dressage producing mares for many years, and is still among the top three. Scot breeds Dutch Warmbloods for dressage, and it would be difficult to find a mare with a better pedigree. Young Orchis arrived at Scot’s farm in Southern New


Hampshire unprepared for living the ‘farm life.’ According to Scot, “She was a little bit of a rogue at first; she ran through fences and chased the other horses who disliked her immensely. She lacked the socialization required to live in a herd, and it was a rough transition.” It took about a year for Orchis to settle in. “One day I did some clicker training with Orchis, and


I learned that she was actually really smart,” he reports. Besides showing her in hand for the keurings, a ridden test must be performed in order to obtain “keur” status.


began to bond like I have never bonded with a horse.” Marion O’Connor


“Once I learned how to ride such a powerful animal by not overriding her, we


Klimke), who worked with Jim and the mare’s piaffe and passage last year, approached us about selling Werites to him. At first I told him I wasn’t interested, but upon realizing the significance of an American-bred dressage horse being sold to a top international trainer, my wife Carol and I decided it was an offer we couldn’t refuse. However, as fate would have it, after three months of failed E.T. attempts, Werites was on her way to get back in shape with Grand Prix rider Jane Hannigan and suffered a devastating shipping accident. She has been at the New Bolton Equine Hospital since June 5th. Unfortunately, her riding career is over.” Needless to say, Werites never made it to Germany, but, hopefully, she’ll become a major contributor to the Shooting Star Farm breeding program. Since 2003, Orchis has produced


So eventually, she was broken and trained by Jim Koford, and easily earned her keur from the KWPN in 2004. That year she also received one of the highest score for movement for mares in North America: 8, 8.5 and 7.5. At age five her breeding career began when she foaled her first colt by Zeoliet, Uzeo SSF, purchased by a Dutch native who was then living in Arizona. Uzeo has recently been exported to Holland and is competing there. Her second colt by Freestyle, Verito SSF, became the high scoring auxiliary foal in North America in 2002, and he went on as a three-year-old to win the DG Bar Cup in a highly competitive field at Iron Spring Farm. The last time Scot heard from the amateur owner he was doing third level. In 2003, Orchis finally produced a wonderful filly by


Freestyle, Werites SSF. “We put her in training with Jim Koford and she has been fabulous in her dressage work,” Scot continues. “So fabulous, in fact, that Michael Klimke (German dressage trainer and son of the legendary Reiner


Top: Orchis in 2009 (Photo by Tami Johnson). Bottom: Weritas ridden and trained by Jim Koford.


both a Donatelli colt and filly, and, most recently, a filly by Harmony’s Rousseau. Orchis now has the highest dressage


index of any KWPN mare outside of Holland with a 196+. At age 14, and with sister Nadine on the Dutch Olympic and WEG team, Orchis is interestingly on the Dutch radar. When Scot contacted the owners of Totilas to apply for one of the highly-sought-after


first breedings, their manager offered to buy her and bring her back to Holland. “Of course, she’s not for sale, but they obviously like her and they gave me permission to purchase a Totilas breeding for 5,500 euro, or about $7,000! Even though he’s the top dressage horse in the world right now, he’s not a proven producer,” he remarks. Although it’s a little risky with no known progeny on the ground, Scot decided to take the gamble and buy the breeding. He received three doses of frozen semen and, thankfully, Orchis took on the first cycle. This Totilas x Orchis baby will most likely be Scot’s most valuable foal to hit the ground since he started his breeding program over 20 years ago.


November/December 2010 31 Warmbloods Today 31


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68