Bramham out takes

On behalf of my OH (Foxfolly) thanks for all the great coments. Felix is great pleasure to work with and we feel very lucky and proud to have him on our yard.
 
Thanks so much to everyone for the lovely comments, it really means a lot to me!
I haven't been on here much as things are so manic at work... and I rarely get to sit on the computer when I get home... busy with all the horses!!

As my Hubby put it so well we are so proud to have Felix AKA Mr Darco, I did get a lot of grief on here when I took the risk and bought him but I loved the breeding and could see quality under the skinny exterior when we went to see him.

And for what its worth, regardless of the comments and for those who know the dealer I bought him from, they were completely open about everything including his old injury and have also been in touch since I bought him to see how things were going so I would recommend them to anyone!

It appears he has taken on the well reputed easy and loveable temperament of his sire Unbelievable Darco, and I also understand his grand sire Zarlequin is also very much the same. He has been so easy for us back and produce as although we have both ridden since kids we are true amateurs and he was only the 2nd horse we backed ourselves!!

Due to the fact he did have a freak accident as a 2yo and has an old injury we have taken things very carefully and slowly as we weren't sure if he would stand up to ridden work, but so far so good. He has won and been placed both SJ and dressage in few outings and we hope to start eventing 2nd half of the season. He has huge scope very evident when XC schooling recently and he was jumping 1m40 over the brush fences, I think he was worried about him manhood getting prickled!!

I absolutely adore him and am so proud of how well he behaved at the stallion parade, I wasn't brave enough to ride him myself and Gemma Tattersall did a great job riding him as she only sat on him for the first time in the warm up arena!! He was completely unfazed by all the crowd and I think he quite enjoyed being the centre of attention as every morning since he's come out of his box like he's looking for his fan club!!

here is a link to another great pic taken by someone on here..

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=374942

http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Hels2009/Bramham/DSC00376.jpg

I love this photo!!
 
jervis said:
Who is Mr darco approved with?
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He is fully licensed with Weatherby's NTR, he passed his inspection with flying colours this year.

We may present him for a stud book grading when he is more established, he was only backed 18months ago and has been produced slowly due to his previous accident (He hung himself in his stable by his back leg as a 2yo and has been left with a slightly enlarged hock) We do not feel that pushing him now will be in his best interest so we will take our time and let him mature, and once we feel he is ready and has the results behind him to back it up we will!
 
I too have a picture of Mr Darco. I remember the posts about Felix but did not realise this was the horse.

bramham_169%20%28600%20x%20399%29.jpg
 
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Foxfolly a) he is a total credit to you and you should be thrilled b) shirley must be exstatic that he has come right and c)he looks sooooo much lik dad!!!

I too will likely be in you positiion as have a young amazing stallion who injured himself last year. Uhmming and ahhing about the NTR or a regular grading next autumn as a 3 yr old!
 
eventrider23 said:
Foxfolly a) he is a total credit to you and you should be thrilled b) shirley must be exstatic that he has come right and c)he looks sooooo much lik dad!!!
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Ditto this! And is pretty much the jist of my previous post on this thread!
 
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Jervis has made 4 posts, 3 of which have been asking about approvals for stallions...it obviously concerns him a lot.
 
Well Jervis I get the impression that you know its not, so I am not sure why you need to ask?! You can put the wooden spoon away as I did make it quite clear in my post that he has not been to a stud book grading yet due to his accident and late start to ridden work which I feel is a very valid reason, as I am looking at the long term bigger picture rather than the view that as he is 6 he must have done x y z and be jumping at x height!
There are some very good stallions out there who where registered NTR in their younger years and didn't go forward for stud book grading until later on their career once they had proved their worth!

But for the benefit of those who are not aware the Weatherbys inspection is carried out by a specified equine vet who is chosen by wetherbys and the stallions undergo a full in depth examination, identical to that you would be asked to carry out prior presenting for a WBSFH stud book grading, this is to ensure the stallion in there opinion is worthy of being entire and that he has no hereditary defects. Mr Darco passed with no concerns from the vet at all!

Wetherbys issue covering certificates which can be used to register with other stud books and will mean the offspring will have recorded parentage.

I think the best way for people to decide if a stallion is suitable for their mare is to go and see it in the flesh, which is what anyone is welcome to do with our 3 boys. The stallion will sell himself if he is right and the person really can get their hands on and see what they are paying for...nothing to hide at here Foxfolly Stud!!!!
 
Very well said FF! From what I recall, it's quite a stringent veterinary examination, including a full set of xrays!

May I ask how tall Felix is please?
 
Well said FF we had the same here NTR, vetting, as I wanted to race our youngstock most customers make there own mind up, I would rather have my boys vetted by a Prof organisation like weatherbys who are friendly to deal with and are run well.
 
Not to mention TB stallions are automatically allowed to stand at stud....who regulates them? So why is it a slight to have the NTR recgonition?
 
the reason for my questions, is that I saw both stallions at Bramham, researched what little I could find about them, and couldn't find anything about their gradings or who they were graded with. i personally wouldn't use a stallion that isn't graded with a recognised society. that's a personal choice, so why should I be screamed at for asking the same question about both? is there something wrong with asking a question on here about a stallions grading/society?

why did I ask the question about weatherby's NTR? because I couldn't find them on the wbfsh website, but that isn't always up to date, so perhaps they had been added.

there was another stallion at bramham who is graded, but i can't find his grading results anywhere, not even on the owners website. but this stallion has been done to death on this forum, so i don't want to be accused of belittling or denegrating him by asking what I see as innocent, but are seen on here as provocative, questions.

in the end i chose last night to use Grafenstolz (or graften salt as i saw earlier), who seemed to exist on another planet compared to the rest of the stallions on display. his jump was way beyond any else there, his movement was of international dressage quality (as confirmed by his dressage results). his conformation is near perfect, regardless of a very small moment of naughtiness in the warm up ring, he was the best behaved in the main ring, and was the only stallion to receive a round of applause from the crowd. we were in a marquee and when we all saw him, we all ran out to watch. he was also beautifully ridden by Alex Hua Tian.

the website for him was informative, the owner very helpful, when i asked for information not available on the website the owner was forthcoming. grafenstolz was on the lorry, fully booted and ready to go, but the owner still stripped him off for me to see him standing. last night i received a list of successful youngstock, which was very impressive. the conditions of sale were spot on as was the price, in the end it was an easy choice to make

sorry that you felt my questions were so threatening
 
Was it Ginny Elliot who was quoted in H & H that only an idiot makes the same mistake twice? Pity certain users/abusers of this forum don't heed her advice. Reappearing, asking the same "innocent questions" time and time again, always with the same negative attitude. They do nothing for their own PR. They just become a bit of a joke.
 
[quote: who seemed to exist on another planet compared to the rest of the stallions on display. his jump was way beyond any else there, his movement was of international dressage quality (as confirmed by his dressage results). his conformation is near perfect, regardless of a very small moment of naughtiness in the warm up ring, he was the best behaved in the main ring, and was the only stallion to receive a round of applause from the crowd. we were in a marquee and when we all saw him, we all ran out to watch. he was also beautifully ridden by Alex Hua Tian.

Ha Ha were you at the same stallion parade?

The only reason he stood out for me were his playing up skills, as the pictures have already shown. He received no more applause than anyone else and for a stallion of his age and experience, compared to some much younger and older, I would expect a decent performance.
Anyway, I personally think that there were some very nice stallions at the parade. I was also surprised that some that I had not previously looked twice at from their pictures were much better in the flesh and quite impressive. I found it a very useful and interesting event.
 
I agree with Jervis that Graf did look absolutely stunning was very well ridden and yes for a more experienced stallion was very impressive. He does move well and he does jump a big fence well! He is very impressive and if he is what suits your mare then we are very lucky to have him in the UK to use! I was in the warm up most of the time he was and there was only one little moment of naughtiness in the warm up other than that he was very well behaved... but I am not sure you could go as far as saying better than all the others as I didn't see any of other stallions misbehave at all!! Except Revolution coming in rather vocally on 5 legs but he settled after 5 mins, in fact it may have been what set Graf off!!

But what spoils the picture for me is that his owner was stood outside the ring loudly criticising other peoples stallions, he obviously didn't realise he was stood next to myself, my husband and friend when he started slagging off Unbelievable Darco!! I just find that sort of behaviour very unprofessional. If I didn't own my own stallion I would be very put off if I went to view a stallion and the owner was do that, exactly the same as I would if I went to buy anything else!
 
As ever, a "newbie" manages to promote the same stallion time and time again...
I don't know about you, but I find it insulting that the person behind these oh-so-similar type of posts thinks we are all so stupid we can be fooled..
Every time the breeding forum gets near a point that you begin to think it's fulfilling it's purpose as an informative place for breeders to meet, the same idiot spoils it again.
As I have said in the past, anyone who feels the need to promote their stallion to this degree must either need the money or the attention..
Good stallions get mares by word of mouth and their youngstock being seen out and about, they don't need non stop promoting if they are any good..
Please go and parade your ego elsewhere...
 
What I want to know is what there is to slag off about Unbelievable Darcco.....he has MORE than proven himself competitively and has nothing to prove. The fact that he is not going out competing at International Sunchine Tour GP's is not his fault. He proved his worth as a youngster and was unfortunately plagued my colic....a hindering factor and one that should by all rights have killed him...the fact that his owner has got him back jumping the classes that he is...whether Internationally or not....is a miracle as very few horse come back from those sorts of surgeries at all.

Foxfolly I think you have done an amazing job with Felix and even if by PM I would LOVE to see some more pics of him in action nowadays....could you PM me you website address? Searched but couldn't find it. As with my young stallion, a lot of people would have written him off but time and dedication proves to pay off!!!!! Pm me please as would love to see some more pics and those of his babies and I know you cannot post them on here!
 
I have been to see many stallions in the past year and have never EVER heard one of their owners slagging off another stallion. To use this method as a marketing ploy is just sheer folly, a stallion owner should focus on their own stallion's successes and good points and not try to yell down the competition. Far better stallion owners have told me it is not for them to be commenting on other people's horses!

To be loudly denegrating Unbelieveable Darco, who has proven himself more worthy over and over both by results and by his wonderful youngstock AND who has a very knowledgeable and welcoming owner, it just sheer stupidity and shows ignorance of the results available for this particular stallion. If a stallion is good enough, there is no need to slam others.
 
Just a quick word to defend my stallion, he had 2 colic surgeries, last one 2 years ago, he is now on top form, winning at Surrey County [see pic in this weeks H&H!!!!!!!] He has won internationally and has over 30grand in winnings!
 
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