Little Whiskey Girl:
A Hunter-bred Hanoverian Performance Mare
year-old Hanoverian mare bred by Rick and Jayne Toering of Bent Hickory Farm in Virginia. Raised and started under saddle by the Toerings, “Whiskey” was shown to good placements at the age of seven in the Adult Amateurs by Katie Davilli, including finishing well at the Washington International Horse Show. Her current owner, Hanoverian breeder Diane Halpin of Laurel Leaf Farm in Great Falls, Virginia, first took note of the bay filly when she was just three and followed her career development with interest. Whiskey’s dam, SPS Galaxis, now deceased, was Reserve
L
Champion at the Mid-Atlantic Hanoverian Breeders Club Mare Show in 2003 at the ripe age of 14 against many mares one-third her age. “Galaxis consistently passed along her flat- kneed movement to her offspring,” says Rick Toering. “While they have been a bit slow to mature, the investment in time has been worth it.” Premonition BHF (Pablo/Ganymed), another daughter
of Galaxis, was virtually unbeatable in the hack in 2012 and regularly placed well over fences. Whiskey’s sire Landkoenig is well known for producing relaxed, kind youngsters with jumping talent. Te very successful international show jumper Lantinus, ridden by Irishman Denis Lynch, is probably Landkoenig’s best known offspring at this time. Since Landkoenig, sire of the Halpins’ filly Llangollyn, has become a favorite cross to the Halpin mares, Diane naturally focused on watching how the Toerings’ young mare Whiskey progressed. Impressed by Llangollyn’s relaxed and friendly temperament, good gaits, and trainability, the Halpins took note of Whiskey’s similarities. Diane comments, “Tis is a very well-made mare who is moved up the line for conformation, has lovely swing in her back, a bit of suspension in her movement and a keen expression on course. She has a long, relaxed stride and accurate lead changes.” Diane followed Little Whiskey Girl’s developing show record
and, when the Toerings put the mare up for sale, purchased her in December 2011 as her personal show hunter. Although Diane’s background was primarily in dressage, eventing and show jumping, she had a late-life desire to learn to campaign show hunters. Whiskey was the perfect combination of talent and forgiveness to teach that skill. As Diane puts it, “Whiskey is 16 hands of sweet temperament and terrific power over a
52 March/April 2013
ittle Whiskey Girl (Landkoenig-Galaxis/ Ganymed) is a nine-
By Diane Halpin & Rick Toering
fence.” While learning to ride her well over those fences, Diane wanted Whiskey to go on with her career and found a good match in Stoneridge Farm’s professional rider and trainer, Katie Huber. A very elegant, light rider, Katie is a sympathetic trainer who gets the best from a variety of young hunters. Katie rode Little Whiskey Girl to numerous championships and reserves during 2012 at the AA shows in both the 3’3” Performance Hunters and in the Schooling and Low Hunter divisions, with Whiskey finishing the 2012 season in a USEF top spot in the 3’3” Performance division, 4th nationally in the Silver Stirrup awards for 3’3” Performance Hunters and Silver Stirrup Champion for USEF Zone 3. Little Whiskey Girl is also Year- End Champion of the 3’3” Performance Hunters in the American Hanoverian Society’s annual awards program, receiving her second monogrammed cooler, since she also won the 18-35 Adult Amateurs in 2011 for the Toerings and Katie Davilli, who had a total bond with Whiskey. Everyone involved with Whiskey will tell you about the mare’s
composure. As a lightly started four-year-old, Whiskey attended her first hunter schooling show. “We arrived late that day and the show entries were light. We knew Whiskey was special when she walked off the trailer and straight into the ring for the hunter pleasure division—she was completely unfazed,” says Jayne Toering, Whiskey’s rider during her first years under saddle. In 2010, Katie Davilli, an accomplished amateur rider, took
over Whiskey’s reins. “Te first thing I noticed,” says Katie, “was how incredibly forgiving Whiskey was. Ten, as we got to know each other, I realized that the more I asked of her, the more she gave me,” she adds. Whiskey blossomed under Katie. “Te relationship the two of them had was undeniable,” says Rick Toering. To the Halpins, who elected to raise Hanoverians initially because Diane’s research noted their good minds, wonderful way of moving and the fact that the jumper-bred Hanoverians could compete with any pedigree at the international level, Whiskey’s poise at the shows came as no surprise. “She’s a pleasure to ride,” says Diane, “and a pleasure to watch when Katie Huber is up.” Diane rides bareback dressage with the mare for fun. “Tis terrific Hanoverian mare,” adds Diane, “is a ‘keeper’ and one to keep your eyes on in the future! She’s a good representative for those Hanoverians bred and performing in the U.S.A.!” v
Photos. Top left: Little Whiskey Girl at the 2011 Warrenton Horse Show with Champion Adult Amateur Rider Katie Davilli. Top right: The pair compete at the Washington International Horse Show in 2011.
Diana DeRosa
Shawn McMillan
American Hanoverian Society
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 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100