Splitters Creek Arabian Sport Horse Stud
'take your passion and make it happen'

Catherine McAlpine
'Zonnebeke'
Stewards Rd
WALBUNDRIE NSW 2642

www.users.bigpond.com/splitterscreek
email: splitterscreek@bigpond.com

January 2003

Well life has been hectic here as usual, and not surprisingly there is a lot of news since my last newsletter 9 months ago.

The drought continues to be oppressive along with the heat waves, dust storms and threats of bush fire. Fortunately the fires have come no closer than about 35k here, although we get days of thick smoke haze. I maintain the theory that dirt is not flammable, however my 70 y.o. house probably is.

The horses maintain what I consider to be a fairly healthy attitude - sleep all day - eat and drink all night…

I have good excuses for not writing for so long. During the last 6 months of 2002 I was required to work extensively in Canberra, up to 3 weeks each month. Between that, keeping water to everything and feeding everything, well, there's not a whole lot of time left over…

7 Splitters Creek foals came this season thankfully with no major problems. And I am pleased to report no 'poddy' foals this year. I like the foals. Two arab-trotter cross foals were born and they are tall and athletic with mellow temperament. I was thrilled to receive two colonial fillies this season after a long run of colonial colts. Cudglebar Shamira foaled a grey filly by Alison Bradshaw's endurance stallion Hyksos Sabok (x Cudglebar Nur Ed Dam). She is an elegant girl, tiny in stature but a genetic giant having 32 crosses to Shahzada. At Cudglebar stud, my leased mare, Cudglebar Mira had a filly by Cudglebar Persian Prince. This is my first foal by 'Percy' and these two fillies are a valuable addition to my colonial genetic pool.

The part bred palomino mare (x Aloha Zar) had a baby elephant of a chestnut filly by a welsh cob section D. She is a replica of her father complete with the flashy elevated cob movement.

The first foals of Splitters Creek Fortitude (aka 'Ziggy', 75% arab x Cudglebar Manak) arrived this season and they are very pleasing. The first was SC Bundy, one of the trotter crosses who started life looking a bit plain like Mum, but has just bloomed into a handsome moving machine.

The second foal of Ziggy's is a grey 7/8 arab filly out of Kay Harding's old foundation mare Chip Chase Sinarli. Sinarli gave us some nervous days before foaling due to a mystery bleeding. She was billeted out over at Kay's during one of my work trips away, and foaled without a problem. The result is SC Xena - leggy - pretty and a huge engine room up front.

Last foal but by no means 'least' is a 75% arab colt out of Omani Stylist by Demon (Cudglebar Raksha). Her third colt but his redeeming feature is that he is not grey. He is another very solid customer with big hocks and great bone. Affectionately known as the 'foal from hell' as he started chasing me in the paddock as a 2 day old - and still follows me around. I have never had such an 'in your face' foal at such a young age.

Who has gone? Demon returned home to Cudglebar last November after being on lease here for 2 years. I could tell he wanted to stay as he was very reluctant to get on the float… The 3 mares he served are now all PTIF so that is pleasing. (Purebreds Jirrima Ultra Minx, Aloha Kurils and anglo Aloha Royal Lady.)

Splitters Creek Jack of Diamonds (welsh cob cross) was delivered to Carole Nomarhas in Canberra last December. 'Jack' & Carole's other horse Marcus, are living at Kerrabee Equestrian Centre. During the recent fires they moved horses around while being threatened on 3 fronts. No horses were lost, but there is no grass left. Carole said Jack is so quiet, he almost went to sleep when the fires were at their worst.

Rowallan Mitchell has been sold to endurance rider Jenny Martin in Queensland and I hope to see them soon in the ride results. As a horse that disliked cold weather, Queensland should suit him well. Perhaps I'll visit in the winter…

Debra Kuhne is taking a rest from endurance due to work and o.s. travel, so I have no horses currently in work. She tells me that the paddocks where she had Mitchell in Canberra were totally destroyed by fire, along with the house and buildings there. Lucky he'd come home!

My old endurance mare Cathbery Abzarrah who is now in her 20's, was sold to a local lady in the Victorian Kiewa valley. She has been agisted on a friend's dairy property down there and I understand that they have g-r-a-s-s. Yes it's true. 'Sam' is due to foal to Ziggy in February 2003. (Any minute now!)

Who has arrived? Thankfully very few although I have coveted some. On my return from taking Demon home I picked up my yearling colt SC Centaur (x Cudglebar Manak) and a yearling filly (x Cudglebar Manak) belonging to Samantha Morrison of Sydney. 'Yuri' is on loan to me for 5 years. As one was unhandled and the other handled only a little, it was fun getting them on the float - but all went well and I watched the two little faces with white blazes peering through the window throughout the trip. They were fussy buggers though - they didn't like the lucerne hay nets but went for the grass hay. Go figure.

Oh yes, I did buy a horse a few months ago - a tall anglo filly from Les Ellery by Cudglebar Ishmael out of a TB mare of Sandra Himsley's. Her name is Cudglebar Dream of Gold. She'll come home with Mira's filly when it is weaned.

Cudglebar news. 2002 was an ok year for Les. Several horses were ill and Cudglebar Freya (x Cudglebar Es Sahra) and old Cudglebar Hearts Desire (x Helicon) died. Endurance riders Barb and Dave Giddins from The Rock NSW leased the mares Cudglebar Asparina (x Cudglebar Ishmael) and Cudglebar Charmer (x Cudglebar Manak). I have heard that Asparina is in foal. Charmer was to be bred to Cudglebar Persian Prince but is refusing to cycle even after a clean bill of health from the vet & several PG shots. Some of us just aren't meant to breed I guess!

2003 has commenced brilliantly for Les. Following a generous donation of 90 bales of hay to Les from a group of endurance riders, Jo Arblaster wrote a story in the international magazine 'Endurance World'. The Editor was so moved by the story, he told Sheik Mansour in Abu Dhabi who wanted to help. He has offered to pick up the feed bill for the next 6 months and install a bore.
I don't think I have heard Les so moved, and thankful and excited all at once in the 20 years I have known him. The water in particular is a blessing because he was almost out of water and talking about having to get rid of horses.

I had a few weeks off work during January and had great plans of handling this, breaking that, but between breeding horses, the heat, the massive dust storms, the smoke & the flies - I confess to spending a lot of time indoors. The time was not wasted though - I have updated my web site with sale horses and a lot of photos of young stock and I am well on the way to completing the Splitters Creek 2003 CD. The CD will contain video footage of a lot of the horses, plus their pedigrees and photos. It will also have material on the Cudglebar stud and Colonial / early Crabbet horses in general.

My biggest success for the current breeding season has been the positive preg tests of the arab warmblood mares Jirrima La Syn (50% arab) and Jirrima O'dear (75% arab) to Ziggy. Readers of my newsletters in 2000 may recall that I have been trying to get O'Dear in foal since then, and La Syn missed last season.

I have been assisted by Rolley Bennett, the Corowa vet who if necessary seeks expert advice from the Shepparton Equine centre. We took uterine biopsies of the mares and found they both had a uterine infection called endometriosis

We embarked on a course of immune system stimulants and antibiotics combined with uterine flushing. O'Dear was positive after the first attempt and is now about 60 days - well past the danger period. We had two attempts with La Syn who had her first positive test last week at 13 days. She will have a second test in a couple of weeks. The exercise has been very educational, I have learnt to give IV injections and do uterine flushing. While the process was quite expensive, the fact that I could administer the drugs and procedures made it affordable.

In fact Rolley has had a lot of work out here in the last 6 months. In October we gelded 7 colts on the most filthy windy dusty day you could imagine. The fun never stops here I tell you.

Splitters Creek Molly (x Mustafa) has had a positive test to Jirrima Unbelievable (anglo stallion 16.1 hands by Crabbet stallion Arundel House Zermat). I am looking forward to a lovely tall 75% arab endurance horse from that mating.

Bye for now, stay safe in this difficult season. It will turn around.
Catherine.

Copy of Sales List that went out with Jan 03 newsletter

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