[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” padding_top=”80″ padding_bottom=”80″ css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1477590545898{padding-right: 50px !important;padding-left: 50px !important;}”]<\/p>\n
Janna Weir Goldman:
\nFriesian Horse Seller and Devotee<\/h5>\n
by Jane E. Simmons \u00a9 2005 Janna Weir Goldman rides Friesian gelding Black Sterling bareback through the wine country of Northern California.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n World Grand Champion Saddlebred equitation rider Janna Weir now deals in Friesian Horses from Europe. \u201cIn 2005,\u201d she \u201cimported and sold 170 Friesians\u201d\u2014that\u2019s about one sold horse every two days\u2014making her company \u201cthe largest importer of Friesians in North America.\u201d Except for those she brought to her ranch, she did not feed, vet, muck the stalls, ride, or train many of these 170 horses.<\/p>\n Janna sold most of them through her business\u2019 Internet site. She travels \u201cto Holland and personally hand-picks\u201d the distinctive black horses she offers for sale on her Website. Some she imports to her ranch and then sells. To work with these Friesians, she has on staff at least one Level 2 dressage rider from Holland living at her ranch throughout the year. A different girl rider comes, when the last one\u2019s three-month visa expires.<\/p>\n Currently, Fairytale Friesian Finder Service , INC, Inc., which she owns with her husband, Ron Goldman, \u201cis the most respected importer of well trained Friesians in the United States,\u201d Janna told me. \u201cOur prices are the most reasonable in the industry, starting at $9,900 for a FHANA [Friesian Horse Association of North America] registered Friesian, and we are breeding some beautiful babies.\u201d These horses \u201cexcel in saddle seat and dressage.\u201d However, she is \u201ca rider more than a trainer,\u201d Janna noted.<\/p>\n The Goldmans\u2019 \u201chorse ranch is located in Sonoma Wine Country. We have a 13-stall barn, pastures, a Mediterranean villa, and an all weather arena. We purchased the ranch following our 2000 wedding. He was a widower with two children: Andy, then seven years old, and Julia, age 11.\u201d<\/p>\n At age 11, Janna \u201cstarted riding Saddlebreds, with Martha Wilhelm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.\u201d With her young stepchildren in this same age bracket, she \u201cthought horses would be a wonderful avenue and hobby for our entire family.\u201d So, following their wedding, husband \u201cBlu\u201d and Janna \u201cresearched different breeds. We fell in love with the Friesians for their incredible beauty, intelligence, and kind willing nature.\u201d Also, \u201cI could train them myself, and show AND trail ride the same horse on the same weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n The horses \u201cfor us are a family endeavor and we are do-it-yourselfers. We haul the Friesians to the shows, groom and bathe them, muck the stalls, clean the tack, and do all the training ourselves, and we have a blast doing it!\u201d<\/p>\n Janna said: \u201cMy family and I have a fabulous time showing our two geldings\u2014Black Sterling and Stormy Seas\u2014in Friesian Under Saddle, and Open English Pleasure classes up and down the West Coast.\u201d She and Black Sterling \u201cin five years of competition have amassed something like 100 blue ribbons.\u201d<\/p>\n Black Sterling came into her life \u201cin 2000, and in these last five years of showing him, he has won absolutely everything to be won out here on the West Coast.\u201d They \u201cprimarily compete against American Saddlebreds in Open English Pleasure classes.\u201d The gelding \u201chas been like an ambassador for the breed, peaking great interest among the saddle seat participants at every major USAE [United States of America Equestrian] show\u201d in which they have entered. This has \u201cresulted in Friesian divisions being added to every Saddlebred show in California,\u201d Janna pointed out.<\/p>\n At the \u201cpopular annual event called Dressage In The Wine Country,\u201d Janna was \u201cchosen in 2002 to present an exhibition riding Black Sterling saddle seat. Thousands of dressage enthusiasts at this Northern California event enjoyed watching the elegance of saddle seat on a bold and majestic Friesian,\u201d she reported.<\/p>\n As for the other members of the family: teenager \u201cJulia attends Anne Speck\u2019s equestrian camps in San Diego every chance, and shows the Friesian gelding Stormy Seas. Blu loves showing Stormy in driving and pleasure classes.\u201d Janna\u2019s attorney husband \u201cwishes there were Open Western Pleasure classes for the Friesians, so he could do that too,\u201d she revealed. Andy \u201crides 12-year-old Black Sterling with no bridle or halter, and bareback.\u201d Ron Goldman \u201cis a full time Medical Malpractice Defense Attorney with his own law firm in Tiburon, California.\u201d He also counts himself \u201cas the number one full time ranch hand too,\u201d she commented.<\/p>\n This year, Janna \u201cbrought out\u201d on the West Coast \u201ca new five-year-old gelding named The Black Ferrari. He truly rides like a Ferrari,\u201d Janna said. The Friesian\u2019s \u201cregistered name is Ate, and he was started by Melissa Moore,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has won at the Devon [ Pennsylvania] show both as a three-year-old and a four-year-old. He is now five.\u201d<\/p>\n During 2005, a Saddlebred came back into Janna\u2019s life. She \u201cpurchased Champion French Silk Stockings before the Louisville show\u201d in August. \u201cRidden by Loni Fuller, \u2018Frenchie\u2019 went on to win the American Saddlebred Juvenile Three-Gaited English Show Pleasure Age Group, and was Reserve World Grand Champion Juvenile Three-Gaited Pleasure Grand Champion winner at the Kentucky State Fair Horse Show.\u201d After the show, \u201cour trainer, Bill Tomin, bought Frenchie for his wife Debbie to ride.\u201d The Tomin family lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California.<\/p>\n The last time Janna herself \u201cshowed a Saddlebred was in 1992\u201d when she \u201cwon the UPHA [United Professional Horsemen\u2019s Association] Adult Saddle Seat Equitation National Championship at the World\u2019s Championship Horse Show\u201d in Louisville. She rode I\u2019m Fit To Be Tied, a horse she \u201cleased from Marilyn Macfarlane for that one class.\u201d<\/p>\n In preparation for the class, Janna \u201ctook Heather Boodey\u2019s diligent lessons, and worked with Heather almost daily at her stable in North Carolina. This persistence helped her realize her goal. Without Heather\u2019s help, I would have been sunk,\u201d she said. \u201cI went to Heather\u2019s barn, took off my business suit, put on jods, and practiced riding.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1993, \u201cI was chosen as a member of the Saddle Seat World Cup Team, but just before the competition, I was diagnosed with a Level 2 malignant melanoma on the calf of my leg. That required immediate removal. The alternate got to take my place on the team.\u201d Janna is \u201cnow cancer free.\u201d<\/p>\n All of her life, perseverance has served to move this 5\u20197\u201d, brown-eyed, auburn haired young lady toward her goals, even as a child.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first Saddlebred was a $750 pretty bay gelding named High Voltage. My parents, Donald and Donna Weir, bought the horse for me to learn the basics of saddle seat equitation. The horseman who sold us the horse said he was 14 years old and IDEAL for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Janna remembers her excitement about \u201cshowing at the 1976 Cattle Congress in Iowa. It would have been my first time riding in a horse show.\u201d Her mother Donna, \u201can extremely talented seamstress, made my first riding suit\u2014which fit better than any suit since. I was to debut in the age 10 and Under Equitation class. My instructor, Martha Wilhelm of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had me well prepared.\u201d Then, \u201ctwo days before the show, the horse died. We had owned him for 30 days, when he died of colic. We were informed by the vets that the horse was actually 29 years old.\u201d Dr. Weir\u2019s family lived in Cedar Rapids, at that time. Out of her determination, she got her \u201csecond Saddlebred, a stunning dapple grey pleasure horse named Silver Sea that really was 12 years old.\u201d This was in Cedar Rapids. One cold Iowa day, \u201cthe one-time champion Fine Harness horse slipped on some ice and fell\u201d leaving her 11-year-old rider \u201cwith a major concussion.\u201d Hospitalized \u201cfor three days,\u201d Janna was \u201cfound to have ear damage that caused hearing loss for many years.\u201d Janna \u201cshowed for one year in the Midwest,\u201d before the Weir family \u201cmoved back to North Carolina due to my father\u2019s employment.\u201d<\/p>\n Happiness continued for Janna. \u201cMy family boarded Silver Sea at a local hunter\/jumper barn. I trained her myself. My grey horse and I were high point champions on the Coastal Plain Horse Show Circuit for four years in a row. We won numerous North Carolina State Championships, both in pleasure and in equitation,\u201d Janna said. Eventually, Silver Sea \u201cbecame my practice horse. I rode equitation on various show horses with Randy Cole, Ron Lee, and Bill and Nancy Becker in North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n The next Saddlebred brought sadness back. \u201cMy third Saddlebred was a pretty, but pricey gelding, former World\u2019s Champion named Bold Vanity.\u201d<\/p>\n Janna recounted the horrible incident: \u201cWe had had Bold Vanity for only a few weeks, when I went to his stall at the Roanoke Horse Show, and then it happened: the 16.3 hands high horse bit my left forearm and with my arm in his mouth, raised his head up so high, my feet were not touching the ground. He slammed me repeatedly into the stall walls. I tried everything to get the horse to release me, while screaming bloody murder, but help was five minutes in coming.\u201d Medical care showed \u201cthe horse had bitten a piece of my bone off, and nearly killed me. My arm became infected. Surgery was required to remove bone fragments.\u201d<\/p>\n Happiness returned. At another horse show, \u201cmy mother and I were awed by a certain redhead who was the only woman we had ever seen acting as both trainer and instructor. We decided I would ride with her. This redhead pistol of energy was Marilyn Macfarlane of Simpsonville, Kentucky.\u201d The year was 1981. \u201cShe found me a challenging four-year-old walk trot horse to equitate. I now had another Saddlebred in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Sadness came back. \u201cJust days after the horse show in Raleigh, North Carolina, where we and Marilyn joined forces,\u201d Janna said, \u201cmy mother had an aneurysm burst in her brain.\u201d Donna Weir \u201cwas left severely debilitated, with extreme brain damage.\u201d Janna in 1982 moved with her \u201cfather and mother to Southern California,\u201d where Don Weir \u201cbecame Medical Director of a rehabilitation center.\u201d Her \u201cmother had to be cared for in a nursing home.\u201d The older Weir \u201csiblings in 1982 already were married.\u201d Currently, her \u201cone sister Shawnee Weir is a physician in North Carolina,\u201d and her \u201cone brother Shay Weir, is a computer engineer in Iowa.\u201d Her \u201cfather now lives in Laguna, California.\u201d<\/p>\n Happiness reappears. The Claremont High School student in California began her \u201cLONG distance commute to keep riding at Marilyn Macfarlane\u2019s\u201d in Kentucky. \u201cMy final year in equitation, which was my senior year, my father bought the incomparable Glenview\u2019s Warlock for me in 1982.\u201d Her dad was able to make the big shows to cheer her on, but for everything else, Janna was having to do it on her own. She missed her \u201cmother\u2019s support\u201d and being there \u201cto share\u201d it all.<\/p>\n Winning with her new horse helped to bring happiness again into her life. This Saddlebred \u201cmade all the bad things in the past just disappear. I feel honored, even today, to have owned and shown such an amazing animal.\u201d Janna \u201cwas the 17-year-old Equitation Champion and Reserve Grand Champion at the 1983 Lexington Junior League Horse Show.\u201d She \u201cwon the 16-17 Year Old Equitation Class and the Equitation World Grand Championship at Louisville, and the NHS [National Horse Show] Good Hands Finals at Madison Square Garden in November 1983. All year, we were first or second in every class we entered.\u201d<\/p>\n Another sad event occurred: \u201cAt the UPHA Senior Finals at the Kansas City American Royal Horse Show in 1983, the judge kept Megan Stuart and me, and four other riders, trotting around and around Kemper Arena for an unusually long time. My fantastic Glenview\u2019s Warlock literally broke down during that class, which lasted 50 minutes. He went lame completely from giving himself with every step he took. He was never the same again.\u201d Janna told me she has \u201cthat class on tape.\u201d<\/p>\n Following her graduation from high school, Janna \u201centered Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1983.\u201d While at Stephens, she returned home for the funeral of her mother. At Stephens, she \u201cstudied Equestrian Science\u201d and received her \u201cAssociate Arts degree in 1984.\u201d She \u201creturned home to California to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu.\u201d Janna received her \u201cBachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1987.\u201d<\/p>\n The first job newly graduated Janna accepted \u201cwas teaching 6-12 year-olds in a ski school in Vail, Colorado.\u201d She did this \u201cfor three years.\u201d In 1991, she \u201cbecame the Sales Representative for BellSouth Advertising & Publishing in Raleigh, North Carolina.\u201d While with the company, she \u201cwas awarded Rookie of the Year and got the highest sales award for every directory\u201d she worked. She was back in her native state, having been \u201cborn in Chapel Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n Once with BellSouth, she \u201creturned to riding horses, studying with Heather Boodey\u201d in North Carolina. \u201cWhile practicing riding at the Saddlebred stable in preparation for showing at the 1992 UPHA Adult Saddle Seat Equitation National Championship,\u201d which she won, Janna \u201cwas recruited by a Manager at Glaxo Welcome, a pharmaceutical company.<\/p>\n In 1993, she \u201cmoved to Indianapolis, Indiana to work as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative for five years for Glaxo Welcome.\u201d While with this company, Janna \u201cearned President\u2019s Club status for being in the top tier of Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives for three years in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n Janna \u201cwas recruited by Amgen, a biotech company, and worked as an Oncology Specialist in Santa Cruz, California.\u201d She was \u201cwith this company until 1998.\u201d She married in 2000, and then she and Ron launched Black Sterling Friesians, in 2001. You may contact Janna Weir by writing to janna@blacksterlingfriesians.com or calling 415-272-2112 [vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” background_color=”#c7c2b7″ border_color=”#e8e5df” padding_bottom=”25″ css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1476671772718{padding-top: 45px !important;padding-left: 50px !important;}”] About Us [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1590984039773{padding-top: 65px !important;padding-right: 50px !important;}”] FOLLOW US \u00a0 \u00a0 [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” padding_top=”80″ padding_bottom=”80″ css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1477590545898{padding-right: 50px…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full_width.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n
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\n<\/em><\/p>\n![\"divider-blue\"](\"https:\/\/blacksterlingfriesians.com\/fairytale-friesians\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/divider-blue.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Janna](\"https:\/\/blacksterlingfriesians.com\/images\/saddleandbridle_clip_image002.jpg\")
\nSad and disappointed, but undaunted, Janna pursued getting another horse.<\/p>\n
\nThe \u201cone thing that helped me get through this terrible ordeal in
\nmy 16-year-old life was the horses. I dove into the horses, as if I had blinkers on, spending all my summers and every high school holiday at Marilyn\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJanna Weir Goldman now devotes her time, energy, and sales talent to Holland\u2019s black Friesian Horses, and every once in a while, she also places her skills again in the Saddlebred Horse industry.<\/p>\n
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