Beaver Dam Farm Fjords II, Ltd.

News from Beaver Dam Farm

- by Carol Rivoire - posted Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Carol's Annual Hiking & Driving Trip to England - Sept. 27 - October 17

OLD FRIENDS - Margaret and Huber and Arthur and I have been friends since the early seventies when we all lived in Alscace, France. -- Our children were approximately the same age. The four adults enjoyed hiking, good food and wine, and Margaret and I rode horses. Our children rode at a pony club in the village of Geispolsheim where all the ponies were Icelandics. -- We've stayed in touch over the years. Margaret has visited us many times first in New Hampshire, and since 1991 in Nova Scotia. -- I've made many trips to visit Margaret and Hubert in Hampshire, England. -- Margaret has always had a horse, and for the last 11 years, she's owned Lucky, a very good section D Welsh Cob who is a stellar driving horse.

MY TRADITIONAL TRIP TO BRITAIN - This is my fourth annual fall trip to Britain to drive and hike with Margaret. Usually, we've spent half the time in Scotland for some serious hiking, but this year since I couldn't leave Nova Scotia as early as usual, and we knew the Scottish Highlands would be pretty cold in October, we decided to stay in southern England. -- Margaret suggested we take Lucky and visit the New Forest National Park. I readily agreed as I always do to all of her suggestions as they're always very worth-while. All I knew about the New Forest was that the New Forest ponies ran wild. -- So, we rented a wonderful old cottage on a horse farm, and Margaret and I and Lucky had a great time.

SMALL WORLD - When we got to our rented cottage and met the owners, we spent an hour or so talking to them. Since both owners, Margaret and Malcolm, are drivers and compete, pretty soon we realized that we knew some of the same people. -- People like Sally Walrond and Tom Ryder. Malcolm had bought an antique vehicle from Sally Walrond, and Margaret showed in it, and won regularly.

THE NEW FOREST - STRANGE & WONDERFUL -- The New Forest is a very strange place, and is hard to describe. It's fascinating, and beautiful, but frankly, it kind of gave me a sense of unease. I don't want to be negative about this area, but there was something about the ancient history of the place that I found rather spooky. For instance, the domestic animals like the New Forest ponies, as well as the cattle, and at times of the year, the pigs, all run free. -- There were signs on the road and literature available telling how many animals are killed each year by traffic, and there are a lot. Apparently, fewer now than a few years ago when the numbers were in the three hundreds. -- I was hoping against hope that during our five days in the New Forest that I wouldn't see any dead ponies, but very very unfortunately, I did. -- On the day before we left, we were driving down the road, and I saw a mare standing over her foal by the side of the road. First, I thought the foal was sleeping, but then quickly I noticed a sign on him. We'd gone by before I could read the sign, but it probably said "dead", and probably "don't touch". -- This was hard to see. The poor mare standing by her foal.

My feelings from the time we arrived in the New Forest to the day we left were mixed. At first it was thrilling and wonderful to see these ponies, donkeys, and cattle walking up and down the streets, or grazing on the verges of the roads. But, quickly you had to realize they were in danger. Loose ponies and cattle and modern traffic just don't mix. -- Margaret and I were visiting in October, way past the high tourist season, and even so there was plenty of traffic, and it was tricky manoeuvering on these single track (incredibly narrow), ancient roads. -- The speed limits were not set low. No where near low enough in my opinion. It was 40 mph on the main road into the New Forst, and 30 mph in the villages. It was on one of the 40 mph roads that the foal was killed.

The reason these animals are allowed to roam free is that they've always done so for the last 1,000 + years. It's tradition. It's the heritage of the New Forest people to allow their animals to graze on all this common land. But, a thousand years ago, there weren't cars and trucks to hit them. It's as simple as that. While this sense of ancient history and tradition was impressive, at the same time I couldn't help but have a feeling that it was wrong. -- One of the booklets I picked up warning people to watch out for the animals showed a photo of a dead foal. The caption said the foal was walking across the road to nurse from its dam, a mare named Kathy. -- Yes, all of these animals are owned by private citizens who are exercising their ancient rights to free grazing. -- Once or twice a year, the horses are rounded up and looked after. If they need vet attention, they get it. Some of them are wormed. -- Once a year in the fall, the foals are rounded up and sold.

DRIVING OBSTACLES - Well, despite these thoughts and worries, we did have a wonderful time in the New Forest. We drove Lucky both in the Forest, and around the villages. One day we had an adventure that should go down in driving history. IT WAS THE ULTIMATE IN OBSTACLE DRIVING. --- We were driving on one of those "single track" roads. Some of these are so narrow that they are barely wide enough for one vehicle to get through. There are almost always tall hedges on either side, and no verges. However, every once in a while, there are very very narrow pull-offs, most of them cut into the hedges. -- Well, we were clip clopping down the road and we went round a bend and found about 6 cows and calves on the right side of the road, and about the same number of ponies on the left side. Not only that, a car was coming up behind us, and another coming at us from the front. -- Margaret just talked to Lucky as she always does. He was very alert, but never faltered, and drove through this ULTIMATE HAZARD in good form. The car in front backed up, and eventually, we could pull over to let the car behind pass. -- I was totally astounded as I never believed we could get through this situation, but Margaret and Lucky handled it well.

GREAT VACATION - Along with driving Lucky, Margaret and I hiked the New Forest, and we did some sight-seeing. One of the most famous villages in the New Forest is Beauleiu (pronounced Bulee). There's an ancient abbey there, or the ruins thereof. It was a famous for centuries, but sacked and left in ruins by Henry the VIII, which gives you an idea of the antiquity of the place. --- Margaret and I are lovers of good Engllish ales, so a priority was finding some good pubs, which we did with no trouble at all. -- Another excellent attraction for the area is the National Motor Museum which is in Beaulieu. We didn't have time to visit (too many pubs to check out), but it's reputed to be phenomenal. There was a car dealership in Beaulieu which sold gorgeous antique sports cars of great quality. We passed that often while driving Lucky through town.

BACK AT MARGARET'S FARM - After 5 days in the New Forest, we returned to Margaret's place in Little London, near Andover. -- We gave Lucky a few days off, and went on some great hiking trips. -- Yesterday we did 8 miles, and it was a lovely walk with only one steep hill to climb.

I fly home to Nova Scotia on Saturday. I know I'll miss being here in England, but I'm anxious to get home and be with Arthur and our horses, and dog and cats. --

Arthur and I and BDF Quasar and 2 yr. old, Octane, are going to Florida this winter from Jan. 1st to end of March. I'm trying to convince Margaret to visit us. I want her to see some of the wonderful driving shows that happen just about every weekend in the Ocala region. She'll love it.

________________________________________________________________________________

News from Beaver Dam Farm -

- by Carol Rivoire - posted Monday, Oct. 12th, 2009

GJEST 1977 - 2009

Our amazing stallion, GJEST, is no more. We had him put down on September 4, 2009. He was 32 years old.

It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, and it was largely my decision, but my husband, Arthur, helped me make it, and supported me. --- For the last 6 years or so, Gjest has had almost no teeth. His molars have been totally gone for many years, and his incisors were just stubs. However, he has been doing fairly well on a diet we devised for him. Basically, we were giving him 4 huge feedings a day to keep him going. In each feeding, he had 2 quarts of soaked beetpulp, a 1/2 bucket of soaked alfalfa and timothy cubes, 2 qts. of pellets, plus various supplements, oil, and salt. Everything got soaked. Often, I would cook him carrotts and mash them like baby food. He loved it. I'd also make a grass tea for him to go with his feed.-- He loved his food. It was his only joy this past summer.

GJEST - at age 29

So, you see, Gjest was not in dire straits when we made the decision to put him down in September. When a horse is obviously suffering from whatever causes, it's a lot easier to make this final decision, but that wasn't the case with Gjest. Of course, he was 32 years old, and showing his age, and in his last month, he was obviously losing some of the spirit that had always been so much a part of him.

Trying to make this decision, I talked with a lot of horse people that I respect. My deep seated feeling was that it was my responsibility as Gjest's owner to let him end his life with the same dignity he'd lived it. So, on that warm and sunny September day, we led Gjest to the back pasture where Tessa, BDF Toril, and Yvonne are buried, and our treasured vet put him down.

GJEST'S LIFE ---

He was born in Norway in 1977, and approved there as a breeding stallion when he was a 4 yr. old. -- In order for a Norwegian Fjord stallion to be approved, he must pass a series of tests, one of which is a trotting test on a kilometer track. -- When Gjest did his test, he broke the record for Fjord stallion that went back over 100 years. Gjest trotted the kilometer in 2.12 min. -- As far as I know, that record stands today. No other Fjord stallion has ever trotted the kilometer at such speed.

Soon after that, Gjest was purchased by the Netherlands Fjordhorse Studbook, and brought to Holland for breeding. -- Gjest's sire was the very famous, Helgas-Jarl, and his dam a Norwegian mare named Rita. --

In 1985, I traveled to Holland to see the huge Fjord gathering and show that the Studbook sponsors every five years. That was the year that I saw Gjest for the first time. -- The show goes on for 2 days, and a highlight is always the showing of the Studbook stallions. -- That year, all the stallions were shown in a manner to highlight the particular talents of each horse. -- Some were ridden, others driven, others shown in hand. -- GJEST was shown in a racing sulky, with his driver in silks. -- It was an azazing sight. I had never seen a Fjord (or any other horse) trot like that. Gjest was 8 years old at the time, and he was truly amazing.

I was extraordinarily lucky to be standing beside one of the official stallion handlers, and he talked to me about Gjest as he'd had Gjest under his jurisdiction for a year or so. -- He told me that Gjest was famous for passing on his great movement, as well as his outstanding work ethic. -- I was thrilled, and knew immediately that this was the stallion Arthur and I needed for our Beaver Dam Farm Fjord breeding program. -- So, that day I asked Chief Inspector B. J. van Bon, if we could buy Gjest. He responded, "No, he's not for sale!". -- Then, the Chief Inspector began to offer us several other of their approved stallions, including the famous Elite stallion, Astrix. -- I had to say no to each offering as I'd seen the best.

Two years later, one day when I was working in our kitchen, I got a phone call from Van Bon asking if we still wanted to buy Gjest, and how much were we willing to pay. -- Gjest arrived at our New Hampshire farm in September of 1987. -- Gjest was ours for 22 years.

Between 1987 and 1991, I competed Gjest in CDEs and a couple of pleasure shows. The pleasure shows were not a good idea. Gjest was in his element in CDEs, but definitely not ring shows. I was never super competitive or super brave. We did OK, but if Gjest had been piloted by a gutsy driver, he would have proven himself sensational. -- As it was, he got a lot of notice for his good looks and phenomenal movement.

He and I competed at GMHA in Vermont, at Myopia CDE in MA, and at Gladstone in NJ. There were a few others, but I've forgotten.

In 1991, we moved Beaver Dam Farm from New Hampshire to Nova Scotia, Canada. Of course, Gjest came with us. -- It was on this huge farm with the extensive trail system that I used Gjest the most, and had the most fun. -- No competitions, but Gjest and I always did our utmost.

In 1993, Arthur and I started our Nova Scotia Beginner Driving Vacation program. Gjest was one of our school horses, and remained so for most of the 17 years we ran the program. It was always really funny to see the horror on our students' faces when told they'd be driving this very macho stallion. -- However, they soon realized that he was a real peach and a wonderful horse to drive even for a beginner.

We continued to breeed with Gjest, each year having between 2 - 7 foals. Mostly two or three. Gjest has more offspring listed with the NFHR (Fjord Registry) than any other stallion on record. -- He's produced some spectacular offspring and some well-known and productive sons who've gone on to become very good stallions themselves.

The last year we bred Gjest was 2008, and he was every bit as virile and potent as he'd always been. -- It was quite a shame that we didn't have any mares to breed to him this year in 2009. The reason was that Arthur and I had decided to retire and sold all the broodmares we had, except one old mare and a Gjest daughter. -- Two of our customers had planned on sending mares to Gjest this spring, but the lousy economy changed their minds. Too bad! I kind of think this had something to do with Gjest's declining spirit.

A week before the vet came to put him down, I took Gjest into our ring, and asked him to free lunge, something he'd always done with great gusto and spirit. -- But, this time he just didn't want to trot.

Several of the good horse people I talked with had the same advice for me. They said it was far better to put a horse down a few months too early, than one day too late. I know they were right. However, this decision was excruciatingly hard, and we miss him so much. He was a huge part of our lives for more than 22 years. An amazing horse.

Bob van Bon, Chief Inspector of Fjords for the Netherlands had this to say about Gjest. . . .

"You could look for a lifetime and not find a stallion that moves like Gjest."

Bob also said . . .

"There are no more stallions like Gjest and his sire, Helgas-Jarl, and stallions like Myrstein and Nordal. No more stallions with such size and bone and strength."

Gjest produced a lot of excellent sons and daughters. He has some very high quality sons who have been breeding for many years. Many of these are truly outstanding, but we haven't been sure if any of them are of Gjest's equal. -- With hundreds of offspring to his name, Gjest was as proven as a breeding stallion can get. Just as that Dutch stallion handler said to me in 1985, "Gjest passes on his movement and his work ethic." This has proven to be true. Both his sons and daughters love to work, and are outstanding movers.

Gjest's offspring are all over Europe, in the U.S. and in Canada. There are hundreds and hundreds of sons and daughters. I don't believe I'm overstating the case to say that Gjest has had much more of an influence on the Fjord breed in North America than any other stallion. --

Gjest was all stallion. There were times when he made me nervous, but in 22 years, he never hurt me. I handled him for breeding, and I drove him, and once in a while, I used him for draft work. He did all his work with a seriousness of purpose, much more so than any other horse I've ever worked with. -- He was the best!