Kristi’s done all of Rosie’s training, bringing her up through
the levels. In 2006, the pair competed in the US Eventing As- sociation (USEA) Young Event Horse (YEH) series, when Rosie was five. They placed second at Rebecca Farm. “She is a pretty special horse,” says Kristi. “First of all, she’s an amazing athlete. She is totally fearless cross country and she is fast. She is super careful show jumping and really wonderful to jump.” About their dressage, Kristi says that although she and Rosie don’t excel in this phase, “Rosie is a really good mover. She can do the exercises really well and be lovely in dressage.”
Rosie’s Baby Sisters
“CHARLOTTE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD with Rosie’s mother,” says Kristi. “After Rosie got to the one-star level, she bred Marisol two more times to Riverman.” The results are two full sisters to Rosie: Another Star and Fleeceworks Royal. Another Star, foaled in 2008, is bay like her dam. Kristi’s longtime assistant Erin Serafini says, “We call her Lily. It’s the flower family, starting with Rosie.” Comparing the three, Erin comments, “In my mind, Lily looks more like Rosie than the other sister. She reminds me of Rosie when she moves and when she jumps.” Lily hasn’t been easy.
“She was like Rosie, hard to break. You could be canter- ing along and she’d buck. She spent six months with a cowboy being trained. So we give her a year to mature a little bit and get over it.” She tells how Kristi advised her on buying Lily, after seeing a video. “She was bucking in the video. Kristi said, ‘Looks like a bronc but you can get her through it, so buy her.’” What’s helped Lily
At home, Rosie has plenty of turnout time in her own pas-
ture. Kristi says the mare is “not really a diva. However, all my other horses are geldings, and she doesn’t like them to touch her in the crossties or in the trailer. She doesn’t squeal. She just pulls herself away.” She reports that her husband Randy just traded their trailer for a more spacious one, so Rosie now has more privacy! “Rosie has a great personality. She is very sweet on the
ground. She’s quite a sweet horse.” But in her early schooling under saddle, Rosie was exuberant. “She wasn’t really broke,” says Kristi. “She’d been ridden just a bit.”
Lily’s filly makes Rosie an aunt and she’s turned out to be a
loving one to Flying Star. “She watches the baby all the time. She stands at the corner of her pasture and watches her,” Erin reports. She adds that Kristi has considered breeding Rosie through embryo transfers. Meanwhile, Erin says, “Kristi is try- ing to steal the baby already! She says, ‘That’s my baby.’” The younger sister, Fleeceworks Royal or “Rory,” is already
competing. Owned by Judith McSwain of Ramona, California, Rory was at Rebecca Farm this summer, at the same event as Rosie. Rory took sixth in YEH, Four-Year-Old, ridden by trainer Tamra Smith of Murietta, California. Fleeceworks is one of Tamra’s (and also Kristi’s) sponsors. Two months later, at the
Above: R-Star in her pasture, greeting her niece Flying Star. Right, top: R-Star’s full sister, Another Star and her foal, Flying Star, 2013. Right, bottom: Tamra Smith riding Judith McSwain’s Rory (Fleeceworks Royal) at Re- becca Farm, July 2013.
grow up is having a foal in 2013, named Flying Star. When Lily is being lunged and starts to buck, the filly calls to her. “It’s like she’s saying, ‘Mom, come on!’” says Erin. “And Lily stops buck- ing and starts trotting,” Erin says with a chuckle. She recalls how she and Kristi planned the breeding to-
gether. “Kristi debated for a long time who to breed Lily to. We discussed how Rosie is harder to get fit because she has no Thoroughbred blood. At a four-star, when she gets to the 8-minute mark she gets tired.” They chose the Thoroughbred Coconut Grove xx. Erin says, “I wanted to get a baby approved by the Holsteiners. We think the baby will be special!” In 2013, Lily earned her Premium Mare status with AHHA and Flying Star was a Premium foal.
Aspen Farms Horse Trials, Rory proved herself to be a winner just like her old- est sister. She scored 17.4 in dressage, Open Novice, and added no penalties to win the division. Judith reports, “Tamie called me to ask, ‘Did you see your horse? She was perfect! She was such a good girl.’” “It’s so much fun to watch
these young horses develop. They have a really fantastic dam and it’s fun to see how similar the sisters are,” adds Judith.
All three share the trait of enthusiasm. “Rory is pretty
spicy,” says Judith. “And she is a bit of a worker. She’s spicy on the ground and she’s got gas. Then when she goes down cen- terline, she goes to work.” She describes how Rory showed her spice in July, exercis-
ing at Rebecca Farm. Eventer Heather Morris volunteered to ride Rory before Tamra arrived from another event. “Tamie’s assistant Kate was lunging her and she was bucking and car- rying on and doing airs above the ground. Watching them, Heather said, ‘You want me to ride her?’ She added a breast- plate and a bucking strap, but Rory was fine under saddle.” Next for Rory will be the West Coast YEH Championships at Galway Downs. v
Warmbloods Today 27
Tass Jones Gregg Schwan
Courtesy Erin Serafini
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