(Darkhawk of Hideaway X
Avondale Berne's Hope)
1994 black mare, 15.2
My "holy grail", ever since I was a child, has been a
pretty black mare. I got serious about the search in 2003.
Not just any black Morgan mare would do; she had to be beautiful, correctly put together,
have an excellent temperament, and I wanted bloodlines with no modern outcrosses.
This is NOT an easy list to satisfy! I inquired after SO many mares who qualified by bloodlines but whose
conformation, once I received more photos and/or video, were a huge disappointment.
Those that met my criteria were not for sale.
Finally, I found two contenders in late 2008, but after much
deliberation, could not pick just one. If I couldn't decide, perhaps neither of these mares were "the
one"?
My former stallion Gone Gold went up for sale in August 2009, and suddenly I had to scramble to find a mare to
breed to him to in order to use my retained breeding. The owners of one of the
black mares I had
considered graciously agreed to a lease-purchase, with the purchase happening
only if the mare got in foal. She was quickly on her way to be bred to Roadie.
Unfortunately she retained fluid
after breeding, resulting in an infection, a lot
of expense to clean her up- and no foal. With much sadness, I sent her home.
In late October 2009, a few days before we laid our beloved old mare Reminiscing to rest,
my old friend Tom Bainbridge emailed me and said he would part with
his stunning black mare, Avondale Sweet Rosie. I have loved this mare since I first saw
her on Tom's website, and had told Tom if he would ever consider selling
her, to please let me know. Bless him, he remembered, and his promise
that this beautiful black mare would be mine helped ease my
sadness over Marie's loss. It was meant to be, and it is impossible for me to
ever thank Tom enough for this opportunity.
Rosie spent almost two years on lease to my friend Charlene Cook of Edgefield Farm
in Goshen IN. She foaled a lovely palomino filly for Char in 2011. Rosie arrived home to Georgia on October 21, 2011.
Rosie is broke to ride, although much of her life has been spent out to pasture or raising foals. She was used in a handicapped riding
program while with her second owner, Liz Banks. She has the Funquest curviness
and big trot, and her size comes from her Red Correll breeding.
|
Darkhawk of Hideaway |
Sunup Mike |
Funquest Falcon |
| Funquest Modana |
| Hylee's Firefly |
Torchfire |
| Choquita |
|
Avondale Berne's Hope |
Blackwood Correll |
Red Correll |
| Lady Rockwood |
| Cotton's Susie Kay |
Kenney's King Cotton |
| Kane's Sistie Kay |
You can view Rosie's complete pedigree
here.
It includes pictures of many of her ancestors.
More photos of Rosie
(click on a thumbnail to enlarge)
Rosie shortly after her arrival at Char's, November 2009. Char says she put on quite a show!
Char is not a short lady but 15.2, upheaded Rosie makes her look short!
Such a beautiful creature... someone pinch me!!
Rosie in the crossties getting tacked up for her first ride with Char. I will
not mind looking at THIS head every day :-)
Rosie's first ride with Char, November 2009.
Late December, 2009: Rosie is a somewhat aloof horse (and the definite herd leader). But she has learned that Char means good things, especially food.
February 21, 2010- I been checking the AMHA registry online regularly to see if Rosie's transfer had gone through, and lo and behold a
few days ago it did and she's officially mine :-) I am ecstatic! I had asked Char to get me a few snapshots so I could post
the news here, with a visual :-). Well last night, email after email of GORGEOUS Rosie pix rolled into my inbox. OMG- my
jaw was on the ground as I looked at each one. Her hubby Greg took most of these (obviously those that Char is riding Rosie in :-))
and he is really a very talented photographer.
I look at these pics of this mare and get the oddest feeling... the one I get when I look at that rare something that is so beautiful
I can hardly believe it is real. Enough of my silly touchy feely stuff, I just wanted to share the pics with you all.
Thank you Greg and Char, for these beautiful pictures and for taking such good care of Rosie!
Pretty black horse in the snow!
I think the first picture in this group was my favorite. Gabby the Golden Retriever is part of the welcoming committee at Edgefield. She is such a sweet dog.
She wanted to tag along with Char and Rosie.
This should be a painting. It has that timeless quality to it. It looks peaceful and quiet. I
think it is the starkness of the
snow and Rosie's casually cocked hind foot that gives that impression.
The End :-)
Rosie is a little sun faded, but still beautiful! I think it is amusing how her forelock hides her eyes in so many of the pictures that Char sends me.
Rosie definitely has the "hair gene"! July 2010.
There's her eyes! She has a roany marking up under her forelock too. Not sure if this is age related or if she's always had it. My
late mare Reminiscing (Marie) had a roany star, and since Rosie was
offered to me just before we lost Marie,
I got a little catch in my throat when I saw this roany marking on Rosie.
August 2010.
Standing or moving, this mare is a dream come true for me :-)
Rosie foaled a
big palomino filly for Char on March 23, 2011. Char is naming the filly Edgefield Ivory Rose, "Ivy" for short. Ivy is by Edgefield Sun Gold (by Sunup Neptune), and she
is for sale- see more of her on the Edgefield Farm website!
October 22, 2011- Rosie is home- finally! Hard to believe I've owned her almost
two years but am only just now meeting her. She arrived the evening of
the 21st, and had a good rest in the barn overnight. Here she is meeting Charli over the fence the next day. I had bathed
and clipped her and trimmed her feet before turning her out
to stretch her legs. I am very impressed with her excellent manners. She reminds me of another mare I owned years
ago, Radiance Eliza Babe, who had a similar calm and accepting attitude, even in new or strange situations.
Getting the traveling kinks out. She is a beautiful mover- prettier than I even imagined.
Rosie caught sight of our neighbors' goats and could not seem to figure out what they were. Good photo op for me :-)
November 5, 2011- My first ride on Rosie. We did not do much, just some walk and trot. She was a bit tense and seemed worried about doing something wrong. She is not the deadhead my other horses are!
Plenty of gas in the tank. There was some pronking when asked to canter on the lungeline
(she finally did canter) and a lot of head movement, up and then
down behind the bit, both on the lunge and under saddle, and this on
a relatively loose rein. She did have hooks on her upper incisors
which were removed and her teeth floated about 10 days ago now. I
felt bad for her as she seemed uncomfortable; hopefully it is just
needing to relax and settle in more, and me get used to her and her,
to me. Jim joked "she thought she was retired" ;-).
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