SFG again attended the 2006 Ohio State Fair in August. This year, we took three horses: Victor Tango ("Tizer"), Padparadshah ("June Bug"), and BWS Feather Dancer ("Harley"). All three were stars. In his first big show, Tizer placed 2nd in the Stallion under 3 Years Old class, competing against 3 other colts. Here he is shown competing in the Carriage Class, in which he placed 3rd. The judge was very impressed by his animated trot and said she thought he had a bright future as a show horse. We truly believe that showing is Tizer's avocation, although with his bloodlines, he should make an excellent breeding stallion or simply a VERY nice pleasure ride and drive horse for his lucky buyer. Although Tizer performed well at the Ohio State Fair in August, his biggest triumph of the year was yet to come…

Also attending the Ohio State Fair was Padparadshah ("June Bug"). Following in her stablemate Silver Belle's hoofsteps, June Bug won Reserve Champion Mare. June Bug placed 2nd in the Mare under 3 Years Old class, defeating the two adult mares who placed 1st and 2nd in the Mare OVER 3 Years Old class to do so. Altogether, in winning Reserve Champion, she placed 2nd from among 18 of the finest Gypsy Vanner mares in the country. Needless to say, we were quite proud of her. This spring we hope to get June Bug in foal to Desert Jewel's palomino stallion Flash of Gold. Their offspring would have a 50% chance of also being a palomino, and June Bug is of just the right shade of chestnut to produce a richly colored palomino foal. Photo (c) Brian Richman

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Our third attendee to the Ohio State Fair was our four-year-old Drum Horse stallion BWS Feather Dancer ("Harley"), who participated in the first Drum Horse classes ever held and placed 1st in both. Here he is shown performing a victory lap with Rider and Trainer Lisa Baker. Photo (c) Brian Richman.
Harley made quite an impression on the public. After his wins in the Drum Horse classes, people lined up to meet and lay a hand on him. The lines lasted a couple hours, and many people who had never seen a Drum now know of one because of Harley and Trainer Lisa Baker, who stood patiently next to Harley in his stall to answer questions and supervise.

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In October, SFG attended the first ever Feathered Horse Classic in Perry, Georgia. Making his debut was SFG Silver Phantom, then a five month old. Phantom, below, is Silver Belle's 2006 foal by Gypsy Gold's BB King. Phantom has two silver eyes and promises to be absolutely gorgeous. Phantom placed 1st in the Colt/Filly class, competing against six other youngsters. Photo (c) Stunning Vision Photography.

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Following his wonderful performance at the Ohio State Fair, Tizer placed 2nd in the Stallion at Halter class at the Feathered Horse Classic and then went on to win Reserve Champion of the show! Here Tizer sports his Reserve Champion ribbon in the Winner's Circle while Trainer Danny Inabinett and Owner Mary Graybeal stand proudly by. Photo (c) Stunning Vision Photography.

Tizer also competed in two driving classes and placed 1st in both. Here he and Danny perform a victory lap in front of SFG's banner. Photo (c) Stunning Vision Photography.

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Also attending the Feathered Horse Classic was Harley, shown here competing in one of several under saddle classes. He won a plethora of blue ribbons (1sts) and a scattering of reds (2nds). Photo (c) Stunning Vision Photography.

These 1sts and 2nds added up to Harley's winning the Feathered Horse Classic's other Reserve Championship. While Tizer was Reserve Champion of the show, Harley took Reserve Champion Versatility. The Feathered Horse Classic combined classes for Drum Horses and Gypsies. The Champion Versatility was Mariah Farm's DF Chalk Talk, another Drum Horse. Here Owner Mary Graybeal is seen receiving Harley's Reserve Championship prize, a director's chair with the prize name printed on it, while Trainer Lisa Baker and Harley look on. Photo (c) Stunning Vision Photography.

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Also in October, SFG bid a fond farewell to Summer Rose, Rose's wonderful 2006 filly by Gypsy Gold's Latcho Drom. Normally we eschew the descriptions of Gypsy Vanners as "magical" creatures, but in Summer's case, we will make an exception. We consider Summer to be magic personified, not because she possesses arcane powers but because, in our admittedly biased opinion, she is one of the best Gypsy foals we have ever seen. Although we had not intended to part with her, we were made an offer we couldn't refuse, and, after all, we still have Rose, Summer's mother. Summer now resides on Summersong Farm in Cashiers, North Carolina, and we expect to hear great things from her in the future.

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In December, the year ended with a special treat for us. In what we hope will be an annual tradition, Black Forest Shires & Gypsy Horses held an Open House at its new Wildcat Ranch in Colorado. There were seminars, horses, demos, door prizes, horses, wagon rides, socializing, horses. Here, Jeff Bartko of BFSGH is shown with one of their outstanding mares, Dinah, who is pulling a Gypsy dray.

In true Gypsy fashion, horses were shown tied up in BFSGH's huge indoor arena for persusal by attendees. BFSGH stated that 139 horses were available for purchase at the event. At the very last minute, a shipment of extremely high quality weanlings from the Vine Farm arrived, and many of these sold very quickly. Incidentally, the strawberry roan shown first in line in this photo caught our eye, and so Owner Mary Graybeal nearly came home with a pink stallion aptly named "Pinky." We were quite impressed by his conformation and, yes, his color.

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Although we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the horses present at the Open House, its high point was meeting and socializing with many Gypsy and Drum Horse colleagues. It was a real pleasure to talk horse with and, in some cases, meet face to face for the first time many others involved in the exciting Gypsy and Drum Horse worlds, which frequently overlap. For instance, for the first time, we met face to face Storm King's lucky owner, Gail DeMarco. Storm, Silver Belle's 2005 foal, now lives with Gail and husband Todd in California. Another high point was to finally meet Michael Vine of the Vine Farm of Great Britain. The Vines bred most of SFG's horses—Silver Belle, Silver Pearl, June Bug, and Tizer. We very much enjoyed meeting Mr. Vine and hope to go to England one day to meet the rest of the family and see more of the family's wonderful horses. Here Michael Vine is shown with Nobby, June Bug's notable sire, who is now owned by Gypsy Grace Ranch of Kentucky.

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