Well what a start to the show season for Hollybrooke!
We took our three year old colt Hollybrooke Distinction to the Bath and West Show. He won the two and three year old class and followed that by winning the New Forest championship. Apart from being a lovely pony he has the most amazing quiet temperament. Interestingly Distinction's sire is Hollybrooke Tinker and the winner of the championship last year was Brock Bronwen who is also by Hollybrooke Tinker.

We took our two year old colt Hollybrooke Barraquito (a full brother to the foal below) to his first ever show. He found it all very exciting and his hormones rather got the better of him however, despite that, we were thrilled that he still won his class.
We will have limited opportunities to show Barraquito this year as he will compete in the same classes and age group as Distinction.

Our second and final foal arrived in the early hours of 17th May. A chestnut filly by Skywalker out of Hollybrooke Melitta.









We were quite surprised that she was chestnut, as Melitta is dark brown and Skywalker was bay, all her closest chestnut relatives were liver chestnut so we are hopeful she will be the same. Interestingly liver chestnuts are born ordinary chestnut and the colour only changes when they lose their baby coat. Sadly this is the last Skywalker baby.

I have just been sent this lovely photo of the four year old gelding Hollybrooke Galaxy (another Coffee Crunch grandson) He is recently backed and has just had his first canter in the school. You can see just how thrilled his two jockeys are. They have been waiting patiently to ride him for the last three years.
As always our mares like to keep us waiting for their foals. Hollybrooke Crystal was exactly two weeks over due when she produced this enormous colt foal. Photographed at just two days old and still with some uncurling to do. He is a full brother to last year's New Forest Show young gelding champion, Breed Show young gelding and overall gelding champion. He will be for sale at weaning. Sadly Crystal needed the vet twice in the twenty four hours after foaling but all seems well now. Melitta is due this week but doesn't look like foaling yet.
Hollybrooke Barraquito and Millyford Masterpiece not only passed but also had the joint highest marks at the April colt inspections. We also presented a forest bred colt Fly Away, who we bought as a foal off the forest as a companion for Barraquito. We had no intention of keeping him entire but he has grown into a smart pony so we took him for the Breed Society/ Verderers inspection. He has been approved as a potential stallion to run on the forest. All three boys passed their vetting, DNA and pssm tests so are now fully licence stallions.

We have had another very sad day at Hollybrooke when we lost our wonderful foundation mare Coffee Crunch. We bought her as a foal and she had been with us for twenty nine years. She bred fourteen foals and I could write a book about the achievements of her children and grandchildren. They include the champion mare (4 times), champion colt (twice with two different ponies) champion young gelding (twice with two different ponies) overall gelding champion, champion stallion and the Supreme championship at the Breed show. Most of all she was a really lovely, kind and gentle person and Hollybrooke is a poorer place without her. I could have chosen many photos of her and her hugely successful progeny but the photo on the left is Crunch aged 24 with her last foal and the photo on the right two of her daughters looking after our grand children while giving them an immense amount of fun.