Inactive - Formosus

Our Alumni Mares

Rascalina

16.1 hh (Ee Aa)Bay Hanoverian

Wee sadly lost Rascalina to a violent and sudden post foaling colic in 2022. We knew her for far too short of a time but she was loved and admired every day we had her.

She combined the very best traditional lines of the Hanoverian with her sire Rascalino standing at Celle for most of its life and her dam, bought at the famed Elite Hanoverian Auction, combining the blood of the great Weltmeyer and the proven refining blood of Londonderry.

She was of the older style: solid, strong with good bones, good feet, and a lovely calm nature.

She had already produced two nice colts for her previous owner and we love her filly Sierra that was born here.

Her foals;

Donation - Donnerhall X Romadour II

Donation was a treasure for us: a daughter of the immensely influential stallion Donnerhall and the matriarch of the farm.

Donation had a deep-seated dignity to her. She was a career broodmare and carried herself with much poise and pride. She was very sweet, loved attention, and was quietly alert. She was the kindest horse on the farm, quiet and always gently demanding attention. Despite her age and numerous pregnancies, she kept her strong topline and was in great shape. Her foals are now performing in dressage, eventing, and hunting.

Donation was laid to rest April 5th, 2019 due to old age. She will forever be sadly missed, RIP sweet gentle mare.

Her foals;

Déesse - Ferro X Saluut II

Registered as Limestone Stable’s Paisley, but named Déesse by us ( Goddess in French) she was our royally-bred warmblood mare carrying some of the best bloodlines of both the Dutch Warmblood, with Olympic Ferro as her sire, and that of the Holsteiner, with the jumping talent of her dam’s sire Saluut II- one of the best Grand Prix jumper of his generation. The blending of these lines made Déesse comfortable in both dressage and jumping. Her conformation was more that of a jumper but she certainly also carries some dressage ability and she was doing quite well in eventing until an accident damaged her stifle. Since we usually aim to produce athletes that can perform both on the flat and over fences Déesse was for many years, the ideal blend of proven bloodlines for us.

She was well trained under saddle and loved to work and would always find more energy when you asked for it. She’s was an extremely intelligent, social horse who liked to be challenged when in “work mode” and pampered when in “visit mode.” She was curious and brave, with no spook in her at all. She had a lovely jumper’s canter and a good, impulsive trot. Over fences, Déesse was in her element. She had good scope and responsiveness. Her previous injury keeps her from showing all of her potential, but her impressive bloodlines definitely showed and she was much fun to ride. On the ground, she was always easy to handle and she was a very good mother to her foal, dedicated, careful, and attentive in the first few weeks and calm and firm later on.

We sadly lost her in 2018 and she is forever missed.

Her foals;

Nordica - Briar 899 X Gaspari

We were so lucky to have a daughter of the world-famous Briar! She brought to Formosus some extremely proven dressage and jumper bloodlines from the Swedish warmbloods. Her sire, of course, needs no introduction but her mare line was also very strong particularly with Gaspari (who also appears in Briar’s mother line). We were thrilled to have her join our broodmare band from the US and she provided us with a perfect outcross to most of the favorite bloodlines available today. Nordica had a violent encounter with a steel gate as a three-year old that injured her back and left her unsound for riding, however, her full sister Brianca and her half-brother Aramis (same dam) were performing in dressage. Her offspring are excellent under saddle displaying good physical and internal qualities.

Temperament: Nordica was a big puppy dog. She was extremely sociable. She had a lot of energy and liked to be active. She was usually the first to notice new things out in the pasture and also the first to go over to investigate them. Despite her size, she was always extremely easy to handle and light on her feet, patient, and always seeking to please she was never the one to cause trouble. It is unfortunate that her accident prevented a career under saddle.

Nordica moved on to Ravenwood Sporthorses when it became evident that her soul mate was there and she lived out her life there sadly passing away unexpectedly in 2020.

Her foals;

Kyana - TB X Saddlebred

Kyana was a beautiful combination of the people-pleasing active and flashy Saddlebred and the athletic over-achiever that is the Thoroughbred.
Kyana (registered as High Life Blue Diamonds) also inherited a cream gene from both of her parents as well as all those wonderful qualities. She was a lovely mare to come and join our little herd.
Her dam, Masada Gold produced numerous quality crossbreeds over the years and in turn, Kyana proved to be a nice mare to cross with bigger, heavier horses to get the combination of athleticism and heart in a more manageable and friendly golden package.

We were so sad and devastated to lose her and her unborn Fabregas foal to a pasture accident in 2019, to the end she had a golden temperament and was very loved.

Her foal;

Raphiola - Rio Grande X Golden Miller

Raphiola or Raffy or Dallas (because her star was shaped like that of the profile of a cowboy)was the daughter of the very successful Rio Grande! She brought to our little herd some very potent jumping lines. Her sire is very well known in North America being one of the most successful stallions of the last few decades with numerous USDF Sire of the Year awards. Her dam line is also jumping bred with the very successful Grand Prix jumper Golden Miller by the super sire Gotthard- a must in a Hanoverian jumping pedigree! The famous G line was bringing jump and rideability. We were very happy to have acquired this fine mare from Ontario and she produced very well for us, proving to be an exceptional mother that she usually outproduces herself.

Raphiola has been sold to Nordic farm where she produced a few more quality foals until she passed away in 2019.

Her foals;

EMC Welty - Weltmeyer X Bolero/Grande

How lucky we were to find Welty in the US and bring her to Formosus. She was from the best and most proven bloodline of the Hanoverian breed. The cross of Weltmeyer with Bolero and Grande has proven time and time again its potency (Wolkenglanz, Waikiki, Wolkenstein II, and Wonderful to name a few). She was a true daughter of her famous father being gifted and sensitive with absolutely fabulous gaits.

She stood 16.2 and was very feminine and modern in type despite what her pedigree might have indicated. She was born in Germany and at the age of three, she was inspected and she did her performance test. She scored quite well; 8,8,7,8,8 for her gaits and her rideability and in doing so, earned the title of Elite Mare Candidate or EMC.

Temperament: Welty was a very friendly, polite, and attentive mare. Under saddle, she had a lot of impulsion and drive and yet it was under complete control because she was so obedient and well trained. She liked to work, she liked to participate mentally and physically, and she always tried to give her rider her best. She was so light in front with excellent self-carriage, sensitive and very much in front of the leg: she was a lot of fun to ride, a bit like driving a sport car.

She unfortunately only gave us to foals over the year as we struggled a bit with her fertility and we finally made the decision to retire her from broodmare duty and focus on her ability as a riding horse. She was sold to a wonderful home. She passed away in 2019 and is missed by all that knew her over the years.

Her foals;

Elfin - 15.2 h, Cremello Saddlebred mare

Elfin, was the last saddlebred addition to Formosus. She had a beautiful effortless movement and showed a great range of motion in all her joints, a quality she passed on to her foals. She had a nice, correct functional conformation for all-around use, elegance, and presence, the whole thing wrapped in a very striking color. Prior to coming up north from Ohio in 2009, Elfin had carried 2 saddlebred foals. She delivered the third one for us in 2010 as well as a beautiful Dutch Warmblood cross by Consul before struggling a bit with fertility with frozen semen forcing us to find her a home where she could be covered with fresh semen instead.

Elfin had a healthy dose of self confidence and a definite sense of entitlement! What else should one expect from an alpha mare that was pretty much left alone for most of her life prior to coming to our farm? Like most saddlebreds she had a lot of energy and stamina, she was sensitive and quick. Her intense curiosity and clear affection for people were sometimes put in hilarious contrast with her haughty attitude. She remained fun and fearless under saddle. Loved to be out and about and was very comfortable to ride.

Her foals;

Vendella - Highlight (by Argus) X Vulcaan

Vendella was our first “big” warmblood mare. She was bred in British-Columbia but was sold to Washington early on. We brought her back up from the States as she was the dam of our favorite horse out there at the time: the stallion Maxamillion; the very horse that got us interested in the Saddlebred crosses. She carried roughly 36% of Gelderlander blood. Very rare blood these days. The Gelderlander was important in the foundation of the modern Dutch Warmblood but has fallen out of favor in more recent years. Proud, strong, very good tempered we think the Gelderlander had a lot of the characteristics we try to breed into our foals and so we were quite proud to have Vendella in our broodmare band.

She was by Highlight the son of the important sire Argus one of the first and perhaps the only stallion to compete simultaneously in Grand Prix jumping and Grand Prix dressage.

She came to us an already accomplished broodmare and after falling to deliver foals for a few years we understood it was time to retire her and since she was sound and a very good riding horse she went on to a home that rode her in the mountains and around and last we heard she had a beautiful retirement.

Her foals;

Shotsey - Tobiano Saddlebred mare

Shotsey was a homozygous tobiano saddlebred mare. She was an alpha mare in the herd. Very sweet and calm she was probably the most bombproof horse we ever had on the property. She was also the most demanding when it came to attention. She was injured as a very young foal when neighbouring horses broke through the fence and crowded her mother and her. She ended up getting kicked in the knee.

Despite stall rest she still favoured her uninjured leg more and that leg grew crooked with the extra load. As a result the leg that was kicked was straight and the one that was originally sound was bent. We bought her many years later and she had already carried two foals and was doing great. For many years she showed no discomfort whatsoever and displayed her lovely floating motion at the drop of a hat, but the years and the arthritis caught up with and she became stiff and preferred to canter then to trot so as not to have to bend her knees too much.

To save her from too much discomfort we retired her as a broodmare and she went on to be a foal nanny for another owner as she was very good with foals of course. Had we had more room we would have kept her around for the same reason. She was laid to rest when her quality of life diminished but she left us with some wonderful memories and very pretty colorful foals.

Her foals;

Pavane - Tobiano Saddlebred mare

Pavane was our other black tobiano saddlebred mare. She stood a solid 15.2 and was homozygous for black. She was registered as Whispering Wind Honey Bee and was bred here in Alberta.

She was our most active and sensitive mare. She was quick on her feet and refined. She had the wonderful saddlebred disposition: always eager to please and to learn things, ready to go all the time and yet gentle and focused. She was the type of horse that you could work, leave for weeks, and when you get back on she was exactly where you left her.

She loved to jump and when free jumping, she would usually keep going round and round unless she was told to stop. She hiked her knees right under her chin and absolutely hated to touch anything. If we had the right rider we think she would be one heck of a jumper.

She found her soul mate when we leased her on a year off broodmare duties and we did not have the heart to separate them and so we kissed her goodbye and let her go. She was pampered and loved for many years before passing away in 2020.