is the successful Grand Prix stallion Contagious. Cristal was approved with the AHHA in 2013 and received the “Condino Award” for being the highest- scoring American-bred Holsteiner stal- lion at the inspections in 2013. (Tis is the first time the ranch has received this particular honor.) Teir amateur daughter Chenoa has been working with him over fences every weekend while finishing up her last semester at University of Denver this spring. While he was shown and ridden very lightly at HITS Termal this year, he will be making his official show-ring debut in Colorado with her this summer. “Cristal has transitioned really well
from our young horse program to the show horse program and has been a very manageable stallion and a good representation of the athleticism and rideability of the breed,” the ranch reports. He’s a perfect example of why the family has traditionally embraced the Holsteiners. “Te Holsteiner breed combines a great mind with athletic ability. Tey are sturdy horses with great scope and athleticism and are very adaptable to their surroundings. As competitors we are proud to be involved with the breed that is a top producer of show jumpers.”
ABOVE, LEFT: Jessica Starck and her young Holsteiner gelding Lisandro by Lintas. RIGHT: Jessica and her FEI dressage mare Ultra Sonic (by Amour) school the piaffe. ARTICLETITLE PHOTO: Jessica hugging Ultra Sonic.
fifth place Fourth Level Musical Freestyle Challenge Year End Awards (National). “Last month, we did our first I-1 and she is settling into
the work nicely. Stella loves what she does. We are schooling all the movements of the Grand Prix and I am especially ex- cited about her piaffe and passage work,” Jessica adds. “I find this road to have been more difficult early on with
That Exuberant Jump—in the Dressage Ring When she was very young, thirty-year-old Jessica Starck knew she wanted to become a dressage trainer. She made that dream come true and is currently the resident trainer at Sugar Grove Equestrian in Sugar Grove, Illinois. “I couldn’t afford an upper level horse so I decided to make my own and select a young horse for the job,” she says. Today she successfully competes the lovely bay Holsteiner
mare Ultra Sonic at Prix St. Georges and Intermediare I. “I found her after seeing a horse at a schooling show named Silke, owned by Donna and J. Paul Chiocca and bred by Cheryl Kellerman of Michigan Sport Horse,” Jessica reports. “Silke was by Rantares, and was everything I was looking for in a young horse prospect, so we drove to Michigan in 2006 to check out the breeder’s young stock.” Jessica selected Ultra Sonic (by Amour), a two-year-old she now fondly calls “Stel- la” and who was half sister to Silke through her dam High Voltage (by Lacoste). Te road has not been easy, she admits, but in 2013 all
their hard work paid off. Ultra Sonic won her first champi- onship in the Great American/USDF Region 2 Dressage Championship Fourth Level freestyle. Some of her other ac- complishments include USDF All-Breeds Champion Fourth Level AHHA - Open (National), All-Breeds Reserved Champion Prix St. Georges AHHA, Open (National) and
46 July/August 2014 SPECIAL HOLSTEINER SECTION
Ultra Sonic being a mare,” she laughingly confesses. “But now, after years together I can trust her the most. I feel she tries harder for me because of everything we have been through together. Her Holsteiner jumper hind end gives her extra spring. I knew someday that this would be a benefit and not just a cue for a ‘Hail Mary’ during her exuberant ‘airs’ at the show grounds! All of her powerful, opinionated expressions were proof of her potential as an upper level horse.” Part of the challenge has been to somehow convince the
mare to get down the FEI centerline in relaxation. “We have had some setbacks, but every time Stella has been a fighter and has made full recoveries. Stella is Stella. She has a very young mind but is also extremely intelligent.” “I find the Holsteiners to have a fantastic memory and a
‘hotness’ even when fatigued. Tis is great for teaching them new movements but a challenge when they memorize the dressage test and get excited about the extended canter two movements out for example,” Jessica says with a grin. “Not one time has Stella, or my other Holsteiner, a 2007
Lintas son named Lisandro, ever quit on me. Tey have su- per work ethics and are never underachievers. Te challeng- ing moments come when they apply more power than their balance can support. Tey do have a love for life, springy hind ends and big personalities. Tese horses are perhaps a little slower to mature and have their youthful moments, however, when a bond is formed with a Holsteiner, they are true partners.”
Lauren Zaleski
David Honor
American Holsteiner Horse Association
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