"Astek Gymnast" By Gym Bello Crowned Overall National Young Dressage Horse Champion AND Wins The Level 2 National Title at the 2010 Bates National NZ Dressage Championships!! • 9th March 2010
Victoria Wall and her super 5yo Hanoverian/Trakehner gelding "Astek Gymnast" by Gym Bello performed with great distinction at the Bates NZ National Dressage Championships held 4th - 7th March at Taupo.
The Young Dressage horse classes were judged by Bernard Maurel (France), Jan Bird and ridden by Australia’s Grand Prix dressage rider Nicholas Fyffe. Gymnast won the 5yo Young Dressage Horse Champion before going forward for against the top 4yo, Rakanui Embracing (Lynne King), and top 6yo Diva’s Glory MH (Casey Johnson) where Gymnast was then selected as the Overall Young Dressage Horse Champion.
On top of this, Vic and Gymnast also won the Bates Level 2 National title, fending off top competition from the likes of Kallista Field with Sobranie FE and Casey Johnson with Diva’s Glory MH.
Click on this link to see the full report from NZ Equestrian website -
http://www.zeus-sport.com/EQUESTRIANPRIVATE/Article.aspx?Mode=1&ID=3862

Adding to these national titles, Astek Gymnast is also currently leading the national Zilco Level 2 Musical Freestyle leadboard for 2009/10!

These are VERY exciting results for Gym Bello, adding to his already impressive line-up of progeny performances. Gymnast, as a 5 year old, is from the first limited crop of Gym Bello's progeny, of which all are now competing with much success in dressage, showing, showhunter and showjumping. Our biggest congratulations to Vic and Astek Gymnast for such a superb effort, we look forward to next watching them in action at the coming Horse Of The Year show in Hastings.

"Astek Gianni" Wins Open Amateur Showhunter At Wellington-Horowhenua 2 Star Showjumping Championships • 8th March 2010
Classy 5yo Hano/TB mare "Astek Gianni" by Gym Bello competed in Foxton at the Wellington Showjumping Championships on the 27th and 28th February 2010 with Diana where she performed beautifully throughout the weekend, highlights being winning both the 'First Year Registered Showhunter' class and the 'Kiwispan Open Amateur High Points Showhunter' class which is a highly competitive national series and included several very experienced combinations who are currently in the Top 6 of the National Series leaderboard. Gianni has qualified and will be competing in Showhunter at Horse Of The Year Show in Hastings from 17th - 21st March.
Photo at right shows Gianni and Diana competing earlier in January at Waitemata 3* Woodhill Sands where they were placed in 5 classes.

"Astek Incahoots" Wins At NZ National Showjumping Championships • 15th February 2010
Talented up and coming mare "Astek Incahoots" who we own in partnership with rider John Cottle had a great show at the NZ National Showjumping Championships held at McLeans Island 10th - 14th February where she won the tightly contested 1.20m - 1.30m Championship title ahead of some of the country's top combinations.
Incahoots, a Holsteiner bred mare by Baldini imported from Germany, was a late starter to the sport however is certainly making up for lost time now in her 2nd season of competition with John, already with several wins and placings up to 1.30m to her credit. A playful, powerful mare who has excellent technique and loves to jump, we have been breeding her via embryo transfer alongside her competition career. We already have a classy Holsteiner yearling gelding by Ramirez on the ground, and this season have just had recent confirmation of a 42 day positive pregnancy (via embryo transfer) with a Gym Bello foal now on its way.
Our congrats to John Cottle for guiding Astek Incahoots to this fantastic win. Coverage of the Nationals will be broadcast on CTV sometime in the near future, we will keep you informed when we find out the dates!

Exciting First For New Zealand - "Quaterback" Foal Born At Astek • 7th February 2010

Our imported Warmblood mare "Belcam Aarcadia" has giving birth to a gorgeous upstanding dark bay colt by the sensational young Hanoverian stallion "Quaterback" who is making a huge impact in Germany thanks to his truely outstanding movement and the superior quality of his first foal crops which have topped the Elite foal sales in Germany, including in 2009 a colt selling for 120,000 Euros (approx NZ$238,000!). Quaterback was the Bundeschampionat division for 3 year old Stallions in 2006, his scores for the Bundeschampionat were: Trot; 9.5, Canter: 10, Walk 7.5, Conformation: 9.5, Overall Impression: 9.5. This exceptional moving young stallion has already started his winning ways in competition. Paired with the talented young rider, Christian Flamm of Hessen, Quateback galloped away from the competition at the Bundeschampionate in 2006. He started his stallion career by being named Champion of his licensing in Neustadt/Dosse in 2005. In 2006, after the Bundeschampionate, he went on to win his 30 day test at Neustadt/Dosse with outstanding scores: Temperament 9.0, Trot 9.25, Canter 9.75, Walk 7.63, Ridability 9.75, Jumping 7.75.

Upstanding Bay Colt by Quaterback x Belcam Aarcadia (by Aachen) at 3 days old. He is the first foal by sensational new German Hanoverian sire "Quaterback" to be born in New Zealand.

Above: "Quarteback" video clip

Our new colt is a very exciting arrival for New Zealand as he is the first foal by Quarteback to be born in this country - the frozen semen is very difficult to obtain due to the stallion being privately owned and with restrictions on his frozen semen being exported out of Germany.
Dark bay with 3 white socks and a tiny star, our new colt is displaying a great outlook on life with a highly trainable temperament . His very handsome face combines with a correct, athletic, scopey body. His floaty movement shows exciting promise and we very much look forward to seeing him develop!
His dam "Belcam Aaracdia" was bred at the highly regarded Belcam Stud in Australia by Ulrich and Belinda Klatte. Her sire Aachen(imp/exp GER) is one of the most influential stallions to have been used in Australian performance horse breeding. He was imported to Australia as a young stallion, then exported back to Germany as a Grand Prix showjumper where he still competes at World Cup level. He has produced many Internationally successful Eventers including "Aava" (WEG 2002) and Belcam Aaberdeen (full sister to our mare "Belcam Angelica"), as well as multiple FEI Dressage and World Cup Showjumping horses. Aachen's sire the legendary Hanoverian "Argentinus" (deceased) who is one of the world's greatest ever sires and has produced Olympic competitors in both Dressage and Showjumping.
Aarcadia has already produced several Premium rated foals in Australia by frozen semen sires including Stedinger and Routiner.
We are certain her exciting new colt foal will follow in his family's footsteps and not dissapoint!

Above: The new German Hanoverian stallion sensation "Quarterback"

Prestigious NZ Grand National Title For "Astek Ghisella" • 1st February 2010
Beautiful dark brown 3yo filly Astek Ghisella (By Gym Bello out of Belcam Angelica by Aachen) attended the NZ Grand National show recently with owner Janelle Sangster-Ward. Ghisella's outstanding movement and type shone amongst the competition, resulting in her winning the very prestigious National title of 'NZ Grand National Champion Warmblood'. Ghisella won a lovely big sash and rug, we are sure this is the first of many performance results for this exceptional young horse, our congrats to Janelle for a job very well done! Photos coming soon.

Gym Bello Progeny Showhunter Results • 1st February 2010
At the Waitemata (Auckland) Showjumping & Showhunter 3* Show held at Woodhill Sands 16uth and 17th January 2010, Astek Gianni entered the showhunter classes with Diana, jumping some very good rounds and gaining 14 SH points throughout the 2 days of competition. Results:
- 3rd and 4th placings in 4&5yo Showhunter
- 2nd, 3rd and two 4th placings in the First Year Registered classes at 1 metre.
- Gianni is currently in 3rd place on the Waitemata Showhunter First Year Registered Series.
Astek Geneva was also in attendance with owner Trudi Biggar, where she won the 4&5yo class on Saturday and was 2nd on Sunday!
Super results for both Gym Bello progeny amongst tough competition and big classes.

Voltaire II Filly Reserve Champion • 1st February 2010
'Horse & Pony' magazine editor Rowan Dixon bred a gorgeous filly by Voltaire II this season and the pair have recently been out to some in-hand shows, with great success! At the North Island All Breeds Show, "Volanti" won her three foal classes (Sport Horse, Warmblood and Saddle Hunter) and was titled Reserve Champion Junior Youngstock in both the Saddle Hunter and the Warmblood rings. Her beautiful dam won Supreme Broodmare of the whole show, as well as Supreme Saddle Hunter. Our congrats to Rowan for breeding such a quality filly and doing so well at their first shows! A great sign of things to come.. :o)

Classy filly foal "Volanti" by Voltaire II, bred by Rowan Dixon.

Gym Bello's Progeny In Jumping Competition • 11th January 2010
"Astek Geneva" (5yo mare by Gym Bello x TB Mare "Appointment") has been continuing to do very well lately with her owner Trudi Biggar of Coatesville in the showhunter arena. Geneva's beautifully executed rounds at the Auckland Showhunter Group show at Pukekohe domain on Sunday 10th Jan saw her win both the Junior 1m and Junior High Points 1m classes, with outstanding scores of 91%! Geneva is always commented on for her quality movement, jump style and class which catch the judges eye. Well done Trudi!

"Astek Gianni" (5yo mare by Gym Bello x TB Mare "Stately Affair") has also been out starting her jumping competition career this season with Diana, with their first official showjumping start at Taupo Christmas Classic in December 09. Gianni jumped in the 1 metre class each day and demonstrated her bold attitude and very smart jumping technique, doing some excellent first rounds. Gianni also attended the Auckland Showhunter competition 10th Jan, and did 2 fantastic rounds in the Amatuer 1metre and the KiwiwSpan Amatuer High Points 1metre, scoring 79% and 86%, just one point behind the placegetters. Judges commented on her excellent jump style, very good rhythm, balance and movement, so a very promising way to make her showhunter debut.

Astek Gianni at Taupo Christmas Classic, Dec 2009

"Astek Gymnast" By Gym Bello - Level 2 Dressage Champion & Young Horse Trophy Winner At Auckland Championships • 20th December 2009
News has just come to hand that 5yo gelding Astek Gymnast (by Gym Bello x Falkensee mare) attended the Auckland Manakau Festival Of Dressage 2009 (Auckland Championships) with his owner/rider Victoria Wall, where he WON the overall Champion Level 2 (Novice) Horse, won the Level 2 Musical Freestyle and also won the Dudley Memorial Trophy for the Champion Young Dressage Horse 4/5/6 year old!
Gymnast is also currently leading the Zilco Musical Freestyle Leaderboard Level 2 with 22 points from a previous win at the Waikato Champs and a 3rd at the BOP Champs.
He has also recently been selected to appear on the Cover of the National Dressage Championships Programme of Events in March 2010.
Our congratulations to this super combination on their on-going success!! These exciting results just continue to come in from Gym Bello's oldest progeny that are competing. Photos coming soon.

"Vancouver" By Voltaire II Wins $25,000 Puissance Class at the Washington International Horse Show • 4th December 2009
News has just come to hand that the well known New Zealand horse "Vancouver" by Voltaire II has just won the $25,000 Puissance Class at the Washington International Horse Show with rider McLain Ward, jumping the impressive height of 2.01 metres (6'7").
Vancouver was competed in NZ by Britta Pederson at Advanced eventing before he then went to Oliver Edgecombe where he performed with much success winning the NZ World Cup Showjumping Series and also the 2007 HOY Puissance. He was sold for a record price for a New Zealand showjumper when he went to the USA.
Very exciting news to hear this talented horse is continuing to perform with distinction against some of the top international horses!

Voltaire II Son Wins Adelaide International CCI 4* Event • 18th November 2009
Exported son "Vettori" by Voltaire II has won the challenging Adelaide International CCI 4* event held in Australia November 13th - 15th 2009. The technical and demanding cross-country course proved to be a tough track amidst an early heat wave of temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. Olympic Gold Medalist Stuart Tinney and Vettori jumped a clear showjumping round to finish on a score of 65.8, winning them the competition.

2009 Foals At Play • 18th November 2009
Fantastic local photographer Antonia Steeg spent some time out in the foal paddocks and came back to us with these absolutely beautiful shots of some of the new babies at play! I know we seem to say it every year, but this definately seems to be the best foal crop yet!! :o)

Left: Hanoverian/TB Filly by Gym Bello x Sparkling Wine. | Right: The biggest and the smallest Holsteiner foals by Ramirez meet!

Above: Superb Hanoverian colt by Gym Bello x Belcam Angelica

Left: Personality plus - Holsteiner filly by Ramirez x JK Jess | Right: Gorgeous Hano/TB filly by Gym Bello x Sparkling Wine

Left: Belcam Angelica proudly shows off her colt by Gym Bello | Right: Devine Hanoverian filly by Gym Bello x Kinnordy Ravenna

 

5yo Mare By Gym Bello Wins Supreme Champion at NZWHA Championships
• 9th November 2009
"Rosari Ghiotto", a beautiful dark bay/brown 5yo mare by Gym Bello out of a Master mare, attended the NZ Warmblood Horse Association Championship show in Christchurch on Sunday 8th November with owner Janelle Sangster-Ward of Blenheim. Her first in-hand show outing provided superb results, with her winning her Age & Sex classes and going on to win Supreme Champion Led, as well as Supreme Premier Mare / Filly. Ghiotto impressed the crowd and judges with her top quality elevated movement, beautiful looks, lovely temperament and excellent overall conformation.
This exact same result was previously won in 2006 by then 2yo filly Astek Gianni, also at her very first show outing! So gives Gym Bello yet another great result to add to his progeny successes.
Rosari Ghiotto is actually being offered for sale as Janelle is going to Europe to continue her dressage training - see our Horses For Sale page for more info on this quality young horse.
The NZWHA show always makes for a very enjoyable outing, ideal for young horses and is always very popular with warmblood owners in the lead up to the hugely popular Royal A&P on 13th November and the many other coming shows.

Stable Of Stallions Offers Discounted Service To Gym Bello - Be In Quick!
• 3rd November 2009
Dressage New Zealand has come up with a new "Stable Of Stallions" concept to provide funding assistance to the sport. We have joined this promotion by donating 2 services to Gym Bello.
If you are thinking of using Gym Bello this season, now is your chance to take advantage of a $200 discount on his service fee by quoting "Stable Of Stallions" to us when you book your mare. This means you will pay only $1800 (including GST) for the service and your payment will go to Dressage NZ to use towards competitions, training etc.
First in first served, so contact us today!

"Astek Gymnast" Steps Up A Level And Wins Again! • 1st November 2009
Recently turned 5yo gelding "Astek Gymnast" (owned and ridden by Victoria Wall) made his return to competition in October 2009 following a devastating accident incurred at the March 2009 Horse Of The Year Show. Obviously Gymnast has now fully recovered and went out to WIN his first start at Elementary Level (Level 3) with a 70%+ score. Gymnast has qualified and is competing in the World Dressage Challange at Elementary in Taupo, November 2009. Has also won his first 5 year old Young Dressage horse qualifier this season. An exciting combination to watch!

"Astek Gymnast" (5yo gelding by Gym Bello x RV Liebschnee) at Bay Of Plenty Dressage Champs with owner Victoria Wall

"Range View Natasha" Delivers The Goods Once Again • 2nd November 2009
The ever consistent broodmare Range View Natasha (by Falkensee) has given us another superb colt by Gym Bello born on the 2nd of November, he is dark brown with socks and a star and the beautiful head and conformation that this breeding combination always produces. This colt is a full brother to the in-hand champion "Astek Galalee" (sold to Southland), the exceptional 4 year old "Astek Genias" (sold and exported to USA) the magnificent 3yo "Astek Gonzales" (retained by stud) and the truely beautiful yearling "Astek Georgia" (sold to Northland). Natasha is always an extremely proud mother and has had a hard time watching the other mares with their foals born before her!
Photos of the new arrival coming soon.

Voltaire II Mare Produces Beautiful Gym Bello Colt • 1st November 2009
Well performed showjumping and showhunter mare "Vienna SL" has given birth to her second foal on the 1st of November - a handsome brown colt by Gym Bello. This new colt is a full brother to the delightful yearling filly "Astek Gymnastek" who is going to be a very versatile, bouncy and great natured allround prospect. The new colt is very leggy and well conformed with lovely white socks and a very handsome face.
Alex now joins the other mares with foals at foot; enjoying some peace and quiet together in the stables at night, and out on the grass during the day.
The foals are all coming left right and centre now!!

Top Quality Filly Born In The Storm • 29th October 2009
Young imported Hanoverian mare "Kinnordy Ravenna" by Riverdance (Rubenstein) out of Elite Mare "Gala" has given birth on a very stormy night to an ultra classy chestnut filly by Gym Bello with magnificent natural topline and beautiful white markings. Mare and foal were quickly moved to shelter in the stables and join the other mares with new foals at foot keeping warm and dry. Ravenna herself has enormous powerful movement and a dressage pedigree second to none and with the combination of Gymnastik Star/Graf Landau blood from Gym Bello we hold high expectations for this filly.
Ravenna is a good young mother and it will be interesting to compare this filly to her closely related siblings by Gymnastik Star, "Astek Garvani" and "Astek Godessa". Photo coming soon!

Ramirez Mare Foals Gorgeous Gym Bello Colt • 27th October 2009
Young Ramirez mare "Astek Revelation" (aka Annie) gave birth to a very leggy, athletic dark brown colt by Gym Bello at 7pm on the 27th October. Annie was lightly competed in dressage by Diana as a 4 year old before having some time out to join the broodmare herd. We had been really looking forward to putting a Ramirez mare to Gym Bello and it looks like our expectations have now been fulfilled! This new colt has the often seen star and snip facial markings of Gym Bello's progeny, and with such an athletic frame, great face and expression and proven performance bloodlines, he should move and jump with plenty of scope and talent! Annie is being a very good first time mother and proudly showing off her new arrival for the rest of the ladies in waiting to see.

First Astek Foal Arrival For 2009 Season Is A Real Stunner! • 19th October 2009
Beautiful imported Hanoverian mare "Kinnordy Ghislaine" (by Gymnastik Star out of a Silky Baby xx mare) has produced her much awaited 2nd foal for us here at Astek, and my what a stunner!! A gorgeous bay filly by Ramirez arrived at 5.30am 19th October. She has a big blaze, 3 socks, a very beautiful head and an exceptional body type. Ghislaine has become the envy of the entire mare herd now as they all watch her and wait for their own babies to arrive, the new foals are always of particular interest to the maiden mares who have no idea what's in store for them!! We have several more mares due to foal any day so the foaling alarms are running hot.

Ladies In Waiting • 10th October 2009

Above: Some of the broodmare team at Astek Stud waiting for their new foals to arrive!

We have two paddocks full of big bellies and slow movers!! The foaling alarms are on and night watch has begun.... so keep watching this space for the first new arrivals due any day!

Mark Todd's Exciting New Ride, Event Horse By "Graf Landau" Excells • 20th June 2009
News has come to hand that Mark Todd has recently been riding the very exciting young event horse "Walk The Line" - a Hanoverian / Thoroughbred grey gelding by Graf Landau. Walk The Line (originally called Kinnordy Gernot) was bred by Kinnordy Stud in Australia and started life making a promising competition career as a showjumper, results including placing 3rd in the Australian 6yo Young Showjumping Championship at Jumping With The Stars 2005.
At the Houghton International CCI** event, UK, June 2009, Mark and Walk The Line completed a terrific performance throughout to WIN this tough competition, ahead of 111 other entries in the class!!
Other recent exciting eventing results come from Australia where Stuart Tinney and "Watermark Grayson", another gelding by Graf Landau, placed 2nd in the Melbourne 3DE CCI***.

Two Exciting New Pregnant Mares Arrive At Astek • 10th June 2009
Our pretty mare "Belcam Aarcadia" and her very bouncy moving filly foal by "GT Jake" (by reknown international dressage star "Jazz"), who have been agisting in Australia over the summer while we waited for frozen semen to arrive, have recently made the journey to New Zealand where they have managed to cope with the sudden drop in temperature and quickly settle into our stud routine. Aaracdia is by Aachen (Argentinus) out of a TB mare (same as our top mare Belcam Angelica) and has already produced Premium foals in Australia by frozen semen sires including Stedinger and Routiner, and is now in foal to the new German Hanoverian stallion sensation "Quarterback".
This excert from the EuroDressage.com website sums him up very well! - ..."After his undisputed victory at the 2006 Bundeschampionate, "Quarterback" was the talk of the town in the breeding and dressage world, but it took until his presentation at the Althengst parade to convince everyone of his extraterrestrial potential. You could think that a canter could not get any better than Florencio's, but you're wrong. Quarterback is uphill, superbly engaged, elastic, stunning, unbelievable, he is a dream come true! Rider Christian Flamm just had to sit back and relax in the saddle of this super star. He's a stunner, he can walk, trot and canter. When Flamm collects Quarterback's trot, he goes into the most natural passage. What's the source of all this success? Poetin's dam Poesie. Quarterback is by Quarterman (by Quando Quando) out of Brandenburger x Brentano II. His grand dam is Poesie, who produced world champions Poetin and Samba Hit I, II, and III."

Above: The new German stallion sensation "Quarterback".

So we are obviously extremely excited about what this mating will produce, and because of the very restricted frozen semen available outside of Germany, we believe this will be the first foal by Quarterback to be born in New Zealand!!

We also had another superb new mare arrive called "Cabernet". This exciting young mare also brings tremendous new international dressage and jumping bloodlines to New Zealand that we believe will really complement our breeding programme. Cabernet is by the Oldenburg stallion "Caberet" (click to view video clip) out of a mare by "Cavallo" (by "Contender"). Cabaret is a stunning black stallion born 1993 who absolved a successful 100 day test in Neustadt Dosse with a score of 131 points in the rideability portion. In 1997 he won the Riding Horse Championships of Southern Germany and placed third at the Bundeschampionships. As a 5 year old he was successfully wining at Elementary level dressage and was a highly placed finalist at the Bundeschampionships again. He has sired champion and vice-champion foals and Elite auction horses, with most of his foals gaining the Premium status. He is known for producing leggy progeny with big generous movement.

Above left: Caberet. Above right: Weltmeyer

Cabernet's close pedigree includes the famous stallions "Cordeur" (approved in Holstein with an outstanding 100 day test, he was a successful showjumper up to Intermediate level before his untimely death at a young age); "Contender" (one of the most popular stallions in Holstein, ranked third in the list of the world's best showjumping sires in 2004) and "Cor De La Bryere" (one of the world's most influential showjumping producers ever).
Our mare Cabernet is a beautiful tall, athletic mare with unlimited scope and movement - she has enormous suspension and elasticty! She is in foal to the Hanoverian supersire "Weltmeyer" who needs no introduction!

Freejumping • 1st May 2009
We have been freejumping some of our youngstock lately and are very excited about these future jumping propects!
"Astek Gazeni" (3yo gelding by Gym Bello) and "Astek Gustofin" (sold 2yo gelding by Gym Bello) both showed enormous athleticism and technique, "Astek Roxette" (yearling filly by Ramirez x Ghandia - full sister to KS Genoa) will mature into a very smart and sharp performer, and the as yet officially un-named 2yo gelding by Lindberg Des Hayettes out of Distancia also showed superb form.
It is very exciting to see the proven performance jumping bloodlines coming through our stallions into their youngstock and we look forward to seeing more of the Astek horses out competing in the jumping arena.... it's been bit of waiting game for them to grow up but they are almost old enough at last!!
Check out Gazeni's form over a small cross in this photo!

Astek Relation "Genoa" WINS Kelt Capital Horse Of The Year Class!! • 23rd March 2009
As mentioned in the news below, talented grey Hanoverian mare "KS Genoa" ridden by Peter McMahon, came to New Zealand recently to compete, with her goal being the big Horse Of The Year Showjumping Grand Prix class. In a thrilling competition including many top riders and horses, Genoa was one of only two out of 25 horses to jump clear in the first round - a large and technical track up to 1.60 metres in height designed by international course builder Leopoldo Palacios from Venezuela.
Genoa's second jumping round had the packed showground on the edge of their seats.... deftly negotiating the course under the guidance of Peter, Genoa's outstanding athleticism and jumping technique came to the fore, with a huge roar rising from the crowd when she negotiated the final jump clear to win, being the only horse to complete the tough competition without dropping a rail. This class is the richest Showjumping prizemoney ever to be offered in the Southern Hemisphere, and for the class to be won by Genoa - who is not only full sister to our broodmare "Ghandia" but also being by Graf Landau - the dam sire of our Hanoverian stallion Gym Bello - made the victory very exciting for us at Astek!! The youngstock Ghandia and Gym Bello have produced for us are all top quality, athletic types and this win adds further proof to the obvious jumping talent held within these bloodlines.

More Astek Stud Results At "Horse Of The Year" Show • 23rd March 2009
Kinnordy Gym Bello had two of his oldest progeny competing under saddle at the Horse Of The Year Show - the 4 year old gelding "Astek Gymnast" ridden by Victoria Wall and the 4 year old mare "Rosari Ghiotto" ridding by Janelle Sangster-Ward. Both were competing in Prelim Dressage and completed some beautiful tests to earn Ghiotto 4th place overall and Gymnast 6th place overall! Very exciting results for such young horses amongst NZ's top competition, and for Gym Bello's oldest stock to be performing with such distinction so early in their careers. Well done!!
Astek Gymnast also competed in the Sporthorse Performance Showcase classes which were held in the International Arena on Thursday night, judges including Dr Jochen Wilkens from the Hanoverian Verband.
The 4 years and over class for Dressage/Riding horses was a very stiff competition with 4 imported stallions and a fantastic lineup of international bloodlines being represented. Horses were initially presented in-hand then the top 8 went forward to be presented under saddle. Astek Gymnast proceeded to impress and finished with a very creditable 6th place overall, a result both we and his owner were thrilled with.

Retrospect II, a 7yo gelding by Ramirez ridden by Greg Jamieson, also performed very well with a double clear round in the 7 Year Old class (1.35 - 1.45m) earning him 4th place 7yo Horse Of The Year sash.

Astek Incahoots, an imported Holsteiner mare owned by Astek Stud in partnership with John Cottle, was competing in the Showjumping classes under the guidance of John where she showed her power and ability by completing many double clear rounds up to 1.25m. Incahoots embryo colt foal by Ramirez "Astek Resolution" is growing into a quality individual who we can see having a big jump in the future too!

"Genoa" Currently Competing In NZ - Full Sister To Our "Kinnordy Ghandia" • 6th March 2009
Talented showjumping mare "KS Genoa" (Hanoverian/TB by Graf Landau x Fast Khan) is currently in New Zealand from Australia, lining up for the big $1 million dollar Grand Prix at this years Horse Of The Year show. Genoa is a full sister to our imported broodmare "Kinnordy Ghandia". Ghandia was injured as a young horse so never competed, however her top quality progeny are speaking for themselves. Her 3yo filly "Astek Gyminski" (by Gymnastik Star) has certainly inherited the family's huge jumping ability, meanwhile yearling filly "Astek Roxette" (by Ramirez) and colt foal "Astek Viva La Vida" (by Voltaire II) are also both outstanding types and sure to follow the family tradition. We will be watching Genoa's progress in NZ with great interest!

Ridden And Free-jumping Footage • 6th March 2009
We have recently been free-jumping some of our older 3 and 4 year old stock, with some standouts including Astek Gyminski, Gianni (not for sale), Gazeni, Radiance and Geneva. We also now have some new footage of our sale horses under saddle including 4 year olds Astek Gymkala and Astek Geneva (out competing), plus the 3 year olds Gyminkski, Reveal and Radiance, all coming along very well for their ages. Please contact us if you are interested in further info or DVD footage of any of these quality young horses!

3yo Astek Gyminski shows off her extravagant jump style over a small cross bar - March 2009

Astek Stud Open Day DVD's Now Available • 10th February 2009
Please contact us if you would like to receive your free copy of our January 2009 Open Day DVD - view our four stallions and their progeny, from foals at foot to top competitive horses under saddle!

Astek Stud Open Day Was A Great Success! • 20th January 2009
Although the 10th of January dawned a little overcast and drizzly, this was just enough to help keep the arena nice and moist and ready for the days events, because the sun broke through the cloud late morning and cleared to a beautiful calm, sunny day by the time our horse presentations started at 1pm! A great crowd of approximately 200 people arrived to view the 4 Astek stallions and 50 of their progeny being presented. Rob Cope-Williams provided some excellent commentary throughout the day, and CRT very kindly provided their marquee and BBQ for a social get together afterwards. The stallions were all in top condition and proudly presented in-hand by Steve Houston, while the young Astek horses were all very capably ridden by Greg Jamieson.

Elenbee's R-Rated	Astek Viva La Vida with his dam
Astek Gemini	Astek Reformer
Astek Rantani	Astek Reveal
All photos above copyright © Antonia Steeg.

Our thanks to all the outside breeders and owners who also brought along their progeny to display, not to mention another huge thanks to the terrific team of helpers who helped us prepare and run such a large event - we couldn't do it without you!
We have some super photos provided by Antonia Steeg, some of which we will be making into an online gallery for viewing (keep a lookout for this coming soon!), as well a complete video footage of the day for those who couldnt make it, so please enquire if you are interested in receiving a DVD copy!!

Last Foals For The Season • 22nd December 2008
Thoroughbred mares "Katya" and "Stately Affair" have both now had their foals for 2008...Katya producing a beautiful dark bay filly by Ramirez on the 16th December followed by Stately Affair who had a gorgeous bay colt by Voltaire II on December 21st. Both foals are very attractive types and great examples of their breeds.... rounding off a super foaling season for us here at Astek! We are now well underway with preparations for our coming Open Day on the 10th of January, but would like to take this time to wish everyone a VERY MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We hope to see you all at the Open Day.... further details about the day will be posted online early in 2009.

Gym Bello's Youngsters Making BIG Impression In Early Competitions • 16th December 2008
We took 4yo filly "Astek Geneva" by Gym Bello to the Ashburton NZEF 2 Star Showjumping competition on 7th December where she was entered in 4 Showhunter classes. Geneva performed very well resulting in winning two 1sts, a 2nd and a 3rd, jumping from 70 to 90cms. At the Canterbury Xmas Cracker competition, Geneva again won or placed in every showhunter class entered including winning the 4yo Showhunter. We were once again rapt with her attitude and results!

"Astek Gymnast", a 4yo gelding by Gym Bello, (as seen in the photo above right, Gymnast is the horse on the left of the picture) was crowned Reserve Champion Prelim Horse at the Auckland Manakau Festival of Dressage Championships, winning one of his classes and with scores ranging from 66 - 71%. A terrific start to this very impressive gelding's competition career.
"Wairua Glymmer", another 4yo filly, has been very successful in dressage again recently with a win at Ashburton NZEF dressage in the Prelim 1.6 Challenge in November, followed by 4th place at the Canterbury Dressage Champs in the Prelim 1.5 Challenge. Other 4 year olds "Astek Gianni" and "Rosari Ghiotto" also competed at the Canterbury Champs, both proving their exceptional temperaments and giving very promising performances for their age and competition experience.

Another "Very Special" Foal Is Born • 8th December 2008
Beautiful Holsteiner mare "Renaissance II" aka Paris (by Ramirez x Cassie) gave birth to a top quality foal at 1.30am Sunday morning - a classy bay filly by Gym Bello. This is the first foal for Paris who has proven to be an exceptional first time mother, very proudly caring for her foal like an old timer. The new filly has a big blaze and two alternate white socks, she is a very sporty, correct, athletic girl with a great nature and a beautiful head and expression. This is the first offspring we have had from the Gym Bello / Ramirez breeding cross and it looks to be an excellent match, just as we had hoped! Mare and foal are enjoying some quality time together in the stables at night and prancing around the paddocks during the day.

"Retrospect II" Places In First Grand Prix Start • 1st December 2008
Scopey 7yo gelding "Retrospect II" by Ramirez, ridden by Greg Jamieson, had a great weekend at the South Island Championship Three Star Showjumping competition, 29th and 30th November at Waimate, gaining 2nd place in the Cushionride 7yo SI Championship and 4th place in the Cathay Pacific One Star Grand Prix SI Championship. This was Retrospect II's first Grand Prix start and proved to be an exciting and very close competition with a strong group of horses and riders fighting it out for placings.
Other Astek stallion progeny in winning form included "Hez Zurich" by Ramirez, earning 4th place in the 7yo class; "Rackateer" by Ramirez gaining 4th place in the hotly contested 1.20m South Island Championship class and "Ghandi" by Voltaire II, 3rd in the 7yo class.

More Gym Bello Progeny Successes • 18th November 2008
There have been several progeny by Gym Bello out competing in-hand and under saddle lately all around the country with many prizes and favourable comments coming their way.
At the NZ Warmblood Horse Association Championship show in Canterbury on the 16th November, Astek Graffiti (3yo gelding out of Thoroughbred mare) was crowned Champion Male while Astek Gianni (4yo filly out of Thoroughbred mare) won Champion Mare in the in-hand section. Astek Gonzales, Graf Eschar and Denbie Giselle also all won their age/sex classes. Astek Gianni then competed in her first competition under saddle in the Prelim 1.3 where she performed a very elegant test placing 2nd with 63%, results we were thrilled with for her ridden debut.
Astek Gymnast (4yo gelding out of Trakehner mare) and Rosari Ghiotto (4yo filly out of Swedish Warmblood mare) have both also made their competition debuts in Auckland and Marlborough regions respectively, both scoring high 60's percentages in Prelim dressage and gaining many admirers.
Astek Geneva (4yo filly out of TB mare) is currently continuing her jump schooling attending her second clinic with John Cottle and preparing for her next showhunter and training horse competition classes in the coming weeks!

Two Gymnastik Star Foals Born Within 24 Hours • 6th November 2008
Young Hanoverian mare "Kinnordy Ravenna" gave us a very welcome reprieve from the usual middle of the night foaling duties by giving birth to her new foal just after lunch at 1.30pm on November 5th! A top quality filly by Gymnastik Star entered the world, she is dark brown with a big white star, tall and very well conformed with a lovely face and expression. This filly has outstanding dressage bloodlines and we look forward to seeing her grow and her movement develop!
Attractive Thoroughbred mare "Sugar Rush" then decided it was time for her new baby to arrive at 1am on the 6th, she produced a leggy and athletic colt also by Gymnastik Star. Bright bay with handsome face and beautiful big eyes, this fellow also has a great nature and bouncy stride. This is Sugar's first foal and she's a very proud mum!
We've had all 6 of our mares with foals in the stables at night during this cold snap of weather, a great routine for the new babies to incorporate into their life experiences. Photos coming soon!

LEFT: Astek Rajah by Ramirez and Astek Gorgess by Gym Bello say hello. RIGHT: Astek Viva La Vida by Voltaire II.

Three More Impressive Foal Arrivals At Astek • 29th October 2008
A very handsome and strong Holsteiner colt foal has entered the world, by Ramirez out of Cassie, this colt is a full brother to the magnificent showjumper "Hez Zurich" and our beautiful new broodmare "Rennaissance II" (currently in foal to Kinnordy Gym Bello, due December). This colt is going to be a rich bay with a big blaze and three white socks, he looks every bit the image of his outstanding brother and we expect him to hold the same talent for performance in the future.
Last night we had another sleepless night with 2 more foals born! "Kinnordy Ghandia" (by Graf Landau) produced a tall and very friendly colt by Voltaire II, currently chestnut with a big blaze and 4 stockings, he's a colourful fellow and seemingly very pleased to be up and about in the world, quick to test out all his trot and canter functions!!
And first time mother "Vienna SL" by Voltaire II delivered a very classy bay filly by Gym Bello at 5.30am. A very elegant, lovely natured girl with a cute star, snip and one long hind sock. Vienna quickly took to her new role of motherhood without a hitch and has certainly produced a first foal to be extremely proud of.
Our foaling alarm has been running hot lately with more mares due any day now before we get bit of a rest until the next one. We have also been receiving nationwide reports from mare owners with gorgeous new foal birth announcements... thanks for keeping us informed, we love to hear about your new arrivals!
Keep an eye on our Youngstock page for latest foal photos as we get them!

"Astek Geneva" Wins At First Competition • 27th October 2008
Attractive dark brown/black 4 year old filly "Astek Geneva", by "Gym Bello" out of Thoroughbred mare "Appointment" attended her first competition over Labour Weekend at the Canterbury Showjumping competition. Despite horrendous weather on the Sunday, Geneva completed a calm and confident clear round in her first class, the Welcome Hunter, before going on to win her second class, the 4 Year Old Showhunter, thanks to her rhythmical, smooth paces and very cute jumping technique. On Monday she also jumped clear in her first 80cm Training Horse showjumping class. This was certainly another great first competition result for one of Gym Bello's oldest progeny making their debut under saddle!

Greg Jamieson And His Ramirez Geldings Kick Off Their South Island Competition
Debut • 27th October 2008
Greg Jamieson has recently joined the team at Astek Stud from Paeroa, bringing with him his 2 very impressive Ramirez geldings "Hez Zurich" and "Retrospect II". Both horses attended the Canterbury Showjumping competition over Labour Weekend at McLeans Island where they attracted alot of attention, with Zurich gaining 2nd and Retrospect 3rd in the 7yo Breeding Series class. These two horses have previously been at the forefront of the 5 and 6yo series, with Hez Zurich also making his first 1* Grand Prix start recently and looking ready for more in the near future.
Greg brings a wealth of riding and stud management knowledge to our stud and we look forward to introducing him to the fine Canterbury summer weather and competition season!

First 2008 Season Foal Arrives At Astek • 20th October 2008
Our first foal for the season has arrived at last - a simply gorgeous Hanoverian / Trakehner filly by Gym Bello out of Range View Natasha. It looks like this mating combination has proven itself once again by producing what looks like could be Natasha's best foal yet! A tall, beautifully conformed, very elegant black filly with a white star, snip and tiny hind sock. She has the prettiest dishy face with lovely big eyes, and her movement and temperament hold true to everything we have come to expect from this cross. Mare and foal have been enjoying some rest in the stable at night followed by lovely warm days to frolick out in the paddock.
We have several other mares coming in for nightly foal watch at present which has meant no chance for a full nights sleep for quite some time! But stay tuned for more foal announcements and photo updates before too long :o)

NZEF Bulletin Features Article On Astek Stud
• 10th September 2008
Check out the article and photos on us by Annie Studholme in the latest issue of the NZEF Bulletin. Note that the photo of Diana riding is not of the stallion Gym Bello (as has been printed in the magazine!) but of Diana with one of Gym Bello's oldest progeny, the beautiful filly "Astek Gianni". This photo was taken in May 2008 when Gianni was rising 4 years old and had been under saddle for approx 3 months.

"Kinnordy Galandria" Wins Zilco Winter Series • 9th September 2008
Attractive 5yo Hanoverian mare "Kinnordy Galandria" was purchased by us in-utero when we bought her dam "Wulle Bulle" (Winterkoenig/Daktylus) in foal to Gymnastik Star from Kinnordy Stud in Australia. Galandria came to New Zealand as a weanling and grew up here. As a 4 year old we took her to several outings in dressage and showjumping where she competed with success before and she was sold to Karolyn Norton several months ago. After some winter turn-out while Karolyn had a baby, Galandria has come back into work on a winning note to acheive 1st equal place in the 2008 Zilco Winter Series Level 1 held at Selwyn Equestrian Centre. Her spectacular movement has always impressed ever since she was a foal and we have no doubts this pair have plenty more success ahead of them before this quality mare becomes a valuable future breeding propsect.
Although we very sadly lost dam "Wulle Bulle" and her 2007 foal during an extremely difficult foaling last season, we still have Galandria's full sister "Astek Gymkala" at the farm and at this stage intend to retain her for breeding purposes.

New 2008 Season Astek Stud Stallion DVD Now Available
• 8th August 2008
Please contact us if you are interested in receiving your free copy of our new 2008 stallion DVD, showing all four stallions and some of their progeny. Email us today Info@Astek.co.nz with your name, enquiry and postal address!

*NEWS FLASH* - Gym Bello Youngster Wins Overall Dressage Series! • 30th July 2008
Rising 4yo filly "Wairua Glymmer" (see below for earlier competition report) has gone on to compete in the June and July Canterbury Dressage Winter Series competitions, with outstanding results!! Glymmer was 1st overall in the May competition, followed by 2nd overall in both the June and July competitions, making her the OVERALL WINNER OF THE DRESSAGE SERIES at Training level for 2008! In June Glymmer also achieved 2nd place in her first ever Prelim test, with a score of 65%. Fantastic results indeed and a very promising look at things to come from Gym Bello's first crop progeny!!

Gym Bello's First Progeny To Compete Under Saddle WINS!!! • 20th May 2008
Gym Bello's first select crop of 10 foals are now all 3 year olds. Most have already been started under saddle and are making excellent progress, receiving many very favourable comments from their owners and professional horse starters.
"Wairua Glymmer", a very pretty chestnut filly out of a Hanoverian/TB mare by Witzbold, made a double debut on the weekend, entering her first ever competition as well as being the first of Gym Bello's oldest progeny to compete under saddle. Glymmer has been very nicely brought on by Kirsty Schist of North Canterbury and the pair made their competition debut at the Canterbury Winter Dressage Series on Sunday May 18th. Two excellent training level tests saw them place 2nd (with a score of 84%!) in the first test and then win the other test with a score of 77%! Super results for a green 3 year old in classes of up to 25 competitors! Both judges loved Glymmer and commented on her "...wonderful relaxed, happy attitude, springy movement and loads of potential". Our congrats to Kirsty for doing such a great job with this lovely filly, she is planning to aim Glymmer for the 4 year old Young Dressage Horse classes next season.
So, we are thrilled that Gym Bello's first youngster to compete under saddle has done so well, and look forward to seeing a few more of his first select crop 3yo's making their competition debuts out and about soon too!

Fantastic Weather Makes For Autumn Fun! • 29th April 2008
Firstly, apologies for the lack of news updates lately, we have been having some problems for the last month with our website hosting access! But the problem is all fixed now and rest assured we'll be keeping you up to date again as news comes to hand. :-)
The superb warm still days we have been having in Canterbury lately have been seeing us spending most daylight hours outside working with the horses. We have 6 horses in ridden work at the moment, all 3 and 4 year olds who are progressing very well. As well as work at home, we have been getting them out and about for a few outing experiences to various equestrian parks and pony clubs which is all great experience for future competitions. And just for fun we've had some of the 2 and 3 year olds in for free-jumping lately, this has been a real buzz to see them show off their strongly inherited technique, athleticism and enjoyment for jumping!
Our foals are due to be branded and weaned soon, they're all looking well grown and showing some spectacular movement in their dusk playtimes. Despite the good weather, the winter woolies have hit already though and the mares and youngstock are all looking decidedly fluffy!
The stallions have all had an excellent run of success via their progeny and related bloodlines this summer competition season. Having all finished their serving duties for 2007, they are now settled in for winter and getting round bellies in preperation for spring 2008!
For those of you who have bred to our stallions this 2007/08 season, we finally have most of the mare service forms returned to us from breeders and are underway with all the paperwork and foaling packs now, so hope to have them in the post to you very soon!
We will also be sending out another stud newsletter with all the latest news very soon too... so make sure you are on our database! (see banner at left).

"Astek Stud Young Dressage Horse" Champion Announced
• 6th March 2008
A big congratulations go out to Berny and Jutta from Vollrath Stud for the recent performance by their beautiful young Hanoverian stallion "Vollrath Lessing" who, ridden by Jutta, has just won the hotly contested "Astek Stud Young Dressage Horse" Champion title at the 2008 National Dressage Championships.
A super achievement for the 5 year old during only his second competition outing - no doubt this is one combination to keep an eye on in the future!

Canterbury Horse And Pony Breeders Show Results • 12th February 2008
We attended this very popular show with the yearling fillies "Astek Ghisella" (Gym Bello x Belcam Angelica) and "Astek Gymbya" (Gym Bello x Stately Affair xx). Unfortunately some last minute stud duties saw us arrive just as our first class - Warmblood Yearling Colt Or Filly - was being completed! However we were thrilled to discover it had just been won by the very elegant and athletic yearling filly "S.E Grissini", sired by Gym Bello, bred and exhibited by Julie Batchelor and Brent Jury.
In the competitive Warmblood Best Movement Up To 3 Years class, Astek Ghisella stood out with her excellent big walk and powerful elevated trot to win 1st prize. 2nd place went to the very attractive and lovely moving 2yo filly "Reminisce" (Ramirez x Expose, bred and shown by Loretta Watson), while 3rd place went to "Astek Gymbya", who also showed off her big stretchy walk and lovely natural elevation and hock action.
Ghisella and Gymbya also won their other class, the Best Warmblood Progeny Group, a special breeding related class for 2 progeny sired by the same stallion.
"S.E Grissini" later went on to win Champion Warmblood Youngstock and Supreme Champion Warmblood, which was a thrill for her owners and marked another great achievement for Gym Bello as a sire!
Ramirez was also represented at the show by the magnificent yearling gelding "S.E Repecharge", also bred and presented by Julie and Brent. This fellow placed 2nd in Warmblood Gelding 2 Years and Under, and won Reserve Champion Warmblood Gelding.
Several other progeny by Gym Bello and Ramirez were also present in the Hack ring.... we will post these results as soon as we get them!

More Progeny News - Keep The Results Coming! • January 2008
The athletic and powerful bay mare "Lilly Vuitton" (Voltaire II/Kingsway Diamond) and her proud owner Sandra Stanford of Auckland have recently had some great success out in showjumping competition, with wins in the 5yr Old Showjumping Series and placings up to 1.20m, followed by just one rail down in the 1.25m championship class at the competitive Waitemata SJ World Cup Show. This pair are certainly on the way up so stay tuned!
"Rackateer" (by Ramirez/Polarschnee) is also continuing to move up the grades with young Canterbury rider Katie Cox. The pair recently attended the very popular Christmas Cracker Showjumping competition, winning the 7 Year Old class (1.25-1.35m) and also placing 2nd in the Junior Rider class (1.10-1.25m) and 4th in the Foxhunter class (1.10m). Great results and always a real thrill for us to see a horse we have sold to go on and do so well with his new owner!

Lilly Vuitton by Voltaire II

Rackateer by Ramirez

Romariz by Ramirez

Another local Christchurch horse to watch is new arrival "Mind Games" from the North Island. This magnificent gelding by Ramirez is now owned by Jessica Brough and shows huge talent over jumps, following his previous placings in the 5 and 6 year old series with previous owner Nigel Horton.
"Cheleken American Beauty" (Ramirez/Aberlou) went to her first show with owner Kaye Coyne in December and won Champion - great results for her first ever outing! She then followed this up by placing 2nd at her first dressage competition shortly afterwards... congrats!
And finally, "Romariz", atrractive young mare by Ramirez owned by Tracy Bublitz, recently attended her first show outing in-hand and was also the proud winner of the Champion sash, this is another quality youngster to watch as she progresse under saddle in the future.

As for our own compeition results, we recently took eyecatching 4 year old mare "Kinnordy Galandria" (Hanoverian by Gymnastik Star/Winterkoenig) to her first dressage competition, a Canterbury Dressage Training day on January 13th. Galandria's beautiful elevated movement and settled temperament always impress and she achieved two lovely tests of 60% as ridden by Sue, so very pleasing results for her first outing! Galandria has recently been sold to a super home for competition and breeding, we look forward to seeing their progress!
We had our beautiful new mare "Renaissance II" entered in-hand at the January 2008 Grand National Show recently, however a positive pregnancy test to Gym Bello just the day before the competition made us change our mind on going - with a very special baby on-board we decided a hectic show outing may be a little too risky at this very vulnerable stage!
Our next competition appearance will be at the Canterbury Horse & Pony Breeders show where we will have two yearling fillies by Gym Bello in attendance. Fingers crossed for some more great weather!

Stunning Ramirez Colt Arrives At Astek • December 17th 2007
On Friday night, lovely natured TB mare "Katya" came into the foaling paddock as per her nightly routine and proceeded to lie down and have her foal at the very respectable time of 7.30pm, much to our delight!! She's been waking us up at night for nearly a fortnight, but once again has proven good things take time and was well worth the wait. Her foal is an outstanding bay colt by Ramirez with a very beautiful head, excellent conformation and a lively inquisitive character. This is Katya's first foal and one for her to be rightly proud of...we certainly are! He's going to be a magnificent looking fellow when he matures with his eyecatching type, colour and markings.

Eventing Wins For Voltaire II Progeny • December 17th 2007
The popular and highly competitive Richfields 3 day event has just been held in the North Island, and we are very pleased to report that Voltaire II's progeny have come to attention once again by winning 2 of the major titles! The CCI 1 star was won by Sam Taylor on the talented "DV8" while the CCI 3 star was won by Matthew Grayling on the already very successful "Gordon". So these are super results for Voltaire II who is once again proving himself as a sire of athletic eventing progeny who've got what it takes to perform with distinction!

"Jet Set Girl" Delivers The Goods! • December 12th 2007
Our very noble and attractive mare Jet Set Girl (aka Silhouette), delivered a leggy and extremely elegant bay colt by Gym Bello just after 3am this morning, cleverly choosing a lovely warm and still night for his entry into the world! This colt has a classy 2yo full brother who has been sold to a great dressage home in Southland and we can already see alot of similarities in this new arrival! Plain bay with just a tiny white band on one hind foot, he is refined, athletic and handsome and has an excellent neckset and length of rein, not to mention a very gentle, intelligent character with lots of personality! Mare and foal are doing well and happily bonding in the barn until the rain clears. Photos coming soon.

More Foals & Competition News From Around The Country • December 6th 2007
One of the broodmares that we sold in foal during the winter has recently given birth to a very classy colt by Gym Bello for her owner Bridget Walters of Christchurch. This very attractive colt is going to be dark bay with a beautiful dishy head, two hind socks and an excellent athletic, very well conformed body. We can see this fellow making a real impression in the future!
Bronwyn and Warren Cochrane of Darfield have also announced another new arrival - a very colourful bay filly with four socks, star and snip by Ramirez out of their Trakehner/TB mare. RV Philae is a proud mum and her new foal looks like being another athletic, well balanced and very elegant performance prospect. Well done!
Elenbee's R-Rated has also had some gorgeous new Arabian progeny arriving, including 2 delightful fillies and a colt for Canterbury breeders Mary Naish, Belinda Simons and Bridget Walters. No doubt these young foals will do their father proud in future competition and breeding to continue on his superb tradition and bloodlines here in NZ.

Holsteiner / Trakehner filly by Ramirez x Philae

Arab / Riding Pony filly by Elenbee's R-Rated x Dragonwyck Bonjour

Hanoverian / TB colt foal by Gym Bello x Zara

On the competition front, striking 2 year old gelding "Raffles" by Ramirez x Connie, bred by Sam McIvar, did extremely well during his first ever outing at Fielding A&P show recently, winng '2 Year Old Sporthorse', placing 2nd in '1 - 3 Year Old Sporthorse', and then achieving the title of 'Reserve Champion Youngstock Sporthorse'. Fantastic results!
The majestic chestnut gelding "Viking SL" by Voltaire II took out Supreme Champion Ridden Warmblood at the Canterbury Royal A&P this year with Stacey Anderson onboard. A very impressive young horse and a talented showjumper on the rise as well!

"Viking SL", 6yo gelding by Voltaire II

"Astek Revelation", 4yo mare by Ramirez

We have also recently taken our 4 year old mare "Astek Revelation" (by Ramirez x Bee Dee Vee) to her first competition outings, achieving a very pleasing test at the Canterbury Dressage Championships in a large Prelim Challenge class amongst some very seasoned competition. This young mare is being ridden by Diana and her eyecatching movement and beautiful type see her attracting many comments from admirers. It is SO GREAT to be out and about at last on some of our own stallions progeny!! Stay tuned for more news from this pair.
Meanwhile our next mare due to foal has been waxed up for well over a week now..... she's definately keeping us in suspense this one!!

Gorgeous New Hanoverian Colt Foal Arrives At Astek • November 18th 2007
Young imported Hanoverian mare "Kinnordy Ravenna" (by Riverdance x Gala) has been giving us sleepless nights for over a fortnight now, but finally gave birth to a gorgeous dark bay colt with a white star and snip in the early hours of November 18th. A great first time mother, Ravenna's new foal immediately impressed us with his extremely well put together conformation and lovely calm, curious nature, not to mention amazing co-ordination during his early stand ups!! This fellow is going to be very tall, dark and handsome, and holds an outstanding pedigree full of Elite mares, top Licensed Stallions and world champions, so we hold great expectations for his future!
Mare and foal spent a happy first night bonding in the barn before enjoying a beautiful sunny day outside. Photos coming soon!

Great Show Results Coming In From Around The Country • November 12th 2007
The very handsome yearling gelding "Ramboldi" (Ramirez x Delaware Gold), owned and bred by Sheryl Gough, recently attended the Canterbury Riding Club In-Hand Show for his first outing where he impressed with his excellent topline, handsome good looks and movement to win overall Champion Sporthorse! Contratulations Sheryl!
Gorgeous 2 year old gelding "Astek Giovanni" (Gym Bello x Stately Affair) and his owner Catherine Nichols attended Manawatu A&P Show recently for their first competition outing. Giovanni proved his excellent unflappable temperament throughout the day and trotted out beautifully with Cath to place 2nd in the popular Best Movement class, 3rd in 2yo Youngstock and 2nd in Hanoverian class. Congrats on such a successful first outing!

"Ramboldi" - yearling gelding by Ramirez

"Astek Giovanni" - 2yo gelding by Gym Bello

Giovanni's full sister "Astek Gymbya" also made her first show debut at the NZWHA Warmblood Championship Show on November 11th, winning 1st Yearling filly and 4th Best Movement Up To 3 Years (1st and 3rd places in this class went to two other Astek horses!).
"Astek Ghisella" (Gym Bello x Belcam Angelica) also attended the same show and placed 2nd in the Yearling Filly class (behind Gymbya), then won 1st place in the very large and competitive Best Movement Up To 3 Years class where she was commented by the Australian judge to be "simply outstanding". For 3 years in a row, Gym Bello's progeny have won this Best Movement title which is to be highly commended.

"Astek Ghisella" - yearling filly by Gym Bello

"Astek Gymbya" - yearling filly by Gym Bello

Several other progeny by our stallions were also present at the 2007 Warmblood show, including Brent Jury's magnificent yearling gelding "FE Repecharge" by Ramirez who won Champion Gelding overall - a superb achievement especially for a yearling to win over older stock. The very elegant and beautiful moving "FE Grissini" (by Gym Bello x Khozy's View) placed 3rd in the Yearling Filly class (behind Gymbya and Ghisella) and was beautifully turned out and well behaved at her first competition with owner Julie Batchelor.
Voltaire II was represented at the Warmblood show by his majestic son "Viking SL", ridden by Stacey Anderson, winning many red ribbons.
3 year old filly "Astek Cajoule" (Immenhof Castello x Rosie) also made her ridden competition debut with owner Karen Withell and came away with many ribbons - a beautifully grown out and presented young mare, proving her lovely calm temperament during her first ridden classes.
We look forward to seeing more of these youngsters, and many others, continue their successes in the summer season competitions!

Another Astek Foal And What A Stunner! • October 28th 2007
A striking velvet soft filly has been born.... a very special arrival with a tremendous jumping performance pedigree to live up to! A black filly (will go grey) with a great big blaze and four white socks, she has a very well conformed, sporty build with a strong foundation and cute face, alongside a lively playful temperament and incredible elevated uphill bounding movement. Her sire Ramirez, by Ramiro Z, needs no introduction, while her dam Kinnordy Ghandia is by the super scopey "Graf Landau" who holds exceptional World Champion jumping blood and has produced many top performers including Ghandia's own full sister "KS Genoa" - extremely talented Grand Prix Showjumper named Australian Showjumper Of The Year 2006, and full brother "Gershwin E" - Prix St George dressage winner and stallion at stud. This new foal is a welcome addition to the Astek team. We are already anticipating that her jumping technique and talent will be pretty special too!!

 

First 2007 Season Astek Foal Finally Arrives! • October 18th 2007

Beautiful Hanoverian / TB filly by Gym Bello x Barbery Coast. Photos taken at 7 days old. Check out that enormous stride!

Our first foal of the season has arrived at long last, and what a cracker!! A gorgeous elegant chestnut Hanoverian/TB filly with a perfectly symetrical blaze. She is by "Gym Bello" out of the quality Thoroughbred mare "Barbery Coast" (aka Cherry). A delightful, bold, inquisitive and extremely feminine filly with a beautiful dishy head and very leggy, athletic conformation. She's very proud and prances around showing the makings of some big round elevated movement and lots of scope. These pics were taken during a visit from a group of strangers and a dog in her paddock, causing no alarm - instead she just walked straight over in amongst us all to say hi!! So another real "Gym Bello" temperament by the looks of things!! Her dam Cherry kept us in suspense (being almost a month overdue) but thankfully it was well worth the wait and makes for another beautiful and very versatile foal to do her sire Gym Bello proud. These photos taken at 7 days old, out enjoying the afternoon sun. More photos coming soon!

Spring News Update - Daffodills, Daylight Savings & Gorgeous Foals! • October 15th 2007
At last, some beautiful new foals are starting to pop up around the country. Spring is always an exciting time and we really appreciate hearing from breeders about their eagerly expected arrival! We have a much smaller foal crop due this year having sold a few mares in foal, rested a few mares for the year, and also with a couple of unfortunate losses over winter - despite our best efforts you have to take what you get with nature and breeding sometimes! Our first mares are due to foal any day now but obviously still want to keep us in suspense just abit longer yet!
We've recently permanently taken the winter rugs off our youngstock which they very much enjoyed - such a great sight to see them so happy and healthy, running free with the sun on their coats. The yearling colts wont be too impressed when they come in again at the end of the month though... yes, it's gelding time!!
Sue and I have been riding regularly lately, we are both currently working some older stock by Ramirez and really love them! We find them to be very intelligent, bold, forward moving horses that aim to please, with great character and definate top potential for dressage and jumping.
Gym Bello's oldest select crop of foals had their official third birthday in August, so over the next few months, they will carry on from their training last summer where they were all lightly backed and once again proved their high trainability and beautiful kind, willing minds. Chances are more of Gym Bello's youngstock will be out competing in-hand this season, so keep a look out for those "G" names!
Our new boy Voltaire II is getting a great response from South Island breeders who are coming to visit, and indeed enquiries from all over the country, as his progeny continue to impress at the highest levels. He is a very beautiful, elegant stallion and such a pleasure to handle, we look forward to breeding him to some of our own mares this season.
And, we must not forget our wee Arab stallion, Elenbee's R-Rated... getting a little older in the physical now but still a playful youngster in spirit! So full of character, he also has some quality mares due to foal this season which is great as he has such a valuable genetic background.

Some of you may have noticed our recent new sponsorship of the "Astek Stud Young Dressage Horse" competition. We are very excited about promoting this event and helping people to recognise the importance of dressage as a foundation for all other disciplines. Check out our trade stands at the local dressage events and please say hi, we'd love to meet you!

Wishing everyone well for the 2007 breeding, foaling and competition season :-)

New Desktop Images For Download • September 25th 2007
Liven up your computer with one of our great new stallion or foal image designs, specially made for use as your computer desktop background. See the bottom of our Downloads page for details!

Voltaire II at Canterbury Stallion Parade • September 11th 2007
On Sunday 9th of September we took our new stallion "Voltaire II" to the local stallion parade to present to the Canterbury public. Now 15 years old, this was his first public outing in many years and he certainly knew how to show off to the crowd with some playful exhuberance and beautiful poses!! He was in magnificent condition and enjoyed the attention, receiving many very favourable comments throughout the day. We continue to feel very proud to have such a beautiful new boy in residence!
Check out the beautiful professional photos of Voltaire from the stallion parade at www.KimAnnan.com and www.AnnieStudholme.com

LOOK!! New 2007 Stallion DVD Now Available! • September 11th 2007
Diana has created a great new "Astek Stallions At Stud 2007" DVD that is now freely available simply by contacting us! The DVD shows stallion and progeny footage of all 4 Astek stallions and offers a great opportunity to compare the different types and movement each stallion is producing. If you are interested in breeding your mare this season, make sure you contact us to receive your free DVD in the post!

New 2007 Stallion Services Contracts & Breeding Articles Now Online • July 31st 2007
We now have our 2007 stallion service contracts online available for download, accessible from either the bottom of each individual stallion page, or from our Downloads page. Also on the downloads page is our "Breeding Your First Foal" article to give first time breeders an idea of what's involved.
Our 2007 all inclusive Service Fees are as follows:
*Voltaire II - $2250
*Ramirez - $2000
*Kinnordy Gym Bello - $2000
*Elenbee's R-Rated - $600
Please note that the service fee prices are now stated as an all inclusive price. This price includes: GST, Booking Fee, First Semen Collection and First Semen Freight within NZ. By using an all inclusive price gives breeders a more obvious up-front cost expectation so there are no hidden surprises!
All rates are outlined more specifically in our service contracts. Please feel free to contact us if you have any problems downloading the contracts, or if you have any questions regarding any of the details. Thankyou... and we look forward to another highly successful breeding season nationwide on both the conception and foaling fronts!

"Voltaire II" Arrives At Astek Stud • June 5th 2007
We are very excited to annouce that we have a new stallion joining the ranks at Astek Stud - the gorgeous Dutch Warmblood sire "Voltaire II"!
Voltaire II has been purchased by us from Seattle Lodge in Cambridge and will be in residence and available at public stud here at Astek for the coming 2007 breeding season onwards. This stallion has a top international pedigree being by the very famous "Voltaire", with an equally famous dam-sire "Nimmerdor". While these bloodlines offer exceptional jumping talent, Voltaire II's own offspring are proving themselves to be very competitive in all disciplines and we will be excitedly looking forward to our first Astek foals sired by Voltaire II in the spring of 2008.
Voltaire II's stallion page is now online! Click here to view.
We will be taking some video footage of him as soon as the weather is good enough. Contact us if you wish to receive a free DVD on completion!

More Ramirez Progeny On The Rise To Success • May 2nd 2007
Kaye Coyne has recently informed us her two very handsome geldings by Ramirez have been out winning in competition. "American Express" has been doing very well with many placings in NZEF dressage. He also came very close to winning his very first Training level event! He was 2nd after the dressage and had a clear showjumping round, however unfortunately this bold jumper took on a bounce combination as one jump during the cross-country and lost his rider! The pair re-joined and continued clear around the rest of course, but a great first start nonetheless!
Kaye's other very attractive gelding, "Roosevelt", has also been out eventing and recently won the Bay Of Plenty Horse Trials Training class held 3rd & 4th of March, ridden by Tom Lane. A super effort! See his action photo in the April issue of 'Bulletin' magazine, page 58.
"Hez Zurich" ridden by Greg Jamieson has also had a great first season out competing in showjumping, with consistent top placings in the 5yo Showjumping Series and many double clears SJ up to 1.25m including a 5th place at very popular Horse Of The Year. Greg also has another Ramirez gelding called "Retrospect II" who is another talented young jumper in the making. Keep an eye out for these new boys on the block!
Stunning mare "Roulette SW" also did very well at the National Dressage Championships in March, placing 2nd overall in the Elementary Accumulator Series Final, as well as 2nd place in the 6 year old Young Dressage Horse class.
It seems as if Ramirez is becoming quite the all-round performance sire!!

Steve Houston Clinic A Great Success • April 24th 2007
Three full days with Steve Houston here on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of April gave everyone who attended, whether as a rider or a spectator, a huge amount of excellent knowledge and easy to follow methods to help assist in producing soft, responsive, sensible horses. Steve's outstanding horsemanship skills, combined with very clear approach and sense of humour, made the clinic extremely enjoyable for all. It was great to see him working with several yearlings in the round yard and float loading another horse, as well as demonstrating starting a 2 year old filly under saddle - a great display of trainability and acceptance here!

Erin Jenkins & "Troy", demonstrating excellent soft flexion.

"Astek Geneva" being ridden by Steve Houston during the clinic.

The riding groups had all improved considerably by the last day and were showing beautiful softness, engagement from behind and calm acceptance to work, with some excellent leg yields and flexions happening - proving this to be a superb way to start your horse as a lead up to a supple, relaxed, responsive horse as required for any discipline.
Our thanks to Steve for giving us his time and knowledge. We really look forward to hosting another clinic with him in the near future and encourage as many people to attend as possible!!

2007 Open Day Cancelled, But New Season DVD Available Soon! • March 19th 2007
As many of you have already noticed via other advertising, we unexpectedly cancelled our Open Day this year. This was largely due to our stallion "Gym Bello" upsetting his old injury while playing in the paddock. Although he is much improved again now, we are looking at having him operated on which will hopefully provide him with a very strong long-term prognosis for his future stud career.
However, there are still plenty of gorgeous new season foals to present to you, so we are currently busy creating our new 2007 DVD/Video of select foals at foot, yearlings and older horses for sale. This will be available late March/early April 2007, so please contact us today if you wish to receive your free copy when completed!

Stunning End To The Foaling Season • January 22nd 2007
We started the 2006 foaling season with a real hit, and have ended on the same high! Beautiful Thoroughbred mare "Stately Affair" (Rusty) has delivered an outstanding foal as our final foal of the season. A devine dark chestnut filly by Gym Bello, she simply oozes elegance, athleticism and presence, with her 3 stockings, star and big white snip to complete the overall picture. This filly is a full sister to Supreme Champion 2yo filly "Astek Gianni" and the terrific natured and very handsome yearling gelding "Astek Giovanni"..... once again this mating combination has outdone itself! Rusty can now finally join her friends in the broodmare paddock and will definately be proudly showing off her new arrival!

 

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