September 2011
Many of our week-ends are now spent at endurance rides and we are having a wonderful time. Lovely bush settings to camp in, good friends, horses close by, campfires at night: what’s to dislike? Our main aim has been to get as many of our horses as possible to open status, so that we could pick and choose our rides and have the greatest diversity. It has also been interesting to see our horses grow as endurance horses. For many years now we have had to sell on horses we bred, just as they were getting interesting, as our busy farming life did not allow us time to take them on ourselves. Now Ken spends many hours each week in the saddle, on the excellent steep hilly country around where we live.
Our top horse currently is the Purebred gelding CAMEO MAZQUERADE. He is 6 years of age, by Cedardell Zanzibar from the lovely Morocco mare Wellworth Dreamtime. We started him off slowly and he has now completed 7 x 80 km Rides and a 100 km at Terrific Tenterfield. Ken handed him over to a lighter rider, Billie Barron, who also partnered him to his best placing so far, 4th in the FEI 8O km 1* at Toorbul Endurance Festival in May. He is just about to do his first 160 km at the Queensland Endurance Championships at Jericho, and will be ridden by young international rider Angela Hawks. “Maxie” has never vetted out and loves to be in front of the field! He has a beautiful older full-sister CAMEO SWEET DREAMZ who is just “hanging out” with the riding horses at present.
Ken has also been riding the very beautiful mare CAMEO GRAZIELLA, another Zanzibar, from the Royalund Sparkling Silver mare Cameo Moonsylph. This family descends from the Silver Moonlight* mare Electra Moon, and is littered with endurance stars, including CAMEO MOONLIGHTING [UAE], CAMEO ZAIRE [UAE], CAMEO ZAMBESI MOON, CAMEO ROZE RED, etc. “Gratzie” is currently being partnered by Angela Hawks. Graziella’s younger full-brother CAMEO WARPAINT [“the Milky Bar Kid”] is just being ridden out on the roads now and should do his first 40 km training ride before the end of the year. Our local endurance club holds monthly social rides which are wonderful for getting young horses out and about in company. The yummy morning teas and lunches which accompany them are extra incentive too!
A firm family favourite and a “keeper” is the chestnut Zanzibar mare CAMEO FAVORITA [“Fezzie] one of those brave souls that would walk up walls for her people. She has certainly plunged into thick lantana bushes next door even when she knew recalcitrant wild bullocks were hiding in there! Being Fezzie, perhaps even BECAUSE she knew wild bullocks were in there! She is from the family of the Silwan* mare Tropic Fiona and has several younger full-sisters, including the super bay, CAMEO DEZTINEE. Ken has mainly partnered Fez in her Rides, and she is just one 80 km away from open status. So also is Catherine’s fairytale white gelding CAMEO BUCEPHALUS by Hallelujah from our favourite Zanzibar mare Cameo Louizianna. Although initially convinced he was far too ethereal for manual labour, “Bucky” has redeemed himself with some excellent efforts including the mini-marathon at Imbil at Easter-time, carrying heavyweight Ken.
Several young horses have joined the ridden ranks this year, including CAMEO KINGFISHER the eldest son of Royalund Sparkling Silver and the Windy mare Cameo Ophelia [“Candy”]. He goes off now to young endurance rider Wade Burgess to begin his endurance career. Catherine and Coralie own a classic white Pure Crabbet gelding SILVERSMITH [Royalund Sparkling Silver/Cameo Silver Sky], who was broken-in this year and is going really well. Such a sensible boy, he can look forward to many happy years as a real family horse. CAMEO RHODEZIA [aka “Desmond the Wonderhorse”] and his partner in crime CAMEO PYGMALION [aka “Rocky”], Purebred 5YO geldings, are also hovering around the riding horse encampment, having been broken-in this year. The first Anglo offspring of our Anglo stallion Cameo Prospero will be making his debut in 2012. He is CAMEO PUCCINI from Cameo Tosca. We haven’t measured him yet but Ken thinks he is about 15.3 hands tall and well up to his weight. We hope he will be Ken’s special horse.
And I can’t forget NIAMH, the chestnut daughter of our Windy mare Charmarian Nikita [full-sister to the beautiful show colt Charmarian Raisuli]. Niamh has several well-known half-brothers, including SHARDELL SHANTARNAH GOLDEN who won the 2009 Queensland Championships, was sold to the UAE, and this year has won several 120 KM Rides over there. Niamh did her first 40 km at Wunderful Widgee this year, and never took a backward step. She is one tough girl!
We have been to 8 endurance rides so far this year and intend to compete at a further 4. We had just one foal for 2010, and that was a grey Pure Crabbet filly CAMEO SILVER SPARROW by Royalund Sparkling Silver from Adorable Dancer. Dancer has gone off to Limbri near Tamworth to live with Lise Hunt and her family. Around mid-year we were able to help friends Jenna and Mark McGilvery of Maclagan to acquire a magnificent bay Pure Crabbet stallion BOOMORI TRIBUTE, bred by Dawn Suter of Port Lincoln in South Australia. He is such a valuable asset to Crabbet breeding in Queensland.
Our stallions are no longer at public stud. They [and we!] are getting too old to be bothered with visiting mares now, and have far too many of our own to manage. We have happily taken visiting mares for over 30 years, so we have done our bit for the breed. Zanzibar has been with us for 26 of those 30 years, and in the current book “The Arabian Horse in Australia and New Zealand” he is 7th in the Contemporary Sires Listing, right up there with all those fancy imported stallions!
2010
It was another dry year here in the Sunshine State but once again our mares did us proud with their beautiful babies. This will probably be our last big foaling for forever, as we do everything ourselves, and we want to always have the time to handle and break-in all our young horses properly ourselves.
FOALS:
CAMEO CHRIZTO [Cedardell Zanzibar/Fairymount Desert Gold] Chestnut colt
CAMEO DEZTINEE [Cedardell Zanzibar/Cameo Fifinella] Bay filly
CAMEO CRANBERRY MOON [Cedardell Zanzibar/Cameo Moonsylph] Grey filly
CAMEO MOONDANZER [Cedardell Zanzibar/Cameo Merrie Moon] Grey colt
CAMEO LEOPOLD [Emblazon/Cameo Wishing Wind] Bay colt
CAMEO TIRRA LIRRA [Tobruq/Elshada Opal Fire] Grey filly
CAMEO CINDERELLA [Emblazon/Cameo Silver Halo] Grey filly
CAMEO NINEVEH [Cedardell Zanzibar/Charmarian Nikita] Grey colt
CAMEO BUTTERFLY [Cameo Prospero/Cameo Tosca] Bay Anglo filly
CAMEO PERICLEZ [Cedardell Zanzibar/Cameo Primulaa] Grey colt
CAMEO TOP HAT [Cameo Prospero/Society Rose] Chestnut Anglo colt
We were happy to sell our bay Anglo filly CAMEO BUTTERFLY to Claire McManus of Nanango, and the bay Anglo 2YO gelding CAMEO BONHOMIE to Sacha Usher of the Gold Coast. CAMEO PROSPERO has been such a low-key member of the stud since he injured his sesamoid and is permanently lame, that people are going to be amazed at his beautiful babies!
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