Stallion A Rock

A Rock Offspring

New!  A Rock competes at the 2008 American Haflinger Registry National Show in Danville, IN.  He placed in ALL his Hunter and Jumping classes!

 

   

I have to write and say how much I love this horse and these pictures.  A Rock goes above and beyond in showing what a Haflinger is capable of doing, and giving to his owner.  A Rock was the 2007 Reserve National Champion Western Pleasure horse.  He is a fabulous Western Pleasure horse has he has proved this on numerous occasions. I enjoy doing almost any equine discipline, however I have always had a hard time with jumping, and honestly, had a fear I couldn't shake.  In May of 2008 I finally contacted fellow Haflinger trainer Lisa Schott of TLC Stables in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and told her that I wanted to try jumping again to see if this was something I wanted to continue to pursue.  Lisa readily agreed to see me and then I dropped the bomb that the horse I felt safest with was indeed my western pleasure horse, A Rock.  Lisa never missed a beat and agreed for us to come and be evaluated.      

The first day I was nervous!  It is one thing to try to conquer a fear, it is another thing to do it as a professional trainer, with another professional, along with a champion western pleasure stallion, who is gold rated so everyone expects perfection in everything, eleven years old and now all of a sudden, we are going to start jumping!  Lisa took everything in stride, and we worked on exercises to get A Rock to lengthen his stride, and work on rein contact, instead of a western pleasure no rein.  Also, he was use to no leg contact unless he was suppose to be doing something, so for me to have constant leg pressure on him was something he and I both needed to get use to!  Lisa gave us homework to start on the flat and working over poles on the ground.  Next we went to cross poles.  Eyes up, look ahead, don't look at the horse, don't look down, or you will end up there, heels down, don't raise up on your toes, don't slump your shoulders, close your hip angle, release with your reins, find your line, find your  takeoff spot, aaaahhhhh!!!!!  To much to much!  Anyway, we worked very hard, Lisa was beyond supportive, never rushed me, but pushed me when I needed it, gave me homework to do, and was there for every email and phone call, (sometimes in the ring when I was practicing!) and we went from poles on the ground, to cross rails, to a cross rail course, to bounces, verticals, oxers, in and outs, and more courses.  We made it practicing up to three foot, which was amazing and surprisingly fun!  Eventually we got to the point we were ready for our first all breed show.  We did the grasshopper course, and we made it through the course, and I didn't fall off, and found a bunch of things I needed to work on!  We continued all summer, with the end goal being Nationals in September.  We decided to head to our first hunter/jumper show in Delaware, Ohio, a couple weeks before Nationals.  I have to say that not to often do I get intimidated showing anymore, but when we pulled in and saw the four rings showing at one time, I was glad Lisa was there to take care of us!  We did the future hunter division, 18 inches, and we did very respectable, earning a couple 4ths, and a 5th place finish.  And then, we heard, we had WON one of our classes!  Yippiee!!  Talk about surprised and shocked!  I was so proud of us!  We had no intentions of even getting in the ribbons, let alone a first place out of 10+ entries!  Mike and I headed to Nationals with 9 Haflingers to show.  A Rock and I competed in a single 18 inch class for our 'warm up' class and then participated in the 2'3 division and knock down and out starting at 2'.  We navigated the course pretty well, the jitters got the best of me a couple of times, but Rock took every jump like he had been doing it all his life.  He made his lead changes, we got our lines, and most of our take off spots!  Our best finish was a second place!  That second place ribbon honestly means more to me than most of my National Championship!  We worked so hard, in a short amount of time, had a great instructor, and I personally conquered a fear on my favorite horse in the entire world who proved that he truly can do it all and do it well!  The first place team was our friend Rachel Cooper and the fabulous mare Like a Charm KCH, who have been competing together for many years, and they were on their 'A' game at Nationals, and looked fabulous.  They also ended up being the Division Champions!  Anyway, this is long, but just goes to show the special bond A Rock and I have, and the true athleticism, heart, and temperament he has to do whatever I ask of him.

  As you can tell by the pictures, we enjoy this very much and will continue to work on jumping for 2009.  The pictures all have things that show issues that I need to improve on as a rider, but  we have come so far, and so I wanted to share that we did it!

  Special thanks again to my instructor and  friend Lisa Schott of TLC stables for her help and encouragement over the past five months of jumping instructions.  I hope we made you proud!  It was worth every minute of the three hour round trip drives!

Get ready to book your mares to A Rock for 2009!  Breeding Fee is $700, on farm or shipped cooled semen available.  Booking Fee is $50 down, remainder due before semen is ordered, or when your mare is brought to our farm.  2009 Breeding contract is available on request and will be uploaded soon.  Special discounts for inspected, silver or gold rated mares, mares with proven show records, and multiple mare discounts. 

 

Sire: Alpenstein (Archimedes X Akelei)    

Dam: Marietta (Wagrein X Montreaux)

Looking for the perfect stallion?  Want the movement, power, and grace that a Haflinger naturally has without compromising the beautiful color, temperamt

At eleven years old, he is still ridden daily and being shown, he is far from retired!

          

A Rock at the 2008 Equine Affaire in Ohio as the Haflinger Western Pleasure demonstration horse.  A Rock was also ridden by Clinician Julie Goodnight in a demonstration!

Don't have a mare, but still looking for a wonderful Haflinger sired by A Rock? Contact us!  We currently have three 2008 A Rock foals to choose from! Pick from one of our five Silver Rated mares, or our fabulous producing mares and let us do the hard work!

Mike and Jacque Woodward

740-829-2735 haflingerhorse@hotmail.com

We couldn't be more thrilled to have this amazing stallion in our barn! 

A Rock was introduced to me as a two year old, recently imported from Austria.  I started him under saddle and had a instant connection with this horse.  Something that to this day I have yet to find with another horse in the capacity that I had with A Rock.  He is the reason I switched to the Haflinger breed.

A Rock has earned the highest honor in the Haflinger World by being classified 'GOLD' According to the World Haflinger Federation Standards.  There are only four other Gold stallions in North America, and only the top 1% of Haflingers in the world have this honor.  After limited breeding the past five years, we are now offering A Rock to the general public for breeding. He is a great outcross option in the US as his offspring do not have any Nabucco, Winterstein or Afghan blood 6 generations back! A Rock is a extremely versatile horse, excelling in Hunter under saddle, dressage, western pleasure, trail, and pleasure driving. He is back in the show ring being shown at eleven years of age!  How many Haflinger stallions do you see doing that?  We strive to produce and train all around Haflinger Horses. He passes this on to his offspring as well!  Click here for A Rock offspring!

A Rock (Center) with Sons Armani KCH (left winner of four and older stallions) and Alonizio CCF Over ALL High Point Pleasure at the 2007 American Haflinger Registry Nationals!!

A Rock's sire, the great Alpenstein

 

                

 A Rock and Jacque performing their reining pattern at the 2007 AHR National Show, & posing for a fun picture after their hard work is done!

   

Johnathan and A Rock waiting to go play!

'Ear'?  Johnathan learns parts of the horse while patient teacher A Rock eats hay

 

 

               

A Rock as a two year old, being named Grand Champion stallion and Best of Show at the Haflinger Breeders Organization

 

A Rock as a three year old

 

 

 

 

 

 
Woodward Performance Haflingers 2008 haflingerhorse@hotmail.com 740-829-2735