Blog - Bigeq Classic

Best Buy: Tornado-Proof Ponies

Oct. 20, 2011

 



It's not every day that we receive an email like this at Bigeq.com: "I have a photo from the Devon show in 2002. Is there any way to get a reprint. My house was recently hit by a tornado, and I found the print, but it is badly damaged. It was of Frankly My Dear, a chestnut."

The email arrived in June from Linda Scherder, of Elite Welsh Ponies in Bowling Green, MO, a name I recognized from 10+ years of working within the hunter/jumper industry on Bigeq.com. I've followed the “Elite” ponies from Linda's breeding program for years, having a fondness for Elite Stormfront and, of course, “Frank.”

On the afternoon of April 19, 2011, a supercell thunderstorm formed near the farm, dumping torrential rains and baseball-sized hail. Linda was trying to finish her barn chores before the rain hit when her husband began to frantically scream to go to the house. From the billowing gray clouds, a whitish whirling funnel had dropped to the ground and it was headed directly for them.

Before descending into her basement, Linda pulled out her cell phone and took a solitary picture of the awesome yet terrible force of nature bearing down on her world. The tornado swept directly through the farm, toppling trees, tearing up outbuildings, twisting and destroying fencing, several tractors, a combine, and viciously chewing away at the family home.

Miraculously, most of Linda's ponies survived the ordeal unscathed. Three of her mares, however, were in a paddock directly in the path of the tornado. Elite Tiddly Winks, a 1993 14-hand bay mare, had lacerations and a severed tendon in her hock. After two weeks of treatment at the veterinary hospital, the mare stopped putting weight on her leg and had to be put down. Tiddly Winks had been a beloved member of the Scherder family. “She was always one of those ponies anyone at any age could ride and enjoy,” Linda said.

For weeks, the family continued to find their personal belongings scattered over the property, including the mud-caked picture of Frankly My Dear. For Linda, this part of the story has a happy ending. I emailed her two digital versions of the photo so she could make as many copies as she wanted.

Linda concluded the tornado “was very devastating, but no one was hurt. The stuff we lost is stuff. It can be replaced. I did lose a wonderful pony that I will miss forever, but I still know we are very blessed.” Linda and her family are looking to the future with optimism as they rebuild the farm. She's already back to work getting their the youngsters broken and started in their training. For those ponies she hopes to sell, perhaps she can add “tornado proof” to their advertisements!

Your best buy- maybe even a ‘tornado-proof' pony- awaits you at Bigeq.com. Finding great show horses and ponies has never been easier with Bigeq.com - we're first in hunter/jumper sales online. Come shop for your next show partner and view photos and video clips... or visit to sell your quality show horses and ponies.
www.bigeq.com

More information on Elite Welsh Ponies
http://www.elitewelshponies.com/

 

By C Smith, Bigeq.com
article first appeared in the Capital Challenge Daily Update, Oct 2, 2011.

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , The Pony Zone ,


Rest in Peace, Ivy

May 3, 2010

Ivy and Laura Pfeiffer, Winter Equestrian Festival 2010

We were deeply saddened to hear that the great Ivy has passed away. He was an amazing equitation horse. Watching his expression as he galloped around a course, it seemed as though there wasn't a more cheerful or happy creature to be jumping around a course. It made watching him so enjoyable.

He's a tremendous favorite at Bigeq.com. He shot onto the equitation scene in 1999, when Missy Clark's working student Kristin Mauks spent the season training him. We, of course, started our website the same year. Back then we did a lot of photos and interviews, and Ivy was a frequent photo subject through the years.

Back when Bigeq was just a fledgling little site, Ivy was a precocious five year-old competing at his first equitation finals. As a youngster, Ivy placed in two finals with Mauks. He went on to great success with Vanessa Haas, Charlie Jayne, Haylie Jayne, and Zazou Hoffman. The latter rode him to the ASPCA Maclay title last year, a fitting climax to a long and successful career.

In honor of him, we put together a little slide show and posted it on YouTube. It contains our favorite photos of him, dating back to Devon in 2000. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXX7-CxMXTw

We also had posted a video of him last summer, taken from the early 2000s with Charlie Jayne. Here's that link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBG9IJaW-oc

RIP Ivy!!

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Show Shots ,


Cool Clips: 2000 ASPCA Maclay

Feb. 3, 2010

We were browsing through old files, and found these grainy old digital videos from the 2000 ASPCA Maclay. We thought we'd post them on YouTube, despite the poor quality, because they include several amazing equitation horses from the 2000s: Ginger, Grappa, Derrek, and Ivy. The latter, of course, was competing as recently as this past fall with Zazou Hoffman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPmrJ9K33yc

Enjoy!

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,


Cool Clips: Sara Wytrzes & Finally

Sept. 5, 2009

An oldie, but a goodie: Sara Wytrzes, the 2000 ASPCA Maclay Reserve Champion, competing at the New England Equitation Championships of the same year. Good equitation never goes out of style, and to all the equitation riders out there, let Sara's video be inspiration for your upcoming equitation finals!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPQqFXLLtJU

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,


Cool Clips: Kokopelli

July 1, 2009

Kokopelli and Paige Johnson were one of the "it" teams in the large junior hunters in the early 2000s, winning up and down the east coast. This video was taken at Devon where the pair won the coveted 15/u championship. Johnson was a prominent junior rider, with a veritable fleet of show horses: eight junior jumpers, three junior hunters and one equitation horse. Wow.


More recently, Johnson scored a more dubious title as one of "The 20 Most Intriguing Billionaire Heiresses" by Forbes Magazine in 2007. Don't worry, she wasn't the lone equestrienne. One of her peers on the list was also a fellow competitor in the junior ranks, Georgina Bloomberg. Both excellent riders. And blessed with some serious means!

Despite this, Johnson's very accomplished mother (first black female billionaire- before even Oprah!) admitted in a 2005 interview with Washington Life Magazine that "I've never known a sport that can drain more money out of your bank account."

Amen.
lol

Enjoy the video!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zO162NiNHk

 

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,


Cool Clips: Ivy

June 17, 2009

In the YouTube day-in-age that we live in, it's hard to believe that just 5-8 years ago video on the internet was fairly rare. We started adding videos to our website in 2000, but only put a few online because of memory constraints. Those souls who actually watched them from their old dial-up modem connections were brave indeed!

At this point, we've got tons of old videos collecting dust. Now that technology has finally caught up with us, why not share some classic videos from past horse shows? We'll be adding them to our YouTube channel, found at www.youtube.com/bigeq. You can sign up to be a subscriber on YouTube, or just check back here for future video announcements.

Our favorite video subject was Devon Junior Weekend- so many beautiful horses, ponies and riders in one place, at one time. We loved watching the equitation riders in the USEF medal and ASPCA maclay; or the junior hunter riders flowing smoothly around the ring; and of course we loved the pony hunters and the parade of tiny riders with bouncing braids and sweet smiles!

So our first "cool clip" from our collection of "classic" videos is of the great equitation horse: Ivy. We did a little sleuthing and discovered that Mr. Ivy is a Dutch Warmblood. He is just under 16.2h (16.1 5/8), which is surprising, because he sure looks big and impressive when on course. Chalk it up to his exceptional ring presence!


One last fun tidbit? Ivy was apparently born on Valentine's Day in 1994. Aw! During nearly a decade of competing, his riders, no doubt, sent lots of loves his way... he has placed in national equitation finals with five - yes, five! - different riders. What an amazing horse!

So enjoy this classic video of one of the best equitation horses of his generation!

IVY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
3RD 2008 ASPCA MACLAY - ZAZOU HOFFMAN
10TH 2006 USEF MEDAL FINAL - HAYLIE JAYNE
RES CHAMPION 2006 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - HAYLIE JAYNE
5TH 2005 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - HAYLIE JAYNE
3RD 2002 NORTH AMERICAN - CHARLIE JAYNE
RES CHAMPION 2001 USEF MEDAL FINAL - CHARLIE JAYNE
3RD 2001 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - CHARLIE JAYNE
8TH 2000 ASPCA MACLAY - VANESSA HAAS
7TH 2000 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - VANESSA HAAS
10TH 1999 USEF MEDAL FINAL - KRISTIN MAUKS
7TH 1999 ASPCA MACLAY - KRISTIN MAUKS
7TH 1999 WIHS EQUITATION CLASSIC - KRISTIN MAUKS

 

 

 

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,