I am absolutely thrilled to own a Merit baby! A little
background information first
A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit Yvonne and
Jim and their herd while in Kamloops on a family visit. My interest in the
Canadian horse had developed over a period of time and I then owned a young
gelding and a part -bred. Being from Vancouver Island I was quite familiar with
most of the horses in my area and I was very interested in meeting other
breeders and their herds. Yvonne graciously invited us over when I phoned on the
spur of the moment and myself, daughter and grand-daughters found our way to
Cherry Creek Canadians. We were introduced to Zipper and Fonzie as well as their
young stallion prospect, Merit.
Meeting Zipper was an educational experience as it was the
first time I was able to view some different stallions in "person". He was a
true gentleman and a very classy guy.
All of us fell in love with Fonzie--his small statue, his
great personality and kind gentle manners. My daughter and grand-daughters were
seein a Canadian stallion for the first time and Jim proceeded to put my young
grand-daughters on Fonzie for a bareback ride around the field to their delight.
This was very heady stuff for young girls who were currently reading the "Black
Stallion" books.
Merit, at that time was a young two year old and he
displayed the same calm temperament as his sire while we all trooped around his
paddock. A visit to the mare herd was next --I can't remember how many, but
there were lots including a very senior retired mare Lyncia. My seven year old
grand-daughter wandered into the middle of this group and proceeded to scratch,
hug and have a visit with each mare, very content to be surrounded by black
horses. It was a Kodak moment and a true example of the calm temperament of the
Canadian Horse.
Yvonne and Jim answered many questions about breeding lines
for me and took the time to show us around the ranch. I came away with the
thought to either breed a mare to Fonzie some time in the future or to possibly
own one of his babies . Fonzie had left a very strong impression on me.
I next met Merit again at the CHHAPS Pacific Canadian Horse
show in Maple Ridge BC in the summer of 2005. In the fall of 2006 I was lucky
enough to find a Canadian filly by Merit that would be offered for sale at
weaning. By this time, I had done a lot more homework on blood lines and I
thought this little filly might be exactly what I wanted. I bought the filly
-Crest Merit Sensation --known as "Sassy", and she is everything I had hoped
for. She is not going to be too big, which is fine with me and is a sweet little
girl surrounded by geldings at present. I find her to be very calm, sensible
friendly and independent for a foal so young. She made the trip to Nanaimo in
less than ideal weather conditions getting caught in one of our horrific wind
storms with a very rough ferry ride, arriving very late at night in hurricane
conditions. She is quite fine in her build, moves very well with her hocks well
under her body, lots of spring in her stride at the trot, showing a passage and
a piaffe at play. My farrier commented on her excellent feet and angles as well
as her good manners for such a young foal. My non Cdn horse friends immediately
commented on her very solid hind end and sweet friendly disposition. With the
quality of movement that Sassy is showing, I might have another dressage horse
in the making or an eventer. While playing with the boys over the fence recently
--the top rail came off and she jumped in with them to create a little
excitement!
While I do not have a Fonzie daughter --I do have a
grand-daughter in Sassy and I am seeing in her the same qualities that I so
admired in Fonzie and his son Merit.
Lois Shaw
Nanaimo BC
We purchased Blaze [TB/Cdn cross by Zipper] as a colt
and have had him in our herd of 5 ever since. He has the most lovable
personality you can imagine. Zipper's character was passed on at 100%. Blaze is
a happy go lucky young horse - day in and day out. Nothing scares him and
nothing gets him worked up. He has the most stable, quiet, down to earth
character I have ever seen in a horse. He is very inquisitive and has a great
sense of humor. The only downfall is that he forgets how big of a boy he is when
he tries to sit in your lap. His personality is comparable to that of a dog. He
actually loves to play with our dogs too, only they don’t quite understand it….
To anyone interested in breeding with Zipper I can say
that you won’t find a better stallion out there covering all the attributes you
are looking for in a horse: cooperative, docile, quiet, cheerful, smart and
beautiful with excellent feet on top of it. I wouldn’t look any further. Thanks
to the outstanding handling that these young horses experience in their first
weeks all the upcoming ground work is simple and straight forward. They are
loved and treated with respect which is a wonderful way to start a life with.
If you would like to see Zipper’s offspring you are
more than welcome to visit and see for yourself! Good luck in choosing your
perfect stud to breed your mare to.
Gabriela and Christoph
Friedlos
Lumby BC
When I visited your ranch, and met you and Jim the first
time, you took us out into the pasture to meet some of your mares. Overwhelmed
by their beauty, I failed to notice one of them was a stallion - he had
approached us docilely, and I was scratching his head, when you told me this was
Fonzie. I was amazed, and intrigued - how could this sweet, unassuming, perfect
horse be a stallion? I had only been around stallions when their owners had
said "let me go get a halter and a stud chain, wait outside the fence," and "no,
we have to keep him in a separate pen, with high fencing." With your
assistance, I bought a beautiful mare, and immediately bred her to Fonzie,
before I brought her home to Alaska. The resulting foal, Nicky, possessed all
the wonderful qualities a Canadian Horse is known for - stamina, strength,
loving character, intelligence, willingness to learn, and a playful, happy
personality. Even my husband, a non-horse lover, thinks they are the best breed
in the world!
Edward and Zoelea Vey
Byers Peak Farm
Palmer, AK
www.byerspeakfarm.com
Ripley [purebred Cdn by Zipper] is growing up to be one darned fine looking horse. Outstanding temperament
and movement to boot!
I can't imagine how we could be any happier with
Ripley. He has inherited all of the traits we so admire in Zipper. He is calm,
willing, intuitive and respectful. Teaching him ground and stall manners has
been simple and easy.
Physically he has Zipper written all over him:
exceptional legs with a wealth of clean flat bone, short coupled and muscular,
especially well muscled in the hind quarters, impressive width of chest,
excellent wither and very nicely blended in the throat, neck, and shoulder.
His movement is proud and animated and shows great promise for any discipline.
As excited as we are at the prospect of training and working with Ripley it is
his promise as sire of our next generation of foals that excites us most.
Ann & Bob Collins
Port Alberni, BC
I think Lacey [Cdn filly by Fonzie] is just about
perfect. She is very intelligent, she is trusting, kind, willing, gentle,
friendly, sweet, and rarely crabby. She doesn't pout, or sulk, and she is
sensible and calm about new things. She surprises people with her calmness.
She does have a mind of her own, and is sometimes stubborn about things she
doesn't want to do, but as soon as she understands, she settles right down.
When we went into the arena for the first time, there was some junk in
the corner, including a saddle stand, and a plastic tarp. I put my heavy jacket
on it before my ride, and after the lesson, I went to get it. I had Lacey in
hand. The instructor was sitting nearby on a lawn chair, and Lacey decided to
have a taste of the tarp while I was putting on my jacket. I could sense
the instructor getting tense, and I looked over at him just as Lacey pulled the
tarp off. The instructor thought we were going to have a wreck, but Lacey wasn't
the least concerned. She has tarps at home, the instructor was also impressed
with how she responded to whips, and commented on that, (he used a longing whip
while I was riding). He mentioned what a kind horse she is.
Another time I
dressed her up for the heritage costume class, with two burlap bags full of rags
tied to each side of her surcingle, and walked and trotted her around, bags
bouncing, she could have cared less. I entered her in a show with this on, and
people couldn't believe how calm she was. She is a great sport, and wonderful
fun.
I trailered her over to a friends, and another fellow
met us there. He has a lot of experience with driving, and has agreed to help
me start her. I have been doing some ground driving with her, and
dragging chains, and a singletree behind her. Tom ground drove her around my
friends pen, (our pen is very deep in snow after that blizzard we had) and he
was really impressed with her. He says she has a very kind eye, and a good
head, and is definitely ready to hook up. After we were all done,
and I was taking off her harness, Tom opened her mouth and looked at her
teeth. Oh! he said, she is only 5 years old?! Yes I said, she will be 6 this
spring. Well he was really impressed then with how steady and patient she was.
So I am pretty puffed up about my little horse.
Shannon Ross
Ft St John, BC
We've had three lovely foals sired by Fonzie with our
mare, Ellie. Ellie is 15H2 and has wonderful movement but has always been a
little hotter than the Canadian in literature. The two boys reached 15H3 by
four years old, and our little girl is 14H2 at two and a half. They all
inherited wonderfully smooth gaits and Fonzie's calm temperament. It's been a
great combination for us.
Susan & Richard Arthur
Barriere, BC
I have a 3 1/2 year old thoroughbred cross mare from
Zipper. Zoë is 15.3hh already and has turned out to be a very beautiful girl.
She has a wonderful personality, very eager to please and a quick learner (she
sometimes has things all figured out before I do). I am really enjoying her.
Valerie D
I'm just starting Yukon Jack, our Fonzie
son, and it's an anti-climax. He stands better for saddling and mounting than my
12-yr olds! Typical. They are the coolest! Get some 'brains in a sperm' for your
mare!
Christina Martin,
Deadmans Creek, BC
