How could I possibly have know when I decided to go look at a Lipizzan mare in February of 1994 what it would lead too. I grew up with horses but had not had one for many, many years. When a friend said that she knew someone that had a Lipizzan for sale I was dying to go and see her, but I had no intention of actually buying her. Lipizzans were just a childhood fantasy. Disney's "Miracle of the White Stallions". Real people didn't actually own them!

It was on a miserably cold and foggy day that I meet my first Lipizzan. She was muddy, aloof, had only been ridden a couple of times in the last three years (what a match for someone that hadn't ridden in 20 years) and was intermittently unsound. So of course I did the sensible thing.........I bought her. The mare was Politica, and I will forever be grateful to this beautiful and special mare for introducing me to the Lipizzan breed.

If my husband had know what he was getting into when I asked to buy that first mare I am not sure he would have agreed. He now claims that there should be a prenuptial "disclosure" requirement where you confess your "horse addiction" before marriage. Oh well, its too late now!

Politica was soon followed by a house with property so she would not have to be boarded. The house with property was followed by our second mare Empressa. By this point we had decided that we would like to have a small breeding farm, so we bred the mares. Does anyone see a pattern developing here?

In the course of breeding we decided that if we were going to be serious about raising Lipizzans we would need a stallion. So we purchased the spectacular young stallion Siglavy Con Bria. That was November 1996. We had our first two foals due in the spring. We had our mares and our future breeding stallion. The plan was, NO MORE HORSES!

Then the call came in February of 1997 telling me that a sixteen year old Temple Farms bred stallion was available, and asking if I would take him. Remembering the "NO MORE HORSES" mantra, without hesitation, I said ....YES.  Conversano II Grace (aka Gracen) arrived in our lives one week later. We agreed to take Gracen sight unseen. He is a retired liberty horse from a world famous  circus.  We knew his name, his height, and that he was "special".  At worst, we felt that we were giving a deserving old soul a wonderful retirement home. If we were lucky, we would have a suitable breeding stallion to fill the gap while our young stallion grew up.

As we waited for our new stallion to step off the van nothing could have prepared us for the spectacular stallion that appeared before us. Gracen is the embodiment of the classic Lipizzan stallion. There is a beauty, magnetism and presence that I cannot put into words. Everyone that meets this wonderful stallion is drawn to him. He is truly special.

As winter passed into spring we anxiously awaited our first foals.  We were presented with two very lovely fillies, Prima and Enya.  What a joy those babies were!  To first watch their births, and then to watching their progress as they grew and matured.

Up until the winter of 1998, having and raising horses had been nothing but a positive and joy filled experience for us. That all changed in a flash when we found our nine year old mare Empressa down and obviously in extreme pain. The immediate thought was colic, or something wrong with the pregnancy (she was seven months in foal). Even now,  years later tears begin to flow as I think of that day.  She had colitis,  from a cause which was never identified.   After several days in the hospital with ups and downs, but seeming improvement she took a turn for the worse and we were forced to make the most agonizing decision of our lives.  When it became obvious that there was no hope and that we would only cause her to suffer by prolonging the inevitable, we let her go.  She left this world peacefully with her beautiful head cradled in my arms.  She leaves us with the beautiful filly Enya to remember her by.

And somehow, out of the sadness came a new joy with the addition of the wonderful mare Valdamora.   This is the horse that is going to make a rider out of me.  Beautifully trained, with a generous nature and wonderful gates, this mare is FUN!  Not only is "Amora" an accomplished dressage horse, she is a wonderful jumper.  I will be introducing her to trail riding, and maybe even to a few cows at one of the local "cow clinics" (her life until now has been mostly arena work).   For her part she has taken me to my first ever dressage show, where we scored a respectable 62.7.  I haven't shown since I was 12 years old, and that was with a pony in a buggy!

The most recent addition to our little herd is Libertá.  This new filly is the first foal sired by our stallion Gracen, and if this baby is an example of what he will produce, he is going to be an exceptional sire.  Of course, I am suppose to be raising these babies to sell (that's what I keep telling my husband) but I fall in love with each one of them.   And this one is definitely special.

The Lipizzans is a very unique breed and I love sharing them with others, so I hope you enjoy our web site.  Email us with any questions you might have, or if you are in the Sacramento, CA area, come and meet our horses in person.

To hear what has happened since the Spring of 1998 click here.

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