Liz Taylor

Exciting Prospects for 2009

After Falania came back from Dubai we decided to retire her and try and get her in foal...after spending time at stud and appearing to catch, she lost the foal early on due to some issues..we are now looking at Artificial Insemmination (on advice of my vet) for next year, using a French endurance stallion. She has been turned out to try and relax her to increase our chances of getting her in foal.

Karaanza who was due to do her first 160km this year has been struggling with a virus all year - we have finally come to the end of this now and her shoes are going back on on January 9th. Adding to that a change of  job for me (I now work for a company called Stonegate in a Farms Liaison role) and a house move, its been a very busy year!

Due to Falaina's retirement and Karaanza's virus we haven't done any competing since June. However after the enforced break, it is now full steam ahead with the 2009 season, Karaanza is having her shoes back on in the first week of January and her aim is to complete 160km*** this year, she has already proved herself over 120km*** so I am convinced she will do it easily, I would also like her to go to Dubai next year for the HH Skeikh Mohammid's Endurance Cup (where Falaina went in 2008) Karaanza is a really lovely and talented horse who I have a lot of faith in, she covers the ground easily, in a very relaxed and long stride, she verges on being lazy but also has some spark when racing, she enjoys endurance and is a wonderful horse to ride in a race as she is safe, fast relaxed and enthuastic - an ideal combination for an endurance horse. Watch this space!! Kara is an extremely good doer, so whilst she is resting she is just on Hi-Fi Lite, however once back in work she will resume her diet of Alfa A and Naked Oats (sugested by Dengie's nutritionist Claire Akers) which has proved such a successful combination for this horse.

SG Enigmatika, who is four years old and the dam of EST Miyaz Baha (our 2008 colt foal) will be broken early in the year and start some lower distance endurance rides by the end of the year. I have a lot of time for Enigmatika, she was a very difficult, sharp and opinionated yearling (in fact all the way through until she was 3!!!), however she has matured into a beautiful, balanced and intoxicating horse, the most expensive horse I have bought so far, I am very excited about this prospect for 2009, she has grown and matured alot since producing Miyaz, and she has been a wonderful mum. She has a wonderful long stride, great conformation and attitude which is now being chanelled in the right direction!! I am very much looking forward to riding this horse in the spring.

Miyaz, the foal has also matured hugely over the last few months, we had one minor disaster when something scared him and he decided to JUMP a 5-BAR GATE, hmmm...not a particulary clever thing for a three month old foal to do. Luckily he escaped relatively unharmed. Dad was mighty annoyed by this sudden display of athletic ability..his exact words were "we were supposed to be breeding an endurance horse, not a bloody showjumper!!!" Rather than stealing his mum's Alfa A, Miyaz now has his own Alfa A and topped up with some stud mix. The two year old, Barcutan Haldana is now Miyaz's field mate, they are getting on well, play fighting and charging around the field at every opportunity!

So, I am looking forward to a busy 2009 with the horses despite our relatively low-key 2008, Karaanza will be my main international horse, with her ultimate aim to complete 160km*** and build up some FEI points. SG Enigmatika will be an exciting 'second string' once we have her broken in, and I am hoping to have her out and about by the second half of the year showing her the sights and sounds of the endurance world. Please also all keep your fingers crossed that we can get Falaina in foal, as I am desperate for a Falaina-baby!! In the meantime I have my hands full with Miyaz, our 2008 baby - 2018 seems an awful long time away...and thats when he will be doing his 160km ER's!!

I would like to thank Dengie for their continued support through 2008, and I hope they will continue to support my horses and I through 2009 when we will have not only a busy year but two very exciting prospects to compete.

Liz