Notice Board
2010
June 2010 A Terrible Loss
It is with great sadness and shock that the stunning imported PRE stallion 'Infante XXXVIII' had to be put to rest on June 19, 2010 at just 9 yrs old. Our sincere condolences to Leigh Burns of Yeguada Verdadero. He arrived in Australia in Dec 2007. We have always admired this beautiful horse and we are most fortunate to have his very first foal, a stunning little filly out of our 'LQ Pamperita'. Little 'LQ Pureza' will be cherished.
Rest In Peace, beautiful boy, Rest In Peace.
May 2010 AHAA Members Open Day
A La Castina SWH provided a free open day of information for the AHAA NSW members on 29th May. Due to the mad weather it was on/off several times but suddenly out popped the sun and everyone had a fantastic day. It was lovely to catch up with local members and to meet some new ones too. The smorgasbord of food and drinks was also very enjoyable. Thankyou to Kylie and Lisa for bringing along their lovely horses for the practical demo.
May 2010 Argentinian Cultural Festival
GP Lusito & Hero were star attractions as part of the festivities. Photos on the Promotional Performances page.
April 2010 Hawkesbury Show
Hawkesbury Show capped off a fantastic 2010 show season for our Spanish horses. GP Lusito's star continues to shine with his unbeatable performances at every show this year to date. It was a very enjoyable day with the Andalusian ring capturing a lot of attention from admiring spectators.
GP Lusito - Champion Led, Champion Ridden, Costume Class 1st.
Hero - Reserve Champion Led, Ridden 2nd.
Photos courtesy AL Fotoz
Champion ROM For GP Lusito
Our PRE stallion GP Lusito has attained the status of CHAMPION Roll of Merit (ROM) with the AHAA. This honour is awarded to horses who have achieved both their Halter ROM and Working ROM. We are very proud of this beautiful and talented stallion.
AL Fotoz
March 2010 A Little Royal Arrives
On March 25th, at dawn La Querencia Pamperita (Davyd's favourite mare) at 18 yrs old delivered a beautiful pure spanish filly. She is by Leigh Burns imported stallion Infante XXXVIII and is his very first foal ever. She has been named La Querencia Pureza.
She is definitely not for sale!
Photo by Tanya Selby Photography - more photos on New Season Foals page.
March 2010 Show Season
This month we attended three shows in two weekends. GP Lusito continued his winning way both in hand and under saddle, while his daughter Galilee Lucia commenced her perfomance career by attending two shows, with Hero attending one show.
Castle Hill Show GP Lusito - Champion Led Andalusian, Champion Ridden Andalusian, 1st Costume Class.
Galilee Lucia - Reserve Champion Led Andalusian
Moss Vale Show GP Lusito - Champion Led Andalusian, 1st Ridden Andalusian
Galilee Lucia - 1st Led Andalusian Mare
Camden Show - GP Lusito - Champion Led Andalusian, Champion Ridden Andalusian
Hero - Reserve Champion Led Andalusian
February 2010 Klaske Has a Filly
On the morning of Feb 11th Klaske delivered a beautiful healthy little purebred friesian filly. It is her second foal and full sister to Anneke-Johanna, both sired by Dennis v/d Smalbemde.
More photos on the New Season Foals page.
January 2010 Bowral Ag Show
It was delightful weather for the Bowral Show held at the very picturesque grounds of the Bong Bong Race Club. We enjoyed the first show of the year taking our PRE stallion 'Lusito' who won the Champion Led Andalusian Exhibit and also the Ridden Andalusian Class.
2009
December 2009 AHAA NSW State Championships
The annual State Championships was held on 5th & 6th December and was a rather relaxed affair this year for Christina & Lusito who entered in only 4 classes over the weekend with very successful results.
Unfortunately due to the truck repairs not being finished in time for the show we were unable to take the beautiful friesian stallion Dennis v/d Smalbemde.
1. Exhibition Class - 2nd and winner of AHAA Andalusian Perpetual Trophy
2. 1st - Doma Vaquera Competition - 82.5%
3. 1st - Traditional Spanish Costume Class
4. 'GP Lusito' - 1st - Ridden Spanish Stallion
State Champion Ridden Spanish Horse
Credits to Tanya Selby Photography
Credits to AL Fotoz
October 2009 Horse Talk TV
'A La Castina's episode of Horse Talk TV will be shown on Wednesday 28th October at 7pm on Channel 31 or TVS.
September 2009 NSW State Dressage Championships
We were thrilled when 'Denni' in only a few outings at official competitions qualified to compete at the NSW State Dressage Championships in Tamworth in September. Unfortunately he had to be withdrawn from the competition due to unforseen circumstances.
July 2009 Breeding Season
The breeding season is fast approaching and time to consider your next choice of stallion. We have on offer two gorgeous stallions, 'Denni' a Friesian and 'Lusito' a PRE, who both stamp their progeny with all the desirable traits. Check out the stallion pages for more info on these boys and get in early with a booking.
Photo - Eagle Photography
June 2009 ***'Denni' Retains Breeding Permit***
We are proud to report that 'Dennis v/d Smalbemde' has retained his breeding permit. He is one of the few Friesian stallions in Australia of the quality worthy to hold this permit.
At the Keurings held earlier this year in Australia 'Denni' was the only stallion represented by five outstanding youngsters who in turn all gained 'premie' awards from the Dutch judges. Congratulations go to the following progeny and owners on their successes.....
* Anneke-Johanna - G Kommer - 2 premie
* Wietske-Helen - G Kommer - 2 premie & NSW Junior Champion
* Yasmijn - FC & M Mullin - 3 premie
* Bastiaan - M Trayler & C Jefferson- 3 premie
* Bellise - C Jefferson - 2 premie
May ***NEWSFLASH***
Our lovely PRE Spanish mare 'La Querencia Pamperita' is in foal to the stunning imported PRE stallion 'Infante' owned by Leigh Burns. We are very excited about this mating and their baby will be nothing short of stunning! The foal, due April 2010, will have the honour of being 'Infante's' first foal.
May 2009 Best Photograph
At Hawkesbury Show a photo of Hero's head which was taken by our daughter Tanya Selby won first prize in the category Mini Print - Any Theme. 
Photographer Tanya Selby
Best Mini Print
Hawkesbury Show
FRIESIAN KEURINGS NOW COMPLETED
All the Keurings (classifications) in Australia and New Zealand are now finished and the full results may be viewed on The Friesian Horse Society website www.anzfhs.org.au.
Denni (Dennis v.d. Smalbemde) had a very successful presentation of five progeny in NSW and Victoria. Three of his progeny were awarded 2nd premium, two were awarded 3rd premium, plus a Junior Champion in NSW. This was a great result for Denni and the owners of his progeny.
March 2009 Friesian Keuring Tamworth NSW
A few days later we were on the road again to the Keuring (classification) for Friesian horses in Tamworth on 21 March. We took four horses including Denni (stallion), Klaske (mare), Wietske (yearling filly) and Anneke (weanling filly). We set off Friday evening after our young runner Matt Hans arrived from Canberra to travel with us. It was just after midnight when we arrived - fortunately 'somebody' new how to open the gate to let us in.
'Anneke - Johanna' received a 2nd Premium.
Sire: 'Denni' Dam: 'Klaske Nina'
'Wietske - Helen' received a 2 Premium and awarded Champion Junior.
Sire: 'Denni' Dam: 'Nina Lyckle 'B Haitske
'Klaske - Nina' remains in the studbook.
'Denni' - presented for renewal of breeding permit.
Congratulations to Gil Kommer & family of The Friesian Horse Stud. Thankyou also to Matt for all the running.
March 2009 AHAA National Show Tatura Vic
We spent a longer than expected 14 hour trip to Tatura arriving in the evening before the show. The boys Denni, Hero and Infante pulled up in good spirits and performed like troopers throughout the 3 days of the show which was held on 13, 14 & 15 March.
'Denni' - 2nd Led Friesian Stallion
- 1st Ridden Friesian Stallion
- Champion Ridden Friesian
- 2nd Novice 2.2 - 2nd Novice 2.4
Photos by Rita Gallaway
'Hero' - 2nd Spanish Gelding
- Reserve Champion Spanish Gelding
- 4th Ridden Spanish Gelding
- 1st Traditional Spanish Costume
'Infante' - 3rd Spanish Entire - L Burns
Denni and Infante were also exhibited in the stallion parade on Friday night.
February 2009 Luddenham Show
We took our beautiful pure Spanish gelding 'Hero' who was formerly owned by our dear friends J & T White, for his first show outing in many years and as a warm up for the AHAA Nationals in March. He was 1st in Led Spanish Gelding and then awarded Champion Ridden Spanish Horse. Congratulations also to Leigh Burns and her imported stallion 'Infante' winning the Champion Led Spanish Horse.
January 2009 Friesian Horse Clinic
About 30 people attended a Friesian horse clinic organised by the ANZFHS in Tamworth on Jan 18, and conducted by the charming and informative dutchman Sjoerd Meekma. We took along the gorgeous stallion 'Denni' who looked and behaved beautifully, to take part in the clinic. Although we were all quiet exhausted afterwards, we still managed to kick up our heels at the country music festival as a finale.
2008
December 2008 NSW All Breeds Youngstock Show
This show was held locally at the Hawkesbury showground on Dec 7th. We entered two part bred spanish fillies. 'Gallilee Lucia' (3 yrs old by Lusito) placed first and 'La Querencia Ranya' (15 mths old by Anchorbar Tesoro) placed second in the same class. Well done girls.
Lusito's Amazing Comeback
Lusito had been in his new home with us for just three months when the dreaded EI outbreak was announced on the national news. In September 07 all our horses including Lusito contracted the EI. Three weeks later after all horses seemed to be recovering nicely Lusito suffered a shocking secondary complication of the EI, with a massive toxic insult to his heart. He was not at the gate waiting for his breakfast as usual doing his spanish salute, instead we found him that October morning head down, breathing very heavily with a racing heartbeat and extremely dehydrated. When the vet arrived he advised we get him to the clinic immediately where he was put on a drip and monitored constantly (which is all they could do), all the while his heart racing faster and faster, until it plateaued that night at 218 b.p.m. Everbody stood back fearing he was gone, but miraculously this most noble and brave horse hung on to the last inch of his life to remain standing, his will to live was too strong. He gradually fought his way back to health. His heart was not operating properly on one side and they had drained 15 L of fluid from within the chest cavity. We informed Terry about Lusito's plight and he promptly turned up the next day with well wishes and a large bag of carrots for his old mate.
After two weeks at the clinic, he was by this time getting very grumpy from all the poking and prodding, we were allowed to bring him home to his paddock, where he knew he was king. He was to remain in convalescence for 12 months. The vets continued to be amazed at his progress. We could not believe either that he was still with us. It was a terrible nightmare, our many questions did not have many answers forthcoming. Why did this inflict such a healthy strong horse.
Lusito had been commissioned just prior to getting the flu to do a fashion shoot later in the year. In December, after careful consideration, we allowed with strict guidance Lusito to pose with the models for the fashion shoot which was featured in the April edition of Equestrian Life Magazine. He was a joy to work with.
His health continued to remain stable, and he was looking and feeling fantastic and by now also getting a little too fat.
In April 2008, we took Lusito to our local Hawkesbury Show where he won Champion Led Andalusian. He was not yet allowed to be ridden but we could do a little groundwork to relieve his boredom and feeling of not being useful and the outing was not stressful for him at all. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
In August, after a third cardio checkup we were given the go ahead to bring him back into work and to ride him again. We carefully and gently brought his fitness level up over six weeks without riding him. It was a beautiful feeling to sit on his back again for the first time in twelve months and yet he felt like we had only ridden him the day before. He felt wonderful and he gave us such joy. We progressed gently with his workload.
Late September, Lusito and his stablemate Denni (the black Friesian stallion) paraded at the Kenthurst Orange Blossom Festival. Lusito was already a star at this sort of thing and showed the new boy Denni, how to march along proudly in front of the admiring crowd.
At the AHAA NSW State Championships in November 2008, Lusito made a glorious return to competition. He competed and won awards in a wide range of events from Led to Dressage Tests, but it was in the Exhibition Class where he could show his true Spanish qualities in a performance of an imitation 'bloodless' bullfight, manoeuvering with grace and agility as he skillfully played with the bull 'Davyd'.
Lusito, a hero and symbol of bravery and courage, was not intending to leave us just yet. We are so blessed to have him and hope he may continue in good health for many years to come.
November 2008 AHAA NSW State Championships
The AHAA State Champs were held on the 8th & 9th at Cobbity. We took the two stallions, 'GP Lusito' a grey P.R.E, and 'Denni' a jet black imported Friesian. Both boys performed admirably in their respective classes and as a result of their successes and despite missing a couple of their classes, we were awarded the trophy for the Senior Exhibitor of the Show.
Lusito - State Champion Led Spanish Entire, Reserve State Champion Ridden Spanish, 1st Exhibition Class, equal 2nd Novice Dressage (his very first dressage test), 1st Traditional Spanish Costume.
Denni - Champion Led Friesian, Champion Ridden Friesian, 3rd Dressage Freestyle to Music.
Congratulations also to Shirley Sim and Kaye Stevens on their successes at the show.
K Stevens - winner Baroque Costume
Ladies Carousel, Spanish Riding School, Vienna, Circa 1740
April 2008 Hawkesbury Agricultural Show
This was Lusito's first show since the EI. He was awarded Champion Led Spanish Horse. He did not compete in the ridden class as he was not in ridden work, upon veterinary instructions.
