The past days on the farm have been somewhat hectic.. mowing lease pastures, moving horses to fresh ground, and continuing training have kept us all very busy.

OYY Wassee- a 3 year old gelding- is back under saddle after 2 months playing with his buddies. Seems the lay off did him good, as he went better than ever. One of the fun things about working with young horses here at Top O' The Hill Farm is; many of the horses we that are in training now are 3rd and 4th generation. Wassee is out of Lejonhud Daffodil, who was sold at 18 months old. Her new owners trained her to cart and under saddle. She came back here when those owners wanted to trade for a gelding. We rode and drove Daffodil until she was sold again, right after Wassee was weaned, to a family for a pony club horse. Daffodil is excelling in her new home. We got to use Daffodil quite a bit before she left- what a great little trail horse-- fun to ride with wonderful comfortable gaits. Daffodil is out of our Honeybee Gal and Colonel's Pasqualie Kid. Honeybee is an elderly broodmare now- we've never ridden her- but we did ride "Pasco"-- and not only did he sire many super riding horses, he himself was a forward comfortable mount. Honeybee's Dam is Buffalo Gal, from Fredell breeding. Honeybee's sire is Mel's Bathtub Gin, another old line Curly. My daughter used him quite a bit for 3 day camping trips- he was a champ at rough trail. My daughter was 12 or 13 at the time-- and "Tubby's" gaits were so smooth- other riders couldn't help but remark how comfy it looked to sit to his trot-- steady and ground covering. She also rode Pasco's dam- Little Pet, from the Bratcher/Fredell line -- and she was also a super smooth riding horse.

Wassee's sire is The Mighty Quinn-- who was born here and until his sale, was one of our favorite prospects under saddle. So much fun to ride and train-- with his willing attitude and talent for almost anything. Quinn had 3 offspring. We've had the opportunity now to train and ride 2 of them so far (the 3rd is still only 2 years old). Wassee has inherited lots of Quinn's attributes and will mature to be a sporty horse like his Dad. Quinn is out of our Lilly, who was also born and trained here. All of her foals have made wonderful riding mounts with vast talent and extremely comfortable gaits. We've done a lot with Lilly when she didn't have a foal by her side.. competing in many shows- western pleasure, all breed shows, dressage, etc. She's just a plain outstanding horse- for riding and breeding.

Here's a photo of Lilly with her trophy's.

Quinn's sire is Peacock's Banner- who was also a wonderful kind stud. My kids rode him often on the trail -- we also have had the chance to train and ride several of his offspring.

So all in all-- Wassee can't help but be a winner with his genetic make up. It's gratifying to be able to train and ride so many of the horses in a "family" and see how disposition and gaits are passed on through the generations. This is part of what makes breeding horses so addictive- working with the bloodlines and tracking the improvements made in the offspring. We are fortunate for the opportunity to train and ride/drive many of the growing foals before they leave the farm.

Enjoy the day ~