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Get Ready for Dressage At Devon!
September 27 - October 2, 2011 marks the dates for this year's Dressage At Devon. USLR and MALA will again be jointly sponsoring a Lipizzan Individual Breed Class (IBC) at Dressage at Devon. This is a very prestigious show that offers us an important opportunity to showcase our beautiful horses and to educate the public about Lipizzans. This year we hope to see an increase in the number of participants, reminding spectators that our rare and special horses are well and thriving.
The Rescue of a Beautiful Lipizzan Soul! by Shannon Simpson
In the fall of 2010, I decided to find a trail horse, since all my young horses are sold and my stallion isn't really the trail riding type. A friend on Facebook notified me that she had seen a cross-post that a big gray Saddlebred gelding had just been rescued from New Holland, Pennsylvania auction but because the new owner’s mother was ill, she would have to re-home him. I looked at his photos and descriptions and decided to adopt the big gray Saddlebred called "King". One of his photos listed his name as Winter Carnival King; however, another friend on Facebook found out the name and the horse didn't match. No big deal, I thought.
Melanie Adams kindly took King immediately to her barn for me since I couldn't drive up to Pennsylvania that quickly. She called me to say that King wobbled out of the trailer after only a short ride, she really thought he needed to gain some weight, and she was concerned he was not in any shape to travel. She said he was the worst starved horse she had ever seen still alive. She fed him and took excellent care of him and after a month she felt he could make the trip down to my farm in Southwest Virginia from Maryland. However, she was sure he was NOT a Saddlebred. Rather, he looked a WHOLE lot like a Lipizzan -- sparse mane, speckled coat, and THAT LOOK.
Hesitant at first, I finally ordered the $47.00 DNA test from the United States Lipizzan Registry (USLR). Meanwhile, I picked him up, along with my gelding Strauss (Conversano II Destina) who had been at Sue Ott's during my pregnancy. When I saw King, I just knew he was a LIpizzan. (And he looked like Strauss!!!) Melanie and I talked about missing Lipizzans, part-breds and East Coast stallions with unregistered progeny as possibilities to check when the DNA results came in from Lisa Simmons at the USLR.
When I brought him home, I had mentally narrowed the possibilities down to Conversano II Erica, Bana Conversano, Pluto II Dixana and maybe Maestoso Sabrina II (Smokey). I was prepared to help dig through markers to see if we could identify a sire and then narrow down mares by process of elimination. But sometimes we can be just dead wrong.
Then I got the e-mail from Lisa at USLR that we had a perfect match on the DNA, which indicated the horse had been registered. I was in disbelief -- How did this Lipizzan find his way to ME when I thought I was getting a Saddlebred? Lisa did some further research, called the last owner of record and then -- You could have knocked me over with a feather! The horse I had accidentally rescued was in fact Siglavy Actress, son of Siglavy Dalea and Actress II and bred by Ingun Littorin.
I contacted Ingun and she replied in an email that she was very grateful to everybody on the East Coast who took part in rescuing Zoltan (the barn name she gave the horse when she owned him).
She said that Zoltan, born in 1992, was an extremely baroque colt. When he was three years old, he was purchased by Johannis Willenport of Sommersberg Lippizzaners in Columbia, Maryland. For a time he was used as a breeding stallion. His offspring include Siglavy Canissa (1996), Gloriosa (1996), Camilla II (1997) and Calusa (1998). He was trained in dressage by a new owner (who called him Judah) until it was discovered that he had cysts on his stifles. He had surgery at Ohio State University but he was not sound enough to return to upper-level dressage work. He was then re-homed with a lovely older lady who trail rode him. She kept in touch with his previous owner for three years through e-mails and photos. Then communication stopped abruptly. His previous owner wondered if something happened to the elderly woman, as she was not the kind of person to allow a horse to be mistreated. This is all Ingun knew about his ownership.
It was at this point that Zoltan/Judah/King went totally off the grid until he appeared half-starved at the New Holland auction. The organization "A Voice For Horses" thought he might be able to be rescued, and raised $360 to remove him from the auction. He was adopted and then I came into the picture.
When Lisa Simmons told me his name was Siglavy Actress, the name rang a bell. I mean it REALLY rang a bell but I wasn’t sure why. A Facebook post from Kathleen Donnelly remarked that Gloriosa (Siglavy Actress's daughter) belonged to people who live a few hours away. WELL THAT WAS THE BELL! Gloriosa is currently in foal to my stallion Favory IV Delta! I had checked her pedigree carefully before we bred her and was fascinated by the El Capitan bloodlines of Siglavy Actress!
So now I know his barn names have been "Zoltan" with Ingun, "Kramer" with Johannis, and "Judah" with his last owner. He likes to have "Hey Jude" sung to him. So recently I went to the barn and sang "Hey Jude" to him while he had his teeth floated. He dropped his big, bony Lipizzan head down in my arms and sighed. I cried like a baby.
I never thought I would know ANYTHING about this horse’s background. I have now spoken at great length with many people who knew and loved him. I think he will get his old loving personality back with time and love. He has both now.
So thank you to everyone who had a part in this unbelievable story, and also to Caroline Fawcett who was my cheerleader and encouraged me to have the DNA test done. And Melanie - I couldn't have done it without her! I have to believe this incredible horse was meant to be my partner.
Unfortunately, there are many Lipizzans and other horses who are suffering and need a good home. MALA asks that people do whatever they can to help these magnificent beings live with surrounded with love and compassion.