The Twain Accepted as an Approved Oldenburg Sire

The Twain

We are thrilled to report that our Thoroughbred stallion, The Twain, has been approved as an Oldenburg sire. We couldn't be happier for this stallion, as he truly deserves the recognition as a valuable sire for the future of our sport and for his ability to improve upon mares to produce a better athlete. His acceptance into this prestigious warmblood registry proves the importance of classic thoroughbred lines, and the need for them in all of the sport disciplines.

His sire, Green Dancer, was a stakes winner in France, winning the French Classic before retiring to stud. He went on to Kentucky for breeding, where he sired many million dollar winners, as well as steeplechase stars. Green Dancer was named the French Leading Sire in 1991.

The Twain brings the blood of NIJINSKY to the front of his papers as his grandsire. During Nijinsky’s brilliant career, he became an English Triple Crown winner, set a European earnings record, was Europe’s Horse of the Year in 1970, and was syndicated for a world-record price. He was historically important for establishing the international reputation of his sire, Northern Dancer. Retired to stud at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, Nijinsky was the Leading Sire in Great Britain, Ireland and eventually the Leading Broodmare Sire in North America.

Sir Tristram, sire of The Twain’s dam, was the greatest Thoroughbred stud in New Zealand racing history. He was Irish-bred and raced in Ireland, England, France and also in the U.S. in the Kentucky Derby. He was then bought and retired to stud in New Zealand, where he sired over 140 stakes winners and an extraordinary 45 group one winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. One of the most sought after performance sire lines of modern day breeding, Sir Tristram’s influence has been incredibly widespread, particularly in International Show Jumping and Eventing.

All foals by The Twain out of warmblood mares (of any accepted registry) will be eligible for testing and branding as an Oldenburg, while other breeds will be eligible for ISR.

Below are examples of some of Twain's foals out of warmblood mares born in 2017.

VIDEO UPDATE: Incantare DF

We are proud to present the 2016 Holsteiner filly, Incantare DF. This extremely exciting filly boasts superior bloodlines for world class Eventing with a very high dosage of Thoroughbred blood. Her sire, Mighty Magic is 3/4 blood, being by the full TB sire, Mytens xx, and out of a Holsteiner mare by the legendary Heraldik xx.  "Candy" is out of the full Thoroughbred mare Crimson Twain DF xx, who is by the very impressively bred Thoroughbred stallion, The Twain. In fact, Incantare DF, has very similar lines to Eventing legend and two time Olympic Gold Medalist, La Biosthetique Sam, ridden by the incomparable Michael Jung. Incantare DF has a heart the size of Texas and will certainly have the fortitude to contest the world's toughest tracks in the future.

VIDEO UPDATE: Chosen One DF

We are proud to present Chosen One DF, a 2016 Premium Holsteiner colt, who was the highest scoring foal of last year's inspection. He was much admired and the comment from the judge was that "this is the exact type we are trying to breed for". By Coconut Grove xx and out of a Diarado/Cassini II mare, "Uno" has a plethora of Grand Prix Show Jumpers behind him and will no doubt be an impressive jumper as he matures. He is beautifully smooth across the top line, and has a balanced and expressive way of going. His temperament is kind and respectful, making him a very exciting prospect for the future.

We can't wait to watch this brilliant youngster develop!

The Academy @ Dragonfire Can Help Your Child Thrive

Established in 1977, Dragonfire Farm is a family owned and operated business that boasts three generations of equestrians and over a century of combined horsemanship and show ring experience. With two International Three-Day Event riders in Earl and Jennifer McFall,  a World Champion Dressage rider in Cheron Laboissonniere, and a team of highly qualified Academy Instructors, Team DF cannot be beat.

Our Academy encourages children to explore the mental and physical benefits of horseback riding, with a strong emphasis on horsemanship and the responsibilities of caring for their equine partners. Academy Riders are introduced to friendly competition and learn the values of sportsmanship and working together as a team. Compassion for animals and fellow competitors is instilled through our program's teaching.

The Academy @ Dragonfire is a top vendor for local Charter Schools, giving home-schooled children the opportunity for a well-rounded physical education. If your children attend South Sutter, Inspire (formerly known as Summit), Visions, or  a Charter encompassed by Pacific Charter Institute, starting your child in riding lessons is just a call to your Educational Specialist away. Studies have shown that an active interest in sports, such as horseback riding, and the arts have a positive impact on a child's ability to succeed academically. Here at Dragonfire, we have seen this to be true in many of our past and present students.

Through equestrian competition, we can help to give your child the tools necessary to understand that a strong work ethic and focus on setting goals is the way to success. 

The Academy @ Dragonfire is here to help your children achieve and thrive! Contact Cheron at 916-204-4247 to schedule your first lesson today to see how we can change your child's life for the better!

Dragonfire To Host Susie Hutchinson February 11-12, 2017

Hall of Fame Inductee: Susie Hutchinson

We are thrilled to be hosting a clinic with Susie Hutchinson here at Dragonfire February 11-12, 2017. Her illustrious career is filled with far too many Grand Prix wins to mention, and an impressive list of lifetime achievement awards.  Her dedication to the sport and her incredible insight for what horses are thinking, combined with a happy sense of humor, make her a fantastic teacher and easily relatable to all levels of riders.

Auditors are welcome for a $10 per day charge. Auditor badges can be purchased on arrival. A light snack bar will be available.

Group 1: 8AM-10AM
Caroline Dein (Zoey)
Rivka Ogorzalek
Wendy Clark
Domenic Arrabit
Taylor McFall
Rachel Graham

Group 2: 10AM-12PM
Caroline Dein
Tanni Griggs
Toni Zierold
Morgan Wenell
Cat Kische

Group 3: 12PM-2PM
Erin Serafini (Lily)
Earl McFall (Scotty)
Jackie Martin-Castro
Caroline Dein
Stephanie Nicora
Jen McFall (Stoney)

Group 4: 2PM-4PM
Erin Serafini (Ducky)
Payton Broby
Marissa Neilsen
Emily Ose
Wendy Brownlee

Group 5: 4PM-5PM
Erin Serafini (Rosie)
Jen McFall (Billy)

Please call Jen at (916) 709-0455 with any questions and we look forward to a great clinic with the LEGEND!

Teamwork, Success, and Future Plans For Clare Bastian

We are very excited to introduce our newest guest blogger, Clare Bastian. Clare recently attended the 2016 Sierra Pacific Regional Pony Club Show Jump Rally with other members of Deer Creek Pony Club. Deer Creek is based here at Dragonfire and Clare is an Academy @ Dragonfire Rider as well as a member of Team DF. We asked her to give us her perspective on their wildly successful rally.

​Show Jump​ Rally 2016 

By Clare Bastian

It happened! I finally found the perfect pony...I mean it only took 3 months of lying awake for countless nights, hoping for the opportunity to lease a horse. I had recently outgrown my last lease horse, skill wise... and I was dying to get back in the saddle. So, as you can imagine, when the word got out that Kilbarry Prince was for lease, of course, I was the first one in line. If you don’t already know who Prince is, I assure you, you would be the first in line too... that is, if he wasn’t already taken. *wink wink*

A few weeks ago, Prince and I competed in the annual Show Jump Rally. This year it was held at The Murieta Equestrian Center. It was our first competition together and I'm not going to lie, we did pretty awesome together.

Clare piloting Prince to a fast and clear round

Jump Rally started off like any other Pony Club Rally. Exciting, fun and a bit stressful. The first morning went fairly smoothly aside from a few minor complications. One small wound, an ill-fitting girth and a mysterious disappearing hoof pick later, I was ready to ride. I was the second to last rider in a division of 10 riders, so I had a lot of waiting-around-time in between my course walk and warm up. At this juncture I spent many minutes just standing outside the warm up ring...or at least I tried to stand. Prince would not sit still! Although it was kind of exasperating, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Normally Prince is not the most forward horse out there (he's Irish, what can I say) but I took his restlessness to mean that he was going to be spicier than usual. And spicier he was! I even got a little buck out of him in the warm up ring!

My first two rides of the weekend were fantastic! I went clear in both my jumper round and my equitation round. Plus, Prince and I had the fastest time in our division. I was extremely relieved when I was finished riding. I had been quite anxious about my ride for about two weeks. Prince had been stopping at jumps a lot, but with a lot of help from my trainers, I was able to fix this problem (for the most part). I wasn't completely confident though, so when I finished my rounds completely clear, I was overjoyed!

Although my rides were definitely the highlights of my day, they weren’t the only thing I will remember about Jump Rally. The level of partnerships that my team members showed amongst each other was one of my favorite parts about the rally as well. In case you aren't familiar with Pony Club rallies, each club competes as a team, or multiple teams, depending on the amount of members. Each team consists of three or four riders. At the end of the rally each individual competitor’s scores are added together with their other team members’ scores. The overall score is a reflection of your team’s riding and horse management. In past rallies my team members and I encountered many issues in our horse management, riding, and teamwork skills. We have done nothing but improve over the past four years and Jump Rally is probably one of the best examples of this. Although it took awhile to figure out how to work together as a team, we finally have it figured out and we work so well together it’s almost as if we are working as one.

The second day went a lot like the first, amazingly well. Everyone on my team got clear rounds, we did great in horse management (I don't think we even got any points docked on Sunday), and we had tons of fun! There was a large gap of time between our rides and the awards. Despite this long wait, there was never a dull moment in our tack room. It seemed like we had a new inside joke to add to the ​extremely long list of already existing jokes every few minutes! When scores were finally posted, I can assure you we were not disappointed! My team (Deer Creek 1) won first place overall and first place in horse management! Also, one member got Champion in her division and I got Reserve Champion in my division! It was incredibly exciting and we all broke out in, “We are The Champions,” as soon as the award ceremony was over.

Deer Creek Rally members celebrate a team effort

In a week or two I will be competing in the Fresno Horse Trials. This will be my first time competing in an event and I'm SUPER excited!!!!!!! In a way I owe this opportunity to Jump Rally because Jump Rally is what compelled me to find a new lease horse in order to compete! And, since Prince and I did so well at Jump Rally, my mom decided to let me compete in my first event this month in Fresno.

Even though I've only been riding Prince for a month he has already taught me so much, not only about riding, but about myself. He has helped me form and finalize my near term and future goals. Before riding Prince, I really didn’t have any ambitions beyond competing in a couple of Pony Club rallies per year and possibly a Jumper show or two. Now I have a passion for riding, which I believe that I’ve always had. I just needed the right horse to ignite my fire. I want to ride more, show more, and become a better rider! All I can think about day and night is my future as a rider. I want to go to Rolex someday and maybe even the Olympics. I want to break records, I want to be the best, and I want to win. In just 1 month I have learned so much from Prince and I am curious to see what he’ll teach me in the next few months!

Although it took a lot of patient waiting, hoping and dreaming, I finally found the perfect pony. The faint sketch of my future as a rider hidden deep in my mind is starting to become a beautiful, colorful painting that I think about all the time. I am so optimistic about what the future brings for Prince and me! He is the most wonderful “unicorn”, even if he does misbehave at times. Prince has already taught me so much and I've been so lucky to be able to ride him. Jump Rally was an opportunity for me to realize just how much riding means to me and I can't wait to see how Prince and I do at the Fresno Horse Trials! 

Clare and Prince

Thank you Clare for this wonderful blog!

Hallelujah DF Crowned USEA Future Event Horse Champion

Hallelujah DF

Hallelujah DF has recently been named the West Coast USEA Overall Yearling Future Event Horse Champion. Owned by Cheron Laboissonniere, this Premium Holsteiner filly is by Mighty Magic and out of Colombia BF.

 In 2010, Mighty Magic was the World Champion of seven-year old event horses in the CCI 2** at Le Lion d’Angers, France, after having taken silver the year before at the same venue in the class for six-year olds. He is a son of Mytens xx, a breeding stallion that has combined the marvellous thoroughbred type with the popular warmblood qualities, rideability and show jumping potential. Mytens xx presented a spectacular leg and back technique as well as a tremendous scope over the jumps. Dam’s sire Heraldik xx was one of the best refining stallions in earlier breeding history and very popular all over Germany. He was of special interest for breeding event horses, and is responsible for many of today's Olympic and WEG champions. The granddam Fiona VIII was bred to Contender and gave birth to the advanced level jumper Conradin 3 with whom Janne-Friedericke Meyer started to participate at international competitions in 2005. Heraldik xx can be frequently found in the first generations of successful international event horses. Lavall I carries a high percentage of thoroughbred blood as well. Together with Ladalco, the winner of his stallion licensing, again you can find an increased thoroughbred influence further down in the pedigree via Ladykiller xx, Sacramento Song xx, Anblick xx and Waldenser xx. And that’s not all: In fifth, sixth and seventh generation, there are Mephisto, Laertes and Cornett, three more representatives of the Manometer xx, Ladykiller xx and Cottage Son xx –lines. There is almost 90% thoroughbred blood in Mighty Magic’s pedigree. On his dam side, Mighty Magic is a representative of the Holstein line 1947 that produced the following important breeding stallions for different breeding areas: Alibi de Laubry (Netherlands), Angriff (Holstein), the fantastic Cambridge (privately owned stallion in Holstein), Consens (privately owned stallion in Holstein), Contini (Warendorf state stud stallion), Exkurs (Holstein, Netherlands), Lehnsherr GL (privately owned stallion in Rhineland), Leon (Holstein) as well as Quick Dancer I and II (privately owned stallions in Baden-Württemberg).

Hallelujah's dam, Colombia BF, is by Diarado who is brilliant in his type, superior in his appearance and possesses extremely precious bloodlines. A winning stallion from top to toe, combined with fantastic movements and a jet black coat. His abilities seem endless - effortless, quick and superior with an ideal bascule he was the topic of every conversation at the Holstein stallion approvals. Like pearls on a string he combines the big names of the Holstein breeding through his dam which is by the outstanding sire Corrado out of a Contender-Lord-Ramiro dam. Amongst the highly successful descendants of the grand Holstein lineage 318 d2 are the international show jumpers Cabrio/Toni Hassmann, Morales/Dr. Michael Rüping and numerous licensed stallions such as Corofino I and II, Coriano, Crawford, Chello I and II as well as the licensing-champion Camiros (sire of Maya Black's Doesn't Play Fair). His sire Diamant de Semilly ridden by Eric Levallois was member of the French gold winning team at the world championships in Jerez and won the team silver medal at the European championships the following year. Bred for performance, he has been consistently named "best sire of young horses" at the French championships in Fontaineblau . He can look upon an entire armada of international top-class horses and by now belongs to the most sought after sires in France. Grandsire Le Tot de Semilly was also internationally successful and is considered to be one of the best show jumping producers in France. Colombia's damsire is the ever-popular, Cassini II.

In FEH classes, horses are judged on both their conformation and the quality and correctness of their gaits.  Upon entering the arena, their handlers are asked to stand the horses up for inspection to allow the judge to analyze the strengths and weaknesses in their conformation.  Then, they are asked to walk a 15-meter triangle, and then trot a 30-meter triangle.  Finally, they are asked to stand up one last time for the judge to make their final observations.

After besting the Filly division, Hallelujah DF went on to become the overall champion across the yearling division. We are absolutely thrilled with this filly's success thus far and eagerly look forward to her future.

Hallelujah DF