News 2008
-keep up to date with the news and articles-
Articles
Orphan foals - Short article on my experience of rearing an orphan foal
December 2008
3rd December
I'm exhausted! Its never ending and non stop here and what a busy year! Keisha has gone off on loan to Emma in Nottingham where she joins Taraco Crossfire
and the family for a year. Emma is looking to slowing bring this gorgeous coloured mare back into work and hopefully have a fun year showing in hand and under saddle,
hacking out round the lanes and enjoying life! Thank you to Emma for looking after Keisha so well and hope you all have many hours of fun together.
18th December
It has been an exciting month and Taraco Fernando has now been broken to drive and is flying round the lanes of Essex with Clare and George at Dycott Stud.
Apparently he loves his new job, goes round with ears pricked and is a very good private driving cob! Bless him. New photos and video
of Fernando available courtesy of Clare Granger (thank you Clare) so please email me or visit his website if you are interested in seeing
my very grown up baby! The other babies are all nearly weaned - just my naughty two chestnut colts (Fireblade and Camaro) to go.
Taraco Rosetta is due home for her holidays from Wensley Stud soon and it will be lovely to have everyone at home for the New Year!
November 2008
17th November
Another very busy month with foals being weaned and Taraco Fiorenza heading off to her new home in HOlland. Massive congratulations
to her new owner. It is a long journey for the little ones and Fiorenza was somewhat apprehensive on arrival but I am sure she will
settle in very quickly. Dwyfor Saffron returned to Kent from Durris Stud in Scotland and settled straight back in as if she has never been away.
Daffie is a very well travelled mare bless her - born in West Wales she was sold at 3 years old and in the interim 11 years has been
in wales, then to Scotland, then down to Kent, then back to Scotland, then to the original stud in Scotland and now back to Kent again.
I hope she is happy to now settle here and enjoy just being part of the small herd she will be in. Thank you to Pat for thinking of me
when she was looking to sell Saffie. Both Taraco Fernando and Taraco Rosetta had a busy month too - Fernando is up at Dycott Stud for some basic ground handling
and introduction to driving which is is enjoying, and Rosetta (aka Boggy) has been at Wensley Stud where she has been doing a couple of foal shows.
Always in the ribbons in very good company this little filly is a pleasure to own and I look forward to showing her next year too. Thanks Liesl and Clare for all your hard work.
October 2008
22nd October
Two new arrivals and one departure this week - Mathfred April (by Danaway Flash Jack and out of Oben Pearl by Nebo Daniel) is an 11 year old welsh cob mare
who is joining us this week from Bookham Lodge Stud and I am pleased to announce that Ysseldvliedts Golden Boy (by Blackhill Picalo and out of Blanche Glisten
by Breachwood Marwyn) a section A stallion has joined us on lease for a year from Harold and Yvette Zoet in Holland. Please visit the stallions page for more information
on Golden Boy and I will shortly update the welsh section D page with April's details!
16th October
It has been another busy week - Taraco Rosetta, now weaned and at Wensley Stud, is being prepared ready for the foal shows so fingers crossed she follows in her siblings
footsteps (all big prizewinners!) and thank you to Leisl to showing her. Blanche Glisten arrived safely from Holland this week and has settled in very quickly.
Lapstone Paragon will shortly be off to his new home at the Uffington Stud so congratulations to Anne on her new addition!
And in amongst all the weaning, coming and going I am thrilled to announce that there will
be another new section A stallion arriving next week to stand next to Friars Golden Mark for
2009 and 2010. I am very lucky to have been allowed to lease this super little stallion and
cannot wait for him to arrive next week. Watch this space for an update when he arrives!!!!!!!
7th October
The first foals are now being weaned ready for their new homes and it won't be long before Taraco Bendigo and Taraco Fiorenza are
off on their long journeys to Holland and the Czech Republic.
It has been a busy year for me with several new additions. I am thrilled to say that
Dwyfor Saffron
is coming back to Kent, having spent the last few years at Durris Stud in Scotland. Thank
you for thinking of me Pat when you wanted to sell her.
Saffie is dam to the gorgeous palomino mare Taraco Sapphire (currently at Dwyfor Stud)
and we are looking forward to covering her in 2009. Also joining the stud shortly is
Blanche Glisten
who is joining us from Holland in foal to the stunning stallion Friars Superman. Thank you once again to
Jan for letting me buy this lovely mare.
Watch this space for more information and updates once they arrive!
September 2008
27th September
Well it was a very long drive to Fayre Oaks on Saturday for the evening 'High Flyers' sale but I am thrilled
to announce that having one to see Friars Golden Mark (a stallion I have long admired on paper),
we fell in love with this gorgeous little
stallion and when the hammer went down he was mine!!
Golden Mark is by the renowned stallion Penual Mark (making him a half brother to Springbourne
Caraway who needs no introduction at all) and out of the Royal Welsh winning mare Friars Lleucu-Llwyd.
Having searched the length and breadth of Europe for that perfect stallion
to suit my mares, I cannot be happier with adding Friars Golden Mark to the stud. I had a very long list of
'must haves'
and was thrilled when we saw this little stallion ticked every box. He has an exceptional pedigree which reads like a
"who's who" of welsh mountain ponies and most of all is a great natured family friend. Thank you to Simon for humouring my
desire to spend a small fortune on a thelwell pony; to Luke and Carol and
family at Pontgam Stud for selling him to me and also to Liesl for bringing him safely back to England!
It was a very brief visit to Fayre Oaks but I am pleased to say we finally caught up with Jan at Centennials Stud and
Harold (Ysselvliedts Stud) - it was nice to finally put faces to names!
August 2008
13th August
The mares are all home from stud - so a big thank you to all the stallion owners for letting me use some really extra special stallions again this year.
Fingers crossed they are all in foal! Unfortunately Pendam Sally has reabsorbed her foal this year so won't be having a foal next year - we will see how
she does through the winter and decide whether to cover her again early next season. The foals are all growing on well but the horrendous weather means
the camera has spent most of the summer in its waterproof case!! Most of this year's foals are being retained for now (whoops!) although I should be
selling at least one of the 2 coloured filly foals so if anyone is looking for a nice coloured filly please let me know!
July 2008
25th July
After a very long 3 months the vets have finally got to the bottom of Fiasco's mystery problems - scintigraphy bone scans and x rays have shown
a damaged area of his neck, which looks fractured, and which has displaced two vertebrae in the lower third of his neck. This severe injury has
caused damage to the spinal cord which has resulted in the neurological problems he has experienced. Although the long term prognosis is not good, in
his favour Fiasco is a strong young colt, so he will now be on a further 2 months box rest before he is re-scanned and x-rayed to see if there is any
improvement in the damaged area and his co-ordination and mobility. My thanks to Tim Mair and all at Bell Equine for persevering with him this week and hopefully getting
to the root of the problem.
23rd July Well I had to stay home for Royal Welsh week this year to look after Taraco Fiasco
(admitted to the veterinary hospital for more tests this week) and
Taraco Camaro (who is getting better and better every day) so I had to make do with watching it on Sky in Welsh (much better when we worked out the
subtitles (!!) and getting texted results from
various friends! A HUGE congratulations to Barry Shepherd (Vervale Stud) for winning the stallion class and overall welsh section A
champion with his gorgeous stallion Vervale Gabanna. Gabanna, by Springbourne Caraway,
has long been a personal favourite of mine and it is great to see him winning the ultimate accolade at the Royal Welsh.
Gabanna is also full brother to Vervale Rara's (my foundation mare) sire Vervale Gangster and his dam,
Blanche Glimmer is sister to my new mare Blanche Glisten. Also 'keeping it in the family' was Danaway Scrumpy Jack who won the
2 year old section D colt class and the Youngstock Championship - this lovely colt by Daanway Flash Jack is
half brother to Taraco Fiasco, Taraco Fernando, Danaway Fantasy and Danaway Orlando (all at Taraco Stud)
so it was great to see him do so well. His sire Danaway Flash Jack looked fantastic and was a very credible 4th in a very strong
stallion class. One of my other favourite stallions was the gorgeous Drogeda Stormy Tempest (by Trevallion Valentino) and
it was great to see him win his class and take the section D male championship. There are countless others who
had a very successful Royal Welsh so a BIG congrats to everyone no matter where they were in the line up!
17th July It never rains but it pours - what is it the Queen called it? An 'annus horribilis'?! You can say that again!
To add to the list of 'just one of those things' that has happened this year.... Charm foaled on 8th July, a very striking chestnut sabino colt foal but he hasnt been very well
but is battling on and the vet is optimistic that he should now make a full recovery but only time will tell. Taraco Camaro is a little fighter though so if it is meant to
be I am sure he will give it his all. We road tested the landrover fully that week and discovered that 2 adults can sleep (sort of) in the back of a landrover discovery for
an hour at a time! Horses! On the plus side, Taraco Louisiana has been scanned in foal to RWAS driving winner
Teifi Frankie Flanagan and is due next June. Thank you to Clare and all at Dycott Stud for persevering, 3rd time lucky! The foals are all growing on well -
Taraco Bendigo has been sold to Martina in the Czech Republic and
Taraco Fiorenza has been sold to Amber in the Netherlands.
Taraco Fireblade has attracted heaps of attention but with Fiasco still
so ill I have finally decided to keep Fireblade as a future show colt and hopefully stud stallion so a big sorry for any disappointment caused by this decision.
Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful comments about my foals - and to those that have
bought a Taraco foal both this year and in the past.
July 2008
8th July Yawwwwnnnn... another exhuasting few weeks (is it ever anything but exhausting and frantic with horses?!)...
Fiasco is settling back into home life very well and I am just waiting to take him in for more tests, scans and x rays. He is very poorly but try
telling him that! The mares and foals are all doing well and the mares are nearly all home from stud for the year:
Ringstead Charming Lass is due to foal on 20 July 2008 and is fully bagged up and possibly just starting to wax up so fingers crossed for a healthy foal!
Charm is 21 years old this year and in foal to her 21 year old half brother Ringstead Major so this foal is a very precious little foal that is line bred to the great stockgetter Forlan Brigadier.
I have everything crossed for a healthy filly to join her sister Taraco Cherish at the stud, although a Charm colt would be a welcome addition as well!
June 2008
28th June Another manic week in which we have not stopped! However, I am pleased to say that several more mares have been
scanned in foal, the last of the mares have been covered and best of all Taraco Fiasco has come home! He is still very poorly and can barely walk but he is now well enough
to travel to my vets for more specialist tests. Thank you to everyone for all the ongoing messages, calls, emails and texts offering your support and kind thoughts about Fiasco.
I am far from giving up on the 'wonkey donkey' as he is affectionately known and have everything crossed that we can pull him through no matter how long it takes! After
unsuccessfully trying to get Heiland Esmerelda in foal for the past 3 months we have finally conceded defeat and she will be coming home on Monday. Thank you to Michelle and all
at Sorrelcourt Stud for looking after Esme and for trying so hard to persuade her to hold to Buddy, who knows maybe a miracle will happen and our last attempt will work!
This years foals are maturing into some beautiful ponies and cobs and I cannot believe how lucky I am. Three fillies have been retained (Taraco Karina, Taraco Echo and
Taraco Rosetta) with Taraco Fiorenza sold at just a few hours old to Amber in Holland. Regrettably the two welsh cob colts, Taraco Bendigo and Taraco Fireblade will be offered
for sale at weaning.
8th June After a rollercoaster ride of a Spring I am pleased to announce that the 'invalids' are both making a
good recovery at the moment. Taraco Fiasco is very slowly recovering from an unknown illness or injury and I hope he will be home this month.
My ongoing thanks to Justin for nursing him through this horrendous few months and to my vets for putting up with endless questions and debates
about his mysterious symptoms and condition whilst I try and manage things long distance! Keisha is also slowly recovering from her very rare and
unusual pelvic bleed and resultant haematomas. All of the mares have been covered by some absolutely fantastic stallions for next year so we are now
just awaiting scan days to see who has held for 2009. Most of the mares have only be served on one single occassion so it will be interesting to see
who holds! My biggest thanks go to all the stallion owners for letting me use their lovely boys - it is a real privilige to be able to use such world-class
stallions and I hope it pays off again with some lovely foals in 2009. This is the first year I have covered a homebred filly and it was after a great deal
of research that I asked Clare at Dycott Stud if they would consider taking Taraco Louisiana to their superb little section A driving stallion Teifi Frankie
Flanagan. This striking young stallion has already won the RWAS in harness and I am eagerly waiting to see if Lulu has held so fingers crossed!
May 2008 30th May I am absolutely thrilled, ecstatic, delighted and amazed to announce the safe arrival of Taraco Fireblade.
This lovely strong colt foal is by Supreme Champion Watling Welsh Magic (Thorneyside The Terminator x Watling Welsh Maid by Geraint Brynawelon) and out of
Danaway Fantasy. Bought at a few days old, his dam is now 8 years old and having had a stillborn foal in 2005 this is her first live foal. Her favourite hobby
is usually terrorising the other foals so it was with great trepidation that she was covered but once she overcame the shock of an intruder in her stable she
has surpassed herself as a mum. 19th May Yet more good and bad news....! My big native type coloured broodmare Keisha foaled a beautiful black and
white traditional type filly (Taraco Karina) first thing this morning - Taraco Karina is a lovely chunky lady with a great personality and is the 3rd stunning
coloured foal that Keisha has had for me. Unfortunately Keisha has suffered a very rare pelvic bleed and resultant inoperable haematoma so it is wait and see.
She is bright in herself and we are hoping that it continues to heal and not re-rupture. It is yet another 'one of those things' unaviodable, unpredictable and
untreatable. But hopefully we can get her through this. Her filly is fine and Keisha is a fantastic mum and probably very garteful for having a delightful,
gentle considerate filly nuzzling her not a bruiser of a colt head butting her! Photos on www.coloured-horses.co.uk. 7th May Well it seems bad things really do come
in threes - or is it fours? So far this year one of the mares needed major surgery on an old hock injury, Sally had a stillborn colt foal and just when we thought
things couldnt get even worse Fiasco went down with some strange neurological problem rendering him recumbent for the best part of a week and he is still very poorly
now and far from in the clear, the diagnosis not yet known - possibly a spinal injury but unfortunately we cannot yet travel him for his desperately needed x-rays and
scans. I think the general veterinary opinion is that the prognosis is not good but on the bright side he is standing at the moment and eating and drinking and bright
in himself. My thanks go to Justin for looking after him through this difficult time. Never before has Wales seemed so far away from Kent. So it has been a very difficult
and a very busy few weeks - in amongst the trips to Wales and countless calls to vets and specialists, Terackie Golden Beauty foaled on 29 April (chestnut colt called
Taraco Bendigo) and then Danaway Cherimarie had a lovely palomino filly on 6 May. Thank you to everyone for all the kind messages and support. April 2008 20th April Well it was an exhausting but fun weekend as Simon and I trekked off to Wales for the Lampeter Stallion Show. We went for a long overdue visit to my friends Jackie and Terry at the Terackie Stud which was great fun. Thank you to Jackie, Terry and their kids Ben and Lisa for their wonderful hospitality (the cakes were GORGEOUS thank you Lisa) and a great tour of the new pintabian horses. Lampeter was freezing cold and I think Fiasco objected to being in his Summer coat whilst the windchill took the temps plummeting to freezing and he wasn't too amused! It was our first trip to Lampeter so a great weekend out! COngrats to everyone on their various successes - Vervale Galileo was champion section A and Danaway cobs took the 2 and 3 year old colt classes.Now it is back to the 'real world' and Beauty and Cherimarie are both due fairly shortly..... Blanche Glisten has foaled a lovely colt for Centannials Stud in Holland so huge congrats to them on their new arrival. 15th April I am pleased to say that Cleo was very obliging and waxed up precisely 24 hours before she foaled at 6.30am this morning! Very civilised - only one sleepless night, a few worries (it was a very big filly) and I am pleased to say that she had a beautiful WPB black and white filly. Touch wood mum and baby are both doing well and I will upload some photos to the photo gallery shortly. 14th April It is all go here this week - Farchynys Cristal was due on 31 March and has finally started to inch her way towards foaling day. Having lost a foal in tragic circumstances already this year, I cannot help but start to fret about her and her foal but fingers crossed she will foal safely sometime this week. Fingers, legs and toes crossed! 13th April Well after such a horrendous week, as you can imagine I was feeling really flat and dispirited. However, I had a very unexpected surprise this weekend when out of the blue Fiasco's producer, Justin Walters, called me to say did I fancy a trip to Newbury as he was thinking he may take Taraco Fiasco to Southern Counties Spring Show for a run out! Chaos ensued at home to try and arrange everything at such short notice; alarm clock's were set and off we went! It was absolutely brilliant to see Fiasco who was looking fantastic and his usual chilled out self both on the box and in the ring. Well worth the chaos to get here and it was a great warm up to the season as well, with Fiasco winning his class and going on to stand reserve youngstock champion to a beautiful Drogeda filly shown by Mattie Attrell (jnr) - congratulations to her owner Rob Allen and to Mattie for showing her so well. Congratulations also to Jean Smith (Jebeth Stud) for winning the section D broodmare class and to Justin Walters for winning the section C filly class and section C championship. Not the quiet Sunday at home we had expected but a great day out never the less, so thank you to Justin for giving me a well needed distraction after a horrid week! Congratulations to everyone else for their successes today and apologies for not having the time to organise to catch up with you all. Please visit the photo gallery to see photos of Fiasco and the few other horses I managed to catch on camera! 9th April Pendam Sally foaled this morning but unfortunately, after such a long wait, it was a stillborn colt (the first and much awaited foal by Danaway Desert Storm) and despite intervention from myself and then the vet we were unable to save him. Thank you so much to everyone for the lovely texts and emails, and of course to my vet for coming straight out as soon as I called despite the fact I called the vet that wasn't meant to be on call this morning! Thanks to Jean (Jebeth Stud) for being on the end of the phone whilst I battled with the usual what ifs and whys. Doesn't matter how many foals you breed, or what the official statistics say, nothing makes you feel any better at a time like this. I know its just one of those things but I still feel lousy :o( 7th April OK - its official. I give up. I know absolutely nothing about breeding horses. Sally is now on day 7 of proper wax - all my 'textbooks' say this is a good indicator of foal within 24 hours. But ohhhhh nooooo not for Sally! As predicted by the weathermen (or should that be weatherpeople in these days of political correctness gone mad?!) Kent was covered by up to 8cm of snow this weekend so gave Sally the perfect excuse to hang on even longer! Taraco Rosetta wasn't too sure about the 'white stuff' but soon got used to it! 4th April Yawn.. yawn.. yawn.... Pendam Sally remains waxed up and ready to go but still no foal 4 days later! She was due on 19th March so is well and truly late (chestnut colt here we come!). I wasn't alone as both Larapinta Stud and Runshaw Stud had been waiting a while but both their mares have now foaled - so congrats to both Helen and Janice on their smart new arrivals (both chestnut colts). I SAID that only chestnut colts could be rude enough to keep us all waiting so long!!!!!!! Watch this space.... Chestnut colt here we come! Given that it was April Fool's Day when Sally first waxed up (usually a warning of imminent foal within 24 hours) I should have guessed it would be a longer than average wait! :o) March 2008 24th March 15th March As I am now (im)patiently waiting for my foals (and Glisten!!) to arrive I though that I would update the photo pages with some old but fun photos to fill the gaps until Spring is here and I can start to take some more photos. In the meantime I am enjoying the last few nights of sleep before the first foal watch nights cause the alarm clock to go off every 2 hours! Vervale Rara is now nearly fully bagged up and very close to foaling so l ooks like she will definitely beat Pendam Sally and Farchynys Cristal. Their due dates have Sally first, then Cleo and then Rara but my money is on Rara, then Sally, then Cleo... but who knows! They do like to keep us guessing! 14th March My lovely coloured filly Heiland Esmerelda has now gone to Sorrel Court Stud for the Spring where she will be covered by the lovely traditional stallion Tuckers Traveller's Gift. Thank you to Michelle for accepting her nomination to Buddy and for having her to stay! It has taken a long time to find the right stallion for Esme, herself a coloured national champion the only time she has been shown, and I am thrilled to have found such a perfect little stallion to cover her with! Ironically, having searched the length and breadth of the country for the right stallion, I then called her breeders to see what she thought of my choice, only to find that they had just bought a traditional filly foal by the same stallion to cross back to Esme's dad, Commanche Ace!! 10th March I am absolutely thrilled to announce a new arrival for 2008 - later on this year Blanche Glisten will be joining me from the Centannial Stud in Holland. This beautiful mare is by the renowned stallion Breachwood Marwyn (Supreme Champion RWAS 1989) and out of the fantastic producer Springbourne Gemma. A chance email to Jan Hazeleger saw a 5 year search for a mare of this calibre and breeding come to an end as I was able to persuade Jan to let Glisten return to England. Centannial Stud will be retaining her foal this year and then she will travel to England after her foal is weaned this Autumn. To say the next 6 months will go very slowly is an understatement but hopefully this year's foals will start arriving soon to distract me! Thank you so much to Jan for letting me buy her and to Simon for forgiving me for wanting to add another 'small grey pony' to my herd! February 2008 28th February Well I am now getting very excited and expecting the 'foal fairy' to arrive soon - the first foals due in March and early April are Vervale Rara, Pendam Sally and Farchynys Cristal and Rara is bagging up very rapidly at the moment! It's all go already on planning next year's foals and the first mares are off to stud soon with Paith Magical Rockset and my coloured filly Heiland Esmerelda leaving in the next two weeks to visit their future husbands. Dissappointingly Danaway Ribbon has not held again for this year but has been checked over by the vets and it seems it is just one of those things so we will be choosing her new husband shortly and hopefully she will approve of this one! On the plus side, Ringstead Charming Lass my foundation mare who has failed to hold to her last two coverings decided she clearly like Ringstead Major and it looks very likely that she has held to one covering from him so is hopefully due in July 2008. This will be a precious foal as Charm is now in her 21 so any foalies she has are even more special than usual. The very difficult decision to sell Craigdorne Celeste to reduce numbers (albeit slightly!) was made all the easier by her going to an absolutely smashing home - so congratulations to her new owners and good luck for a lovely foal this May. 26th February Well it is a big year for birthdays this year as well so ... February brings the first of the BIG birthdays .... so a massive happy 40th birthday to my friend Mark and thank you to Heidi for organising such a great birthday party. Here is hoping the next 40 years are as great as the first! 10th February Well its been a busy few weeks or so and some of the horses heading off for pastures new and some new arrivals. Taraco Kimba and Taraco Montana are now safely with their new owners Nuno and Julie in Cornwall and the yard is now very quiet without them. Congratulations to Nuno and Julie on getting these two fantastic cobs. I also finally plucked up the courage to send Taraco Fiasco all the way off to Wales to be shown again this year. Thank you to Justin for having him again and putting up with my daily calls. Watch this space for information on his show results this year - he had such a fantastic season as a yearling I cannot believe that a shaggy cob from Taraco will manage to repeat that success but I'm sure he will give it his best shot and I will just be thrilled to see him out (that is if my nerves stand it)! Lastly, but not least, Lapstone Paragon (the lovely Springbourne Boy Blue son) has joined me again at Taraco to cover Vervale Rara. Thank you to Shan for letting me borrow him again this year. 2 nominations will be available to this great little stallion. January 2008 29th January Well we've finally had a few days sunshine and the daffodils are coming through and the ponies are starting to shed their coats! Hopefully that means that they know something we don't and this wet horrible winter is on the way out and Spring is on the way. The first foal is due mid March and if I didn't know better I would say that the ladies look very in foal. 6th January 2 nominations available to section A stallion Ringstead Major. This smashing little stallion has everything you could ask and has been dubbed 'Prince Charming' by everyone that knows him! 3rd January Well another year rolls in.... 10 years since 1998 when I established Taraco Stud and I never thought that in 10 years I would have bred Royal of England winners and multiple champion children's ponies let alone to be expecting 10 foals 10 years later in 2008! However, the mares are all looking fantastic and look very in foal so I am optimistic that Pendam Sally, Danaway Fantasy, Danaway Ribbon, Danaway Cherimarie, Terackie Golden Beauty, Keisha, Farchynys Crystal, Craigdorne Celeste and Vervale Rara are all in foal, Ringstead Charming Lass is keeping us all guessing! I am now very excited about this year's foals which include some wonderful welsh cobs, ponies and coloureds! Pendam Sally Section D foal by Danaway Desert Storm due March 2008 STUD REDUCTION As I am hoping to retain a couple of this year's foals, a small selection of high quality coloureds, As and Ds may be for sale to exceptional homes this Spring/ Summer and may include broodmares, colts and fillies. Please watch the website for details and photos. List could include top quality coloured mare Keisha, 2 year old buckskin welsh cob colt (Taraco Fernando), cremello welsh section A broodmare covered by top chestnut stallion for an April 2009 foal plus others. Please email me at taracostud@hotmail.com if you would like to know more about these. Genuine enquiries only please - no timewasters, withheld numbers or window shoppers! The annual thank you to everyone who helped me get through 2007: to the behind the scenes team of vets, farriers, friends and family for all their help and support; to the Mitchell Family for being such superstars in keeping an eye on the
monsters; to Stephanie for letting me use Demetrius; to Shan for letting me borrow Paragon; Huw and Ann for leasing me Sally; Nobby for
covering Fantasy with Teddy; to Simon for traipsing round the lanes moving my shaggy monsters, for planting trees, moving hay and being the water king (!); to all the
ponies breeders for breeding such little superstars; to everyone that owns
a Taraco pony or cob – I hope they bring you as much pleasure as mine do
me; and to all the people who continually share their expertise,
knowledge, laughter and friendship. As usual the biggest thank you must go to all
my friends and family for putting up with me, and the constant excuses for
my muddy car, messy flat, scruffy clothes and inability to go away for
long! Wishing everyone the best for 2008! And of course thanks to my amazing mum for getting me into horses in the first place!!!
Paith Magical Rockset has been covered by the Danaway Flash Jack son, Danaway Desert Storm. Scanned in foal.
Pendam Sally has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Flash Jack. Scanned in foal.
Terackie Golden Beauty has been covered by Supreme Champion Trevallion Valentino.
Danaway Cherimarie has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Flash Jack. Scanned in foal.
Danaway Fantasy has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Tango. Scanned in foal.
Danaway Ribbon has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Gwynfaes Cullhwch.
Taraco Louisiana has been covered by RWAS driving winner Teifi Frankie Flanagan. Scanned in foal.
Vervale Rara has been covered by the prizewnning Springbourne Boy Blue son Lapstone Paragon.
Blanche Glisten has been covered by the sale topping stallion Frairs Superman. Scanned in foal.
Heiland Esmerelda has been covered by the top graded coloured traditional Tuckers Travellers Gift.
Paith Magical Rockset has been covered by the Danaway Flash Jack son, Danaway Desert Storm. Scanned in foal.
Pendam Sally has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Flash Jack. Scanned in foal.
Terackie Golden Beauty has been covered by Supreme Champion Trevallion Valentino.
Danaway Cherimarie has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Flash Jack.
Danaway Fantasy has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Danaway Tango.
Danaway Ribbon has been covered by Supreme Champion and RWAS winner Gwynfaes Cullhwch.
Taraco Louisiana has been covered by RWAS driving winner Teifi Frankie Flanagan.
Vervale Rara has been covered by the prizewnning Springbourne Boy Blue son Lapstone Paragon.
Blanche Glisten has been covered by the sale topping stallion Frairs Superman.
Heiland Esmerelda has been covered by the top graded coloured traditional Tuckers Travellers Gift.
30th March Taraco Crossfire flies the flag for the Taraco welsh mountain ponies - at just four years old he went to his first big riding club show and won a large M&M in hand class, before going on to win the Overall In-hand Championship with owner Emma-Jane. Partnered by Emma-Jane's 5 year old son, Dylan, he then entered and won the LR class in style, before giving Dylan his first experience of 'handy pony' in which they came a very credible 5th out of 10! Congratulations to Emma-Jane, Meghan, Richard and Dylan on a(nother) great day out with Charlie. Taraco Crossfire was the first ever mountain pony bred here at Taraco Stud and is out of my foundation mare, Ringstead Charming lass and by Supreme Champion Larapinta Oystercatcher. Sold to Emma-Jane at weaning as a future family allrounder they could have fun with in hand and under saddle he has so far lived up to all their expectations and has now been shown by Emma-Jane, her partner Richard, daughter Meghan and now winning under saddle for son Dylan as well. Big congratulations to you all and thank you for always keeping in touch it is so lovely to know how he is doing! (Photo by kind permission of Paul Sands Photography) 
I am thrilled to say that after giving me 2 sleepless nights Vervale Rara foaled, 2 weeks early, at 8pm this evening. It is a beautiful chestnut (may go grey) filly, 4 long stockings and a pretty blaze. Unusually for me she was born indoors (my mares normally foal outside) so I was even more worried than normal (yes it IS possible!!!!) but given the snow, sleet and sub zero temperatures we didnt have much choice! Having checked her at 5pm I was pretty certain she was close so went back at 7.30pm for the next check, at which point Rara just looked round, sighed and lay down to give birth! Proud dad, Lapstone Paragon, would not stop neighing from the minute she arrived - how he knew I do not know but he certainly seemed to! Touch wood mum and baby doing fine and I am off to catch up on some much needed sleep and hope I don't dream about alarm clocks going off every 2-3 hours! "Baby Ra" has now been officially named Taraco Rosetta although she spends most of her life with her little tail stuck vertically in the air and is rapidly earning the nickname of 'bog brush' - lets hope that doesnt stick! Regularly updated photos on the photo gallery!
Vervale Rara Section A foal by Lapstone Paragon due April 2008
Craigdorne Celeste Section A foal by Ringstead Major due May 2008
Terackie Golden Beauty Section D foal by Yswain Demetrius due May 2008
Danaway Ribbon Section D foal by Yswain Demetrius due May 2008
Danaway Cherimarie Section D foal by Yswain Demetrius due June 2008
Danaway Fantasy Section D foal by Watling Welsh Magic due June 2008
Ringstead Charming Lass Section A foal by Ringstead Major due July 2008
Farchynys Cristal WPB coloured foal by Shorty due April 2008
Keisha Coloured foal by Shorty due May 2008
Taraco Stud, Canterbury, Kent
A small stud specialising in breeding for colour without compromising on quality