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MARVELOUS BY LIZ CORNELL


themselves. Three breeders who believe they have such a mare didn’t hesitate to give Warmbloods Today the inside story as to how their ‘marvelous moms’ came into their breeding program.


S


SE Farms’ PIKTORIAL In 2000, Californian Rose Sullivan


wasn’t looking for a broodmare. She was actually looking for a new jumper prospect for her daughter Mickey Sullivan who needed a competition horse to train and to raise through the jumper ranks. Ultimately Rose’s plan was for Mickey to take the mare to college with her. As a successful junior competitor, Mickey was riding with Mark Watring, famous for his Pan American gold medal mount Sapphire. “I knew ahead of time that I wanted a really nice filly with a special pedigree for Mickey to train. I found Piktorial, a Hanoverian bred by renowned Hanoverian breeder Alisa Lask of Fall Creek Farm. She was by Pikadero an elite Hanoverian stallion owned by Mary Shirley. Unfortunately Pikadero colicked and died at the young age of 18, so his offspring are highly coveted.” Pikadero’s progeny were known to inherit his willing temperament, easy going nature, amazing scope, and powerful, graceful gaits, as he was a dressage champion before he became


Above: Piktorial photos courtesy Rose Sullivan.


ometimes there is that extra special mare that consistently produces one great foal after the next. These special mothers are rare, and breeders who love their top producer spend as much time bragging about Mom as they do the offspring


MOMS


a grand prix jumping superstar. As a jumper, Pikadero placed in 95% of all Grand Prix starts and won dozens of titles, nationally and internationally. He was a member of the U.S. Equestrian Team at Hickstead, and champion at Arnhem and Aachen. At a mere six months old, Rose bought little “Tori” and put her on pasture until she was broke and ridden initially on local trails. “We could see early on that Piktorial had a wonderful disposition as she was great with children running around her. We also ponied her on the Santa Rosa valley trails as a yearling, and she didn’t spook at anything,” says Rose. When they started her formal training in show jumping, they found that Tori loved to jump and she had very nice gaits. “Mickey was just graduating from high school when


Piktorial was four, so they were just getting started,” Rose continues. “I shipped the mare out to Colorado where Mickey was attending college, so that Mickey could continue her training. As it turned out, Mickey’s school schedule was too heavy and she was unable to juggle both riding and school, so I shipped the mare back home.”


N Warmbloods Today 29 ovember/December 2010 29


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