!

Today I had one of my long time friends and wonderfully talented photographers, Gale, head down to the main training stables to snap a few pictures of the property. I thought it would be fun to offer you all a mini virtual tour of my favorite part of SOM.

SOM's training barn is a concrete hurricane proof barn boasting a large hay/feed room, adequately sized tack room, wash stall with hot/cold water, full bath with shower and washer/dryer, 6 14x14' stalls with attached paddocks and 2 over sized foaling stalls with attached paddocks. The property also includes 5 grass paddocks, a sand training arena, a 60' round corral, an outdoor wash stall and miles of trails along the perimeter. Basically, everything a top quality training facility should require!

But... How boring is it listening to me blandly describe the place? Wouldn't you much rather see it first hand? Hmm.. I thought so. So here ya go! A first time look at part of SOM Stables!

Welcome!

Yay! Secret Of Mana Stables has finally jumped on the band wagon & opened up our very own blog. I so excited! :D

Here you can keep up with SOM show results and news, journey with our horses as they progress in training, learn about the inner workings of the ranch, take a virtual tour, meet the horses & staff and follow the general goings on of SOM Stables! 

I'll try to keep the blog as active as possible, but bear with me if progress slows! Real life is a fickle fella and often takes precious E-R and Blogging time away from me. *sad face* 

Here's to hoping I can stick with this thing! Happy blogging!