June 30, 2008
 

Fabian's first foal bred and born in Nevada

Fabian's first Nevada born and bred foal out of Heather Shae FA, a grey Arabian mare owned by Laurie Bonner. Solid black with one white foot, his "mom" very pleased with his sweetness and interest in people. Yeah Fabian!

We're Moving!

We are very excited to report that we are relocating "Fuzzy Butt Farm" to a lovely four acre property in Fernley, Nevada. It is 25 miles west of Fallon, and will put both of us (Bob and I) one half hour closer to our jobs in Reno. We will continue using the same veterinary clinic, and will be setting up our horse facilities from the ground up, as there is only a home on the property right now. We will be setting up pipe pens for the horses, and we have lots of trees for natural shade. The property is water-righted, and we hope to establish some pastures. This will put a short crimp in Fabian's show schedule, as I can't figure out how to move AND attend horse shows on the week-ends! We will be out of town on Memorial Day weekend, other wise we will be breeding and collecting as needed by our mare owners. I will post our new phone number and e-mail as soon as I have them: my cell phone will continue with the same number and that is 775-750-7952. See you at the shows in June!

Just FYI

I recently got Fabian checked by UC Davis and he is homozygous black (EE).  He is also double recessive for the "Agouti" gene (aa). This means he will not have chestnut or sorrel foals, no matter what the color of the dam. Depending on the dam's genotype, his foals will be black, bay or brown as their basic color, which can be modified by other genes that may be expressed. For an interesting site on coat color inheritance, or to see what color a foal might be if you bred YOUR mare to Fabian, go to  www.animalgenetics.us/CCalculator1.asp.

November, 2007-Fabian’s low stud fee

I have had people inquire as to why Fabian’s stud fee is so low, compared to other Friesian stallions available. It is for one reason: I want to get foals on the ground! Fabian produced two foals ( that I know of ) prior to my ownership, and I  have no current information on them. I  am  trying to sell a product- a foal that  has  a good portion of  his  temperament ,  his gaits, and his conformation, and to do that successfully I need to be able to SHOW people what he can produce.  There are many Friesian stallions available these days, but I want not only beauty and brains, but  PERFORMANCE. That is why Fabian is being trained and shown, not just cavorting about his field being beautiful!  (Besides, I love to train and show, and he is a blast to ride!) Part of performance for a stallion is in what he can produce.  I think one can see from his pictures that he is a quality representative of the Friesian breed. I want babies on the ground so I can show people that,  IN ADDITION to his excellent temperament, trainability, and beautiful appearance, he can reproduce those qualities as well!

September, 2007 Friesian Keuring

I took Fabian to be inspected by the Dutch registry judges at the Santa Rosa inspection. They were not at ALL impressed by him. I only got three comments: He is unlevel over his croup, he is lacking refinement in the back legs, and he has an injury. Actually, he did have a healing injury beginning to scar on his right hind leg, which in no way impacted his movement. So, he is not what they are looking for to improve the Friesian breed at this time. ( I’m still trying to figure out what “unlevel over the croup means”! ) The other stallions there were all very beautiful, all very much more refined than Fabian, and smaller. He may have been the “largest” stallion there, in terms of height and bone. I did learn exactly where one is supposed to “stick” a Friesian’s height- it can be confusing because of their upright neck position. That is why his height is now indicated at 16.2…I finally learned the proper place to measure him!

Starr Vaughn Equestrian Show
May 18 and 19

Fabian   and I ventured  up to First Level this show, since he was scoring so well at Training level and his work at home indicated to me he was ready. Boy was he! Competing  against warmbloods in open
competition he scored from 62.7 to 68% at First Level Tests 1 and 2. We garnered one first, one second and two thirds. What a guy! He is consistently getting 7's on gaits and 8's on his halts. With summer temperatures fast approaching we may back off showing a bit until fall and just work at home to get stronger. I have purchased a cart and harness and he is also going to be learning a new skill this summer-
driving!

To check out some great pictures of Fabian doing his tests, log onto Mobiledigitalpics.com, click on the horse banner, then click on Equestrian, then on Starr Vaughn Dressage, 5-18 and 5-19-07.
 

Cloverleaf Equestrian Center CDS
April 28-29

 Fabian did it again this weekend at Cloverleaf, topping his scores from the last show. Under judge Fran Dearing,  his Saturday scores were 69.2% at T-3, and 64% at T-4. Sunday was very warm, but blustery with wind, but Fabian was "unfazed", with a 67.6% at T-3, and a fantastic 70.4% at T-4. Worthy of mention is the fact that the top two placings in both these classes on both days were won by Friesians, Fabian, and Enno, a gelding owned by Avalon Friesians in Reno. Go Friesians !

  Our next outing will be at Starr Vaughn Equestrian in Elk Grove, Ca the weekend of May 19th and 20th. If you are in attendance, please feel free to  come and say "Hi" and meet Fabian in "person". I love to show him off and meet fellow Friesians fans!

Fabian  started the 2007 show season with  a tremendous first show at the Golden State Dressage Festival at Rancho Murieta, California April 5th through the 8th. Showing at Training Level Three and Four, his low score was a 64.4% and his high score was a 68%! Somehow he managed to get the exact same score on both his tests Saturday from judge Brent Hicks- a 65.2%. His behavior, as usual was impeccable, with only the occasional whinny to  horses calling across the grounds. This was a huge show, with about 300 horses, and riders from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada! As we show in the Open classes, we were lucky to take two fifth place ribbons  in these classes where the top three scores are generally in the 70's. We will continue to work to improve his basic gaits and impulsion at Training Level. Watch for updates monthly on his progress at  the Dressage shows!