Black Sterling Friesians -

Del Mar Charity Fair
June 2005

The Del Mar Charity Fair Horse Show is one of our favorite horse shows of the year, and helps remind us what we really love about showing. Not only is Del Mar in an idyllic setting, at the Del Mar track, situated next to the ocean, it also occurs in conjunction with the Del Mar Fair.
Overall, we went to the winner’s circle 4 times, and this number could have been greater, had it not been a comedy of errors in several classes.
Every show, one horse out performs the others, and really shines, and this time it was Majestic. Majestic, our sweet gorgeous jet- black and beautiful stallion, put his heart into his performance and went undefeated in Dressage, winning 3 of 3 classes! Majestic was bright and energetic with bold movement that blew the crowd, and competition, away. His long mane and thick tail flowed together perfectly to complete the package, leaving fair goers with their jaws dropped. Majestic settled for no color but BLUE in his capture of the bulk of our winnings.
Majestic had wins in Dressage Suitability, Friesian Show Hack, and Friesian Dressage Hack-Open.These wins were highlighted by the fact that Janna, an accomplished saddleseat rider, proved that she KNOWS dressage, by beating professional dressage trainers at their own game, in the competitive dressage arena!
Blu, still “high” from his 5 wins at the Woodside Show, did not have as much luck this time out. He drove Stormy in the Open Pleasure Driving, and we were convinced that he had the class, until he cantered an entire pass when Stormy, who was supposed to be extending the trot. He gave it another try in the Championship, and again, it looked like he had the class in his grasp, until the announcer called for the walk after the horses had been trotting the first direction of the ring. Poor Blu thought he heard the announcer say “Halt”, so he promptly stopped Stormy from the trot, and just stood there, never showing a walk, until the judge called for the reverseL The Judge couldn’t possibly give Stormy the class after he failed to perform that gait. We vowed to have his hearing checked after that misfortune.
Stormy looked impeccable with Julia in the irons, in the Friesian Under Saddle Open. That is, until the Judge called for the canter second direction…Stormy smoothly picked up the WRONG canter lead, and Julia cantered all the way around the long ring on the incorrect canter lead, until she got to the exasperated Janna, who urgently told her she was on the incorrect lead. This is a morbid mistake, and it was obvious the Judge had lost his winner, because he called for a second trot before lining up, searching for a different winner! Julia left the ring with last place, rightfully so, and a scolding Janna on her heels.
Julia was out to do better in the championship, and she rode her heart out in the Friesian English Pleasure Saddleseat Championship-Open. We tried to keep our expectations low to avoid disappointment. Janna even dressed in high heeled sandals for the evening, thinking she would not be heading up any winners on Friday evening. This time Julia made SURE Stormy cantered on the correct leads. You can imagine the THRILL when the announcer called number 175 as the winner of the Championship! 15 yr old Julia beat a field of professional trainers, and laughed at Janna, who feebly tried to get Stormy’s ears up, and run backwards for the victory pass, wearing her high heeled sandals.
Ferrari [Ate’] was 2^nd and 3^rd in the Park Pleasure classes, missing a canter lead in the qualifier, and going somewhat crooked, due to a scary shadow cast in the arena, during an afternoon class. This horse seems to improve each time out, and we think he will peak sometime next year. Good things come to those who wait.
We drove the 10 hour LOOONG trip home with satisfaction in our souls.
And a bit of sadness…… Our most favorite friesian ever, Black Sterling, was diagnosed with DSLD [Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis] just before the show, ending his show career. Del Mar was ALWAYS Sterling’s show, in fact, we can’t remember him ever losing a class there. This would have been the 5^th year in a row for Sterling to win the Open English Pleasure Championship. For Janna, showing just does not have the same meaning without her Sterling horse to show. Sterling was an icon on the west coast, paving the way at saddlehorse shows, before there were even any friesian classes offered. We have never seen or owned a horse like Sterling; he was so much fun to show, it was impossible not to smile when atop Sterling. We hope Stormy and Majestic share their “horse show” stories with Sterling, when they are back in the barn together, as we KNOW Sterling wishes he could have been there, proving over and over again to the Del Mar crowd, that there IS no horse like Black Sterling.