FEBRUARY 2014

CHABALLO SOUTH AUSTRALIA YOUNG HORSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer with Ruth Schneeberger entered the 6 year old State Yound Horse finals to win both rounds as judged by our state judge and guest judge from Queensland, Ricky MacMillan. Thank you to Chaballo for the beautiful rug that was presented to Royal Dancer.

EQUESTRIAN SOUTH AUSTRALIA AWARDS GALA NIGHT

Equestrian South Australia held their prestigious Horse & Rider of the Year Awards at the Morphetville Racetrack Entertainment Centre. Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer was honored with EA Horse of the Year, this being her 2nd year to gain this prestigious title. (Full siblings can be found on the For Sale Page)

Ruth Schneeberger gained EA Rider of the Year, making this her eleventh victory and her own horse Flowervale Freereign won FEI Horse of the Year.

Cheryl Hatswell was nominated as the State Representative for ‘Owner of the Year’ where a dinner is held in NSW to honor each states representative in a variety of categorys for the overall Australian of the Year in a variety of disciplines..

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER - NATIONAL FUTURES DRESSAGE SQUAD

EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCED THE REVISED TEAM FOR THE NATIONAL FUTURES DRESSAGE SQUAD FOR 2014 ONWARDS. RUTH SCHNEEBERGER RIDING PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER IS THE ONLY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HORSE ACCEPTED ONTO THE TEAM ALONG WITH 22 OTHER HORSES FROM AROUND AUSTRALIA.

SELECTION CRITERIA IS A VERY HIGH STANDARD, HORSES ARE TO BE UNDER THE AGE OF 9 YEARS AND MUST GAIN SCORES OVER 70% AT NOVICE & ELELMENTARY LEVEL AT THE AGE OF 6 YEARS. OLDER HORSES TO SCORE 69% AT MEDIUM LEVEL & ABOVE TO QUALIFY, AS WELL AS COMPETE AT INTERSTATE COMPETITIONS.

CONGRATULATIONS RUTH ON A MARVELLOUS ACHIEVEMENT - WE ARE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU BOTH AND ENJOY WATCHING YOU IN ACTION.

SADDLEWORLD VICTORIAN STATE DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS - WERRIBEE

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER

Ruth & Dancer started the Victorian Championships with a 2nd placein the 6 year Yound Horse Qualifier. We were looking forward to the Elementary Championships and Dancer did not dissapoint by winning the 3D on 66.410%. Unfortunatley Dancer anticipated her second test and decided to put in extra moves which lost them a placing however was overall 6th in the Elementary Championships. The Medium Championships we knew was going to be tough as this was the 3rd time Dancer competed at this level in competition. We were thrilled to bits with Dancer & Ruth coming 6th in the 4B and just outside the placings in the 4C. Overall the pair came 6th in the Medium Championships. Very exciting times ahead for this combination.

FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN

Ruth & Freereign had difficult times at this competiton with Freereign being a little unsettled in the Inter 1 & Prix St George competitons. Although not making a place, they did qualify for the Inter 1 Freestyle competiton where they found their rhythm and placed 6th on 65.375 in a tough field of competitors. The test was amazing to watch.

DON PRESTIGE

Angela Donaldson and her 19hh mount affectionately known as 'Donnie' had a wonderful time at this Championships and could not have expected any better. The pair won the Preliminary Championships with scores of 71.023% & 70.568%. Only new to competing at Novice Level, they qualified for Division 2 of a Novice competiton where again they shone and came 1st in the 2D with 67.429% and 3rd in the 2C on 65.079%

AUSTRALIAN WARMBLOOD HORSE ASSOCIATION 2013 HORSE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

At the AWHA AGM presentations were made to registered AWHA Horses in many categories. The LONTANO progeny scooped the pool of prizes.

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER

WINNER OF DRESSAGE MARE OF THE YEAR & 2013 DRESSAGE HORSE OF THE YEAR

PONDEROSA STUD LUXOR

WINNER OF RIDDEN GELDING OF THE YEAR

PONDEROSA STUD LOFTIN

WINNER OF DRESSAGE GELDING OF THE YEAR - owned by Fay Hatch of N.T.

LYRICAL

WINNER OF F.E.I. DRESSAGE GELDING OF THE YEAR & 2013 F.E.I. HORSE OF THE YEAR - owned by Anne Smith of SA

NATIONAL DRESSAGE CHAMPIOSHIPS HORSLEY PARK - NSW

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER

ROYAL DANCER and Ruth Schneeberger being part of the National Futures Dressage Squad, had lessons with the Overseas trainer Bjarne Elefsen - WOW what a lesson and how marvellous the pair looked and worked. Dance r is still young and is improving all the time. The Dressage Championships started with the 6 year old young horse classes where Dancer placed 3rd behind last years DJWS Champion. We were all thrilled to bits with the score 7.48%. The Elementary Championship was hotly contested. Dancer was leas than 1% away from the placings in this tough class of the top 25 horses from around Aunsralia. Dancer wasalso selected in the State Team where they placed 3rd.

LYRICAL (Lontano/Tbred)

Anne Smith and Lyrical performed brilliantly under pressure for their 1st time at the National Championships. In the Prix St George they placed 27th out of the top 35 horses from around Australia on a score of 61.447%. They then improved theri placing in the Intermediate 1 to come 23rd. A very exciting combination to watch as they progress towards Grand Prix.

PONDEROSA STUD LUCARNO

Lizzie and Lucarno had it tough at this competiton. Poor Lucarno was not himself, with something not quite right with the way he was moving. Lizzie pressed on after the vets viewing him with the advice to have him checked out with xrays upon returning home. They performed extremely well, despite all of this with a close 3rd in the team test, a second in the individual and a 2nd in the Freestyle on 67.750%

It is with sad news that we learned, upon returning home and having X-rays, Lucarno has a cyst with a split in his pedal bone. Lucarno now spelling in the paddock for 12 months with a slim chance of recovery. Ponderosa Stud would like to wish Lizzie all the best for the future. We hope that Lucarno heals better than the prognosis that has been given. They have been such a wonderful combination and were worthy of their selection as 1st Reserve Para Olympians for the London Olympics.

ADELAIDE HILLS SPRING DRESSAGE COMPETITION

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER

ROYAL DANCER is going from strengh to strength with Ruth Schneeberger. The duo put in a superb perfomance to win the Elementary Championship scoring 76.18% in the 3B & 76.99% in the 3D. This was followed up the next day with a fabulous effort to win the Mediium Championship. This was her second time competing at Medium level and Dancer is performing even better at the higher levels. We look forward to this duo competing at the National Championships.

PONDEROSA STUD LUCIOUS

LUCIOUS and Rut h put their best foot forward to place 2nd & 3rd in the Advanced tests to be Reserve Champion Advanced Horse

FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN

Owned and ridden by Ruth Schneeberger, this pair is looking good at FEI level however this lovely gelding was not quite himself this weekend but put up a wonderful effort to have a close 2nd in the Prix St George and a 3rd in the Intermediate 11. The pair are looking forward to competing at the National Championships in 2 weeks time.

LYRICAL (Lontano/Tbred)

LYRICAL owned and ridden by talented rider Anne Smith is climbing up the FEI levels and this weekend they were in great form. A 3rd in the Prix St George, 2nd in the Inter 1 and 2nd in the FEI Freestyle Event. This pair is also traveling to the Nationals where we wish them luck and eagerly await e the results.

PONDEROSA STUD LUCARNO

LUCARNO sold to Para Rider, Lizzie Sobecki, who is looking for a spot on the WEG team competed in the EA Freestyle to win this event and back up a 4th place in the Medium test. They are also off to the Nationals where they will be given tuition form the overseas instructors and a Para competiton as a kick off to the selection trials thay lay ahead. We will keep you posted.

PONDEROSA STUD LE RIDDLER

Sold to Genna Harkness, this pair are still finding their way with Genna getting use to the big moving warmblood with all his power and grace. They performed welll in the Young rider test to place 6th

DON PRESTIGE (DONNERHALL/FALKRICH)

Ponderosa Stud newest rider, the very elegant Angela Donaldson, pulled her very leggy Warmblood gelding in with only a couple weeks of work to place 3rd and 4th in the Preliminary Championship and decided to only compete in 1 Novice test to place 2nd on 69.24%.

SOLD - PS LOVELY

PS Lovely has been sold to a Super Competition home in Victoria with Young Rider Kayla Thomas. Kayla is absolutely loving this mare and they have already started their Competition Career together with excellent results. We look forward to following this talented combination and having regular updates!

Champion of Champions 20th Anniversary Show Horses In Action

Ponderosa Stud Luxor (Lontano/Salute) strutted his stuff with the lovely rider Anglea Donaldson in front of a crowd at the Mallala Indoor Arena. Judges from around Australia were there to judge this prestigious event, Angela Rodham from NSW, Kerry Patchett from NSW and Tania Hay from Tasmania. Ponderosa Stud Luxor pleased the crowd and the judges to win Champion Newcomer Show Hunter Hack. Luxor is for sale and more information about him is on the FOR SALE page.

ELIZABETH SOBECKI & LUCARNO IN THE COURIER

MCDC FEI DAY

LUCIOUS (Lontano/t-bred)
Ruth rode Lucious in his very first Prix St George in front of guest jusdges from interstate, Veronica Steward and Jill Suban. Lucious put on a magical perfromance for the crowd and the judges to score 66.78 % and won this event to our delight. He is proving to be a very trainable pocket rocket.

AWHA GALA DAY – Tilling Hill SA

LUXOR (Lontano/Salute)
This was Luxor’s first show and he performed very well to take out Champion Led Studbook Warmblood, Champion Ridden Warmblood, Reserve Champion Open Ridden and Reserve Champion Hunter/Hack Ridden. He is available for Sale with more photos on the for sale page.

LAZELL (Lontano/Carbine)
A super moving mare, Lazell won Champion Led Warmblood Mare to take home the presitigious EprM Kinnordy Gravity Perpetual Trophy as well as Reserve Champion Ridden Warmblood ridden by my friend Alison Gray who enjoyed the full days activities. She is available for Sale with more photos on the for sale page.

EQUESTRIAN SA OWNER OF THE YEAR

Cheryl Hatswell was awarded ‘SA Owner of the Year’, and attended the Awards Gala Eveinig held in Sydney with Ruth Schneeberger and ‘SA Young Rider of the Year’, Jamie Stichel. The achievement of ‘Owner of the Year’ is a combined effort with the talented rider ‘Ruth Schneeberger’ aboard the horses of Royal Dancer and Lucious who won EA Horse of the Year, Be Active Novice Circuit, Be Active Elementary Circuit, and numerous Dressage Championship wins up to Advanced Level. Thank you Ruth !

MID SOUTH EAST DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Naracoorte SA

ROYAL DANCER
Royal Dancer fought off tough competiton at the MSED Championships to win the Novice Championship with scores of 71.% and 69.844% The Elementary tests were also hard fought with a Reserve Championship to her credit.

LUCIOUS (Lontano/tbred)
Lucious was in fine form at this competiton and showed off his capabailities in the Medium test to win both on 68.563% & 66.042% giving him the Medium CHampionship title and then backed this up by winning the Advanced Championship again winning both tests on 66.25% & 66.22%. The pair were exciting to watch.

FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN (Freestyle)
Ruth Schneeberger had a wonderful ride and scored 66.382% in the Intermediate 1 Championship and also won the Prix St George on 65.921%. Freereign is performing better quality work at the higher level tests and Ruth looks forward to progessing towards Grand Prix with this horse.

LUCARNO (Lontano/Wesew)
Para Rider, Lizzie Sobecki is performing brillinatly on Lucarno wining both Para tests on 67.763% & 67.813% taking home a lovely rug to win the Para Championship and backed this up in the open competiton to place in the Medium Championship with a 3rd & 4th to her credit.

LYRICAL (Lontano/Tbred cross)
Anne Smith rode very well to place 2nd in the Intermidiate 1 Championship on 62.566%, 3rd in the Prix St George and won the Inter 1 Freestyle to become the FEI Champion at this show.

LE RIDDLER (Lontano/Winterkoenig)
Young Rider, Genna Harkness is improving each time she rides this lovely big gelding placing 2nd in the 1C, 3rd in the 1D, 4th in the 2C and 3rd in the 2D. Congratulations Genna

LINDY WRIGHT MEMORIAL AWARDED TO RUTH SCHNEEBERGER

The very talented and humble rider, Ruth Schneeberger was presented this prestigious award at the Mid South East Dressage Championships. This award is in memory of Lindy Wright who was very passionate about Dressage and the riders and organisers associated with this magic sport. Ruth is a "Quiet Achiever" who has demonstrated excellence in dressage in South Australia. Ruth constantly demonstrates top class horsemanship skills, her spostmanship is second to none and she has given back to the sport in so many ways.
Congratulations Ruth !

STATE DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS - SA

ROYAL DANCER (Lontano/Royal Hit)
Royal Dancer had strong competiton at the State Championships but she performed brilliantly to win both Novice tests with scores of 74.922% and 76.429% to be overall Novice Champion. The Elementary tests were also hard fought with a Reserve Championship to her credit.

LUCIOUS (Lontano/tbred)
Lucious having come back from a break with only 2 weeks work before this competiton performed very well to win both Medium tests on 69.583% and 67.375% to take out the Medium Championships. The Advanced test proved to be more of a challenge with such little work, but he performed like a trooper to be Reserve Champion Advanced horse.

FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN (Freestyle)
Ruth Schneeberger had a wonderful ride and scored 64.254% in the Intermediate 1 Championship and also won the Prix St George on 65% then back this up with a win in the Freestyle test on a score of 68.875% beoming the FEI Champion.

LUCARNO (Lontano/Wesew)
Para Rider, Lizzie Sobecki is improving with every ride on Lucarno. The duo took out the Reserve Champion Medium horse. Lizzie is looking forward to the Para Championships.

LYRICAL (Lontano/Tbred cross)
Anne Smith rode very well to place 2nd in the Intermidiate 1 Championship on 60.526%, 3rd in the Prix St George and Freestyle which placed her 3rd in the FEI Championships.

LE RIDDLER (Lontano/Winterkoenig)
Young Rider, Genna Harkness piloted the big moving gelding through the Prelim and Novice levels to place 4th in the 2C & 6th in the 1C & 5th in the 1D. This is a very exciting prospect for Genna and we look forward to watching their progress in the coming years.

South East Dressage Championships - Mount Gambier

The South East Dressage Championships was held at the Mount Gambier Show Grounds.
‘Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer’ (Lontano/Royal Hit) won the Novice and Elementary Championships.

Flowervale Freereign won the Prix St George and Intermediate 1 Championships.

Lyrical (Lontano/ Thoroughbred) competed in the Prix St George and Intermediate 1 for to 3rd placings

STATE YOUNG HORSE FINALS – Tilling Hill SA

Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer strutted around the arena to score 73.4% and take home the beautiful Chaballo rug for the Champion Young Horse 5 year old class. Ruth Schneeberger is looking forward to competing with Royal Dancer at Dressage with the Stars in March 2013.

Ponderosa Stud Royal Salute (Royal Hit/Salute) competed in the 4 year old class to place 3rd on 68% which was a fabulous effort for only 4 weeks work under saddle after coming back from the breaker.

EQUESTRIAN SA AWARDS EVENING

A fabulous night was had by all at the Annual Equestrian South Australia Awards Extravaganza. Ruth Schneeberger, Judy Clutterbuck, Alison Gray and Cheryl Hatswell attended the prestigious occasion.
‘Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer’ (Lontano/Royal Hit) won ESA Horse of the Year as well as the Be Active Novice Series. This exciting youngster will be one to watch in the future.
‘Ponderosa Stud Lucious’ (Lontano/Thoroughbred) won the Be Active Elementary Series. This was the end of the Elementary starts for ‘Lucious’ who is now well into Medium/Advanced and headed towards Prix St George for 2013.
Flowervale Freereign (Freestyle) was awarded ESA FEI Horse of the Year who is competing at Inter 1 and aiming for Grand Prix.
Ruth Schneeberger, with a huge grin on her face was presented with ESA Rider of the Year making this her 11th award for Rider of the Year, what an achievement!
The long term breeding program of Ponderosa Stud is paying dividends under the guidance from the brilliant rider Ruth Schneeberger riding these talented horses.

SADDLEWORLD DRESSAGE FESTIVAL – Werribee Victoria

‘Ponderosa Stud Royal Dancer’ had a brilliant weekend, wining the 5 year old young horse class on 76.6% then came 2nd in the Novice Dressage test on 66.786%

‘Ponderosa Stud Lucious’ sustained a cut to the inside of his forearm on the morning of the Advanced Championships. Ruth and Lucious rode very well in the Championships to be just outside the placings with good percentages 63.537% The cut unfortunately turned septic and antibiotics needed to be administered, which put an end to the Advanced Freestyle test and Medium Championships that Ruth was looking forward to riding.

‘Flowervale Freestyle’ was in super form to come a close 2nd in the Inter 1 Freestyle on 67.625% with the crowd thinking he had won it. Ruth back this up with a 3rd place in the Prix St George

Anne Smith riding Lyrical (Lontano/ Thoroughbred) came away with 6th place in the Advanced with 63.816%

MCDC CHRISTMAS CHAMPIONSHIPS LOVERBOY (Lontano x T/bred) (photo – Loverboy Aldinga)

Chris Kelly and Loverboy broke the bridesmaids efforts to become Champion Preliminary Dressage Horse and come away with a fabulous rug – CONGRATULATIONS Chris Kelly and Loverboy !!!

NATIONAL DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS - Horsley Park NSW

The Best Dressage qualified horses from around Australia nominate to compete at the prestigious event held at the lovely grounds of the Horsley Park Olympic venue. Ponderosa Stud along with Rider Ruth Schneeberger, Grooms Natalie Goldsworthy, Jo McEvoy & Cheryl Hatswell camped and enjoyed the marvelous event and all the lovely 'eye-candy' of equine horses displayed.

FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN

Ruth Schneeberger competed on her own horse in the Advanced where the duo showed off their fine form to place 8th overall in the Advanced Championship standings over the 2 tests, then rode brilliantly in the Advanced Freestyle to have a better score and place 5^th on a count back as the 4^th place rider also held the same score of 66.917%. The Prix St George was a greater challenge with 34 top dressage horses. Ruth aimed at placing in the top half of the field, of which they did with a harmonious test to score 64.579% and 14^th place.

PONDEROSA STUD ROYAL DANCER (Lontano/Royal Hit)

This talented 5 year old mare just keeps on getting better as her training progresses. She has a lot of improving to do and had many people watching her. The Novice Championship had Ruth and Dancer in 9th place overall, not far from a placing. The Elementary Championships showed how ‘new’ Dancer is at this level, but the judges liked her and made amazing comments “attractive horse with potential ( J Fowler); Great type ( Jan Smith) Promising type of horse (H Byrne) Horse can easily do the work ( S Cunningham) Lovely talented horse (Ros Quist)
The were some very nice 5 year old horses entered in the 5yo Young Horse Dressage class. Dancer was nudged into 2^nd place on a score of 7.06 only .1 behind the winning score.
Another Lontano/Royal Hit is available for purchase and can be seen on the FOR SALE page known as ‘Rasputin’ with another 2 foals by Lontano/Royal Hit due in January for purchase as well.

PONDEROSA STUD LUCIOUS (Lontano x T/Bred)

Lucious had some great moments in his test and the higher the demand the better he scored. The Elementary 3C Lucious placed 10^th just .833% from a placing. The Medium 4B placed 13th with only .926% from a placing. The judges gave great comments “Lovely horse (Jan Smith) Attractive horse (D Stock); Horse appears very willing partner & shows harmony with his rider (S Scaysbrook); Willing horse (Hannie Byrne) Consistent test (B Gibson) Ruth looks forward to riding Lucious at the higher levels competing at Medium & Advanced at the Victorian Dressage Championships.
Lontano progeny for sale and going under saddle – view the FOR SALE PAGE

SVDC ASSOCIATE CHAMPS & MCDC LEADERBOARD LOVERBOY (Lontano x T/bred)

Chris Kelly purchased Loverboy from Ponderosa Stud this year and Chris reports that she cannot believe how well the pair have performed and the partnership and trust that they have built with each other in such a short time.
At the SVDC Associate Championships Loverboy placed 1^st and 3^rd in the Preliminary to become Runner Up Preliminary Champions.
At MCDC Chris and Loverboy won the Preliminary Championships Leaderboard for the Year and also won the Highest Scored Horse for the Dressage Club.

Ponderosa Stud Horses Perform exceptionally well at the Spring Dressage Championships

Royal Dancer (Lontano/Royal Hit)

This exceptional mare turns 5 years in December and is going from strength to strength. Rider Ruth Schneeberger enjoyed the performances obtained and the talent shown from this horse over the weekend where she won the Novice Dressage Champion with scores in both test over 70%. Royal Dancer also did exceptionaly well in the Elementary Championships for a 4th & 5th placing, not bad for her 3rd competition at this level. The same bloodlines to Royal Dancer (Lontano/Royal Hit) is the stunning colt 'Rasputin' who is available for purchase and can be found on the 'for sale' page.

Lucious (Lontano/Zener t/b)

Lucious has just turned 7 years in October and is now competing in Advanced Dressage. This was his 3rd competition at Advanced level and he performed very well to place 4th. The Medium Championships Lucious won the 4B with a score of 71.04%. Ruth Schneeberger looks forward to the next Advanced tests with Lucious who is training very well with these higher movements and the judges gave very encouraging remarks as a talented horse for the future.

Lyrical (Lontano/ t/bred cross)

Lyrical is owned and riden by the talented rider instructor Anne Smith. This Duo performed very well and had lots of on lookers over the weekend. Lyrical placed 1st and 2nd in the Advanced Championships to have equal points as Advanced Champions but was runner up on a count back. Lyrical then performed a beautiful test in the Prix St George to come 2nd behind Ruth Schneeberger and her talented Flowervale Freereign who also won the Intermediate 1 Championship.


Lucarno (Lontano/Ludendorf)

Owner/rider 20 year old Elizabeth Sobecki was very pleased with her performances on the Sunday in the Medium Championships and placed 2nd in the Medium Freestyle being beaten by only 2 points with a score of 67.63%

Reynhardt

Julie Barnes bought Reynhardt as a 2 year old from Ponderosa Stud. He is now a rising 5 year old and she said she was amazed at her performances over the weekend. With only 2 weeks of work before the Championship event, this duo placed 6th in the Preliminary 1B. Julie says......."thank you for such a wonderful horse, his training has been spasmodic due to life, but hopefully moving forward we can start to produce some really great results."

Ponderosa VIP (Sire Lontano) - Sky Fewings from NSW reports on her purchase of Ponderosa VIP

Hi Cheryl,
Ralph aka Ponderosa VIP
Ralph is a one in a million horse- no truly! He was an absoulte gem to break-in, spending hrs with his nervous mother yelling at her partner "Is this right???" and Shannon sighing before yelling back "yes Its fine, you know what you're doing why do you keep asking me for??"
Well the answer is simple - Ralph is my forever horse. Some may come and go but he is here to stay, so the only nervous person through the whole breaking in was me!
Honestly everything I have thrown at this horse he has taken in his stride and put his best foot forward every time. Earlier this year was his showing debut. I managed to get him to one training day and a couple of rides with friends before our first ever comp..............in Sydney..............6hrs away!!! Pacific Coast is held at Horse World Stadium and held a few little surprises for poor Ralph- Yes there are more than 20 horses in the world, yes we can ride indoors with flashing lights and people above you and yes we can ride down steep inclines to get into the arena!!! I'm sure he spent the whole weekend saying "Really Mummy??? OK!!!" He was such a good boy! We Ran 3rd in our New Comers, Runner Up Prelim and went top 10 in our open!!!
He then competed at 2 local hack days winning Champ Hunter Hack at both and won his first trophy rug!
Seriously everywhere I go with Ralph I get stopped and told what a nice horse I have, or I walk past with him and people stop and stare at him and quite often have people come up to me and say "I watched your horse in that last class and he worked beautifully, he's such a flashy boy!"
It got to the point where it kind of became a running joke when I left him with a friend for 5 minutes and she got stopped and complemented on "her" horse!!!
His last outing was at the Nrthen NSW Hack Championships held at Lismore and once again he worked foot perfect in every class! And once again Ralph was thrown in the deep end when the rider class ran a couple of hours late and was running into darkness. The plan was to do my riding class for him to see the umbrellas and layout of the open classes so he would be familiar with it for his open hunter, which we did under lights and true to his character said "Really Mummy??? In the dark?? OK!!" and went like a bought one! We had a great weekend coming Top5 New Comers, Top5 Prelim, Top 10 Rider (That was a shock! Its been many years since competing in riders) and Top 5 in his open. I was so proud of him all weekend! and once again he left with a fan club well and truly in place.
He has also been a Model for JMS Saddleworks UK and for Liberty Equestrian Wear.
The nice part is he has a very very soft spot for cuddles- he loves them and loves to give them it only takes one pat and then that makes you fair game in the cuddling department!!! He will spot me cleaning his stable and walk all the way over to start muzzling on the back of my head while I clean his stable. Its Ridiculous! He is the same when out, will spot me and whinny and will give me or anyone really, big cuddles while waiting for a class or is quite happy just stop hang out with you.
I would lastly like to say a big thank you to Ponderosa Stud, Rob and Cheryl thank you so much for letting me purchase one very special horse

Cheers
Sky Fewings

Elizabeth Sobecki writes of her experience leading up to the London 2012 Paralympics

The Pre-Departure camp consisted of 3 days at Balmoral Equestrian centre with the Australian Team. My first ride of the camp consisted of normal dressage training under the instruction of the National Para-Equestrian Director, Julia Battams. The next day the team and I gave a freestyle demonstration to several local schools, the atmosphere was great!! Then on the 3rd and final day of the camp, the horses were trotted up early in the morning, then put onto the truck that evening and headed to the airport - where the journey to London then began. Charlie (Ponderosa Stud Lucarno) was a complete delight throughout the whole training camp, and even fell asleep in the middle of the arena when we answering questions from the school children after our display! Overall, it was such an amazing experience and opportunity to be the Australian Reserve rider for the London 2012 Paralympics. It was a complete honour to train with the rest of the Australian team - Hannah Dodd, Joann Formosa, Grace Bowman and Rob Oakley. Definitely a short week that I will never forgot. Now the training towards the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in 2014 begins!!

AUGUST 2012 LONDON OLYMPIC SELECTION

PONDEROSA STUD LUCARNO (Lontano x Valuta) and 20 year old rider Elizabeth Sobecki are the 1st Reserve for the Para Rider Dressage Olympic team - CONGRATULATIONS to both of them for their outstanding achievements leading up to their selection. The temperament & trainability of the Lontano progeny is outstanding. See the for sale page for your next talented Lontano progeny.

STATE DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS

ROYAL DANCER (Lontano/Royal Hit)
Performed beautifully with Ruth Schneeberger to win Champion Preliminary & Champion Novice taking home 2 beautiful rugs.
LUCIOUS (Lontano/T/B)
Came 3rd in the Elementary Championships winning a lovely bandage set and was Runner Up Medium Champion winning a lovely Saddle Cloth
FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN
Ruth Schneeberger had a marvelous weekend and had 3 fantastic rides winning everything, Advanced Champion and Prix St George Champion.
HARVEY BAY
Ruth says that Harvey is improving every time she rides him and his performance this weekend came away with a second in the Inter II and 2nd in the Grand Prix.
LYRICAL
Owner and rider Anne Smith rode beautifully to place 4TH in the Advanced Championships and 4th in the Prix St George. This combination will be one to watch in the future shows as they progress towards Grand Prix.
LECTRIC
Owner and rider Hazel Roberts were excited about the state championships being their 4th outing for the pair and was so pleased with the temperament of Lectric and how well he behaved and performed and Hazel is excited with this gelding future prospects.
REYNHARDT
Owner and rider Julie Barnes were on a high competing at the state champs and also very pleased with their performances of this very capable 4 year old gelding.

AWHA GALA DAY

RASPUTIN (Lontano/Royal Hit)
This supurb liver chestnut colt won Champion Colt Foal and then won over the Champion Filly to become Supreme Champion Foal
 

ROYAL DANCER (Lontano/Royal Hit)
Won Champion Led Mare, Champion Led Open Horse and the EpRM Kinnordy Gravity Trophy for Best Led Mare of the Show


LUCIOUS (Lontano/T/B)
A day of Hack classes with rider Cheryl Hatswell. Lucious won Champion W/B Studbook Ridden, Champion Open Ridden & Champion Performance Ridden

DRESSAGE & JUMPING WITH THE STARS - WERRIBEE

ROYAL DANCER (Lontano/Royal Hit)
What a crowd and great performances. Royal Dancer had a beautiful round in the 4 year old class to place 8th. Ruth Schneeberger is very pleased with her attitude to training and her temperament was outstanding, so Ruth is looking forward to a very bright future with this striking mare. Dancers full sister, Royalty is available for purchase and can be seen on the for sale page.


LUCIOUS (Lontano/T/B)
We were blown away with the amazing 6 year olds and 'Lucious' shone in the limelight in the 1st round to place 4th ahead of some very impressive imported horses. The second round had a couple of mistakes but he still scored well and placed 7th. What a show !

SOUTH EAST DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS

ROYAL DANCER
Dancer is going from strength to strength and in the Preliminary came 2nd & 3rd then became Novice Champion with a 1st & 2nd placing


LUCIOUS
Affectionately known as Cheeky, came 1st & 5th in the Elementary, then blitzed the field in the Medium Championships to win both tests and scored over 70%


FLOWERVALE FREEREIGN
Ruth Schneeberger rode 2 very nice winning tests to secure the Advanced Champion and then placed 2nd in the Prix St George.


HARVEY BAY
The delightful Black gelding is still improving in his work and delighted the crowd winning the Intermidiate 11 and Grand Prix.


LYRICAL (Lontano/ t/b cross)
Owner and rider Anne Smith rode beautifully to come 2nd in the Advanced Championships and 3rd in the Prix St George. This combination will be on to watch in the future shows as they progress towards Grand Prix.

EQUESTRIAN SOUTH AUSTRALIA AWARDS GALA NIGHT

What a fabulous dinner and evening held at the Hackney Hotel. Ponderosa Stud Lucious was presented with a beautiful rug for winning the 'BE ACTIVE ELEMENTARY CIRCUIT 2011' Ruth Schneeberger was ESA Rider of the Year & her horse Harvey Bey crowned 'FEI HORSE OF THE YEAR'.

STATE YOUNG HORSE FINAL SA

Ponderosa Stud was well represented by their riders and horses, all performing brilliantly.
LAZELL Ridden by Katheryn Wright in the 1st group of the day had a brilliant ride and a score of 71.4% ! Lazell will make a valuable asset to any rider seeking a quality horse and is listed on our FOR SALE PAGE.


ROYAL DANCER Such a lovely moving mare and a true asset to the Studs future breeding program besides the potential FEI performer for Ruth. Dancer won with Ruth Schneeberger taking home a stunning Chevallo rug inscribed with 2012 State Young Horse 4 year old winner. We wish them the best of luck at Werribee DJWS.


LUCIOUS (photo 374) Ruth and Lucious have performed consistently well together and the combination showed their strength in the accuracy of the movements required for the 6 year old class to win convincingly in round 1 and 2 at the state final on 78.8%

LUCARNO & ELIZABETH SOBECKI

Lizzie and Lucarno are competing in April aiming to secure a position on the 2012 London Paralympic team, we will keep you posted on their progress. Recently Lizzie won the Sports Person of the Year 2012 Award and was presented her award by the Tear Tree Gully Mayor, Miriam Smith. The television program "Totally Wild' has done a segment on Lizzie aboard Lucarno and this will be aired in the next month or so and the tv crew is pictured with Lizzie & Lucarno.