the moose antlers - Trakehners Australia Inc.

Tam, Flicka and MeFrom Austrak to Rappenhof35 Years With the Moose Antler Horses In 3 Continents.Blame it on Mary E. Patchett, who wrote ‘Tam the Untamed’, or on my parents, who chose it as a gift for me on my 10 th birthday,the day I had my first riding lesson in my native Berlin. I became fascinated by her descriptions of her childhood on Gunyan stationnear the village Texas at the New South Wales Queensland boarder. Together with Mary O’Hara’s Flicka from Wyoming inthe American Rockies, ‘Tam’ inspired me to become a horse breeder on a continent with wide open spaces.At the same time with Tam, the silver stallion, a gray Trakehner named Leroentered my life. This beautiful horse in the Fetysz-Abdullah type, had survivedthe "trek" as a yearling and served as school horse in the Berlin riding centre ofan East Prussian refugee, a former Hanover cavalry school officer. I still havemy club membership card, showing the logo of a foal jumping over the mooseantlers. My mission became more clearly defined: to be a Trakehner breederoverseas to help to prevent another near extinction of the breed in a war. Twomore events shaped my new passion - a summer riding camp at GovernmentStud farm Achselschwang (there my idol Habicht later won the CCI Three DayEvent!) gave me the chance to groom the resident black Trakehner stallionKomet - I want to breed black Trakehners! (Actually, Komet's full brother Kobaltis Rappenhof foundation stallion Carino *E*'s maternal grandsire.) A few yearslater, during my University summer break, I worked at Olympic dressage riderRosemary Springer's beautiful Trakehner Stud Halloh near Neumuenster androde her stallion Tornado I. She owned 10 classy mares, some offspring likeHadrian (Horst Karsten, 3 DE) and Isis (Theodorescu, dressage) made it to internationaltop level. Performing black Trakehners is IT for me.For 15 years I was involved with different aspects of the equestrian sport inGermany; as a competitor in dressage up to wins at the Berlin Cup and theBerlin International Indoor, also Material and Suitability classes, later also asjudge. I won in the jumper ring and served as hunt master. Later I passed theConnie Kempter, 1973 (center) at the Berlin internationalHorse Show. "For 15 years I was involved withdifferent aspects of the equestrian sport in Germany;as a competitor in dressage up to wins at the BerlinCup and the Berlin International Indoor, also Materialand Suitability classes, later also as judge."instructor exam, on a Trakehner, of course - and finished with the Studmaster Certificate. But all this served mainly to become abetter sporthorse breeder. No win ever made me feel as happy as the birth of a healthy foal.In spring 1977, as a 28 year old, I experienced this miracle for the first time, rather nervously though; with a foaling manual inone hand I welcomed my Trakehner chestnut filly by Ibikus. Her dam, an Erzsand daughter, I had purchased with my then husbandWalter Sauer in the previous year at the Verband mare auction sale from Otto Langels, who became like Mary O'Hara, myunattainable standard. He and his family are not only still one of the leading breeders and trainers of Trakehner horses, butdeeply impressed me by his marketing skills and his exemplary customer service. Two years later came "first prize" ribbons at theTrakehner State Show of Bavaria for my broodmares, our good-bye from the German breeding scene.In 1980 I dared the big flight across the ocean with six Trakehner stallion and six Trakehner mares, establishing AusTrak Stud inthe Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Its direct neighbor was the Mounted Police Studfarm Echunga, venue of the Australian EventingChampionships. Walter only joined me three years later from Germany for divorce court… However, many of my dreams cametrue in Echunga: affordable terrain to breed on your OWN land and the chance to win new territory for the breed. A foundingmember of the Trakehner Society of Australia, I served as its registrar and PR officer. We had our meetings in the AusTrak livingroom; our first president was neighbour and Police Commissioner Laurie Draper, himself a former Mounted Police rider and fatherof a 3DE riding daughter.So many Australian horse people made me feel welcome and helped me to get settled in the horse scene, to name just a few ingratitude: Mounted Police officers John Vaughan, John Patterson, John Tenant, Bill Green; breeders Rob and Maureen McBryde,Pat and Franz Denk and the Horner family; riders Di Schaeffer and Scott Keach, Simon Kale, the Roycroft family, especially Vicki,finally dressage pioneers Marian Malecki and Erika Taylor, whom I met again in Toronto at the World Dressage championships,where she represented Australia very well, finishing in 15 th place and I volunteeered as VIP hostess. I was busy giving lessons,judging dressage at the Equestrian Federation trials, at Ponyclub ‘A’ and at horse trials. I passed the Roseworthy Collegeshow judge exam and even got to judge a big Hack Show in the Flinders Ranges and to give a weekend clinic at the WaikeriePony Club. So many fond memories!AusTrak stallions did their share to promote the race: Kassiber as Australian Champion Eventer; Polarschnee as Grand Prix showjumper with Olympian Vicky Roycroft and Koenigsberg (Kaempfer) as member of the winning state team at Gawler 3-Day Eventand as Warmblood Champion Horse of the Year Show. I woke up happily every morning to Kookaburras and Magpies and hadthe time of my life, though on a ‘no personal frills’ budget. I loved the rolling landscape with ghost and river gums with all myheart and it took me 27 years to get over being home sick for Australia. Part of me will always be there. These were the happiestyears of my life.The stallions all made their mark "down under" with their offspring too. The most noted among AusTrak’s purebreds were Verbandapproved Coktail son Domhardt as overall winner of the FEI Samsung Dressage Cup Group 5 '93 and Koenigsberg’s daughterNeversfelde Samonienen, Dressage World Cup finalist '95. Kassiber sired for her owner/rider M. Bruce Neversfelde Kensington,his '94 finalist. Polarschnee, when leased out to New Zealand, produced Jaegermeister, eventing Bronze medallist in Atlanta'96.