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November 5
I forgot to post what I think are three of the best pictures of Fred. I
haven't been posting profile shots because I thought I may use them on an
ad. Therefore, when I don't use them, they don't get seen. I really like
the one profile picture but because he doesn't have his head up, I was told
not to use it. I even thought about using the picture with Joe and Fred
but was told that it is too "radical" for an ad.
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November 1, 2014 Our weather is finally nice so I decided that pictures were in order. I thought I would try out the new "old" lens. It took a very clear picture the last time I tried it so thought I would use it again. However, Fred decided that he would play with his ball and because it is a fixed lens, I could not get the whole horse in the picture so missed a really good photo of him rearing. Oh well, guess I will go back to the zoom lens as it is easier for me to use. |
October 31
I had some visitors today from Australia. Lyn Watt and her husband, Robert stopped to see Fred and the other horses. Lyn and I had been friends on Face Book but had never met. They spent two weeks at the Quarter Horse Congress and then went to Michigan with Christa and Rick Baldwin. While in Michigan, they got to "experience" a college football game and what an experience it was. Lyn told me that some of the tailgaters didn't even make it into the stadium to see the game. Of course, it was a great rivalry game between Michigan and Michigan State. Too bad they didn't get to go to a Green Bay Packer game but perhaps they saw enough of our football. Since in Australia, they drive on the other side of the road, I told Lyn that I thought her idea of taking the ferry across Lake Michigan was a good one. After all, it is hard enough driving through Chicago for us, let alone someone from Australia. They got here around 3 o'clock and we looked at all the horses. Of course, Fred was his usual ham around ladies. Lyn and I sat in the office and talked horses for hours. I felt sorry for poor Rob as he had to listen to us. He was such a good sport though. At one time, I asked him if he was okay and he said it just felt good to be warm. Wait until they get back to Australia and they will wish it was cooler there. I felt bad that we didn't get to go out to eat. The elections are next Tuesday and as you know, Mike is retiring from being Senate President so we have been wrapped up in political stuff. They did promise to come back and I told them that "Australians don't lie" I think I have found some wonderful new friends. |
October 15, 2014
Fred had visitors today. Debbie Schmitz and her husband Kurt stopped to see Fred. Of course, they picked a terrible weather day so we were only able to look at the horses in the barn (meaning only Fred and Sterling). Debbie bred her paint mare, Lily of the Valley to Fred and she is so excited about her upcoming foal. Of course, as usual, Fred was a ham and wanted to love on Debbie. He really seems to like girls. Debbie brought 2 jars of her famous dill pickles. They are called "Debbies Dillys," and we think they are the best dill pickles we have ever eaten. She sells them and has customers all over the US. It is a other countries don't find out about them or there would be none left for us. |
October 11, 2014 Since the Green Bay Packers beat or should I say demolished the Minnesota Vikings, I guess Fred being the Packer fan he is, decided that he would lay in his manure and turn green. Of course, he must be a Packer fan all year as he is such a pig in his stall. I told Joe that we needed to put a green halter on him for the Packer game tomorrow. I think perhaps the green halter may look better than the red one that I usually have on him. Of course, I discovered that after I bought 5 new red halters. |
October 2, 2014
We had visitors today. Mike and Mindy Clark from Illinois were in Wisconsin.
Mike had a meeting in Stevens Point at Sentry Insurance Company and later that
day, the company was bussing those at the meeting to the Green Bay
Packer---Minnesota Viking game. Well, Mindy decided that she was going to rent
a car and come and visit. Our good friends, Larry and Anne Lemke from Denmark
(Wisconsin) met here and we had a great time looking at the horses and had
lunch together before Mindy had to return to Stevens Point and Larry and Anne to
Denmark. While here, Mindy took a picture of Fred and I took pictures of the
group. Mike and I also planned to go to the game despite the cold, rainy,
windy weather. Well let me tell you a bit about our experience. We were
lucky enough to get a parking pass so that we didn't have to walk from blocks
away. You would be amazed at how the fans dress and all the different "outfits"
they wear to Packer games. I thought that I was the smartest person at the
game because it was raining and we had to wait in line to get into the
stadium. Smart me, I had an umbrella. Well, guess what------no umbrellas are
allowed in the stadium so they threw my umbrella in the garbage can before they
would let me in. They we had to wait in line to ride the elevator up to the
box seats. We had a good time but the Packers dominated the Vikings and since
it was a night game, we left at half time. I never did get to see Mike and
Mindy as they were in a different box. We had been teasing Mindy about going
to the game as she is a Chicago Bear fan. That didn't stop our loyal Packer
people as Sentry Insurance gave all of the people at the meeting Packer jerseys
and I even got a picture of Mike with a cheese head on. I am thinking that
since the Bears are not playing well this year, there may be hope for the
Clarks yet. I suggest they don't throw away their jerseys or cheesehead.
Maybe I will see Mindy wearing a jersey and cheesehead at the AQHA World in
November.
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September
27, 2014
Terry Johnson, a good friend of ours gets hay from us. Joe just happened to be
taking Fred outside so I asked Terry if I could take her picture with him. I
have to admit that Terry is not a tall person, but Fred sure did tower over
her. As usual, Fred loves the girls and had to stick his head over by her.
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September 18, 2014
The day after girls from Illinois came to visit, Chad Slayton called and said he wanted t o come and see Fred also. the For those of you who don't know Chad, he has an outstanding Appaloosa stallion named In Awe. He is a World Champion and I had never met Chad before. Needless to say, Fred needed another bath before Chad arrived. I don't know why he is the only horse I own who is not neat in his stall. I guess he knows I will keep giving him baths and he must like that. I was so happy and surprised at what Chad posted on Face Book:
"What a day --- I got to meet Sandy Ellis and Classically (Fred). The only think I could say was WOW. If I was going to breed to a quarter horse,
he would be the one. After seeing Kids Classic Style, I thought that I would not see one like that ever. Well, today I did---a son of
his---Fred and NN besides. If I had an In Awe daughter old enough to breed, that's who I would breed her to. We will be doing lots of business in 2015, Sandy. Your breeding program is 10 times better than anything I have seen coming from the southern states." |
September 17, 2014
I had a wonderful visit with 3 girls from Illinois today. They made the long trip just to see Fred and my horses. What a
wonderful visit we had and the weather could not have been more perfect.
I let them take pictures of Fred with their phone. What they posted on my Face Book page really made me feel good.
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September
7, 2014 Fred is growing his winter hair which is a much lighter color and he gets dapples in the winter. I would like to keep him under lights with good hair but I know that it is necessary to let them grown hair so that he can go under lights for breeding season. Personally, I prefer his dark gold color.
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September
6, 2014 A few pictures of Fred enjoying some outside time. They were taken on different days so he has two different colored halters on. I like the red on him and Joe prefers the black one.
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August
23, 2014 I sold A Cool Intention (Marsha) to some wonderful people from Canada, Lesley and Ben Johnson. Of course when they came to pick her up, they had to have their picture taken with Fred. Here is there early morning picture------I don't think any of the three were that much awake yet.
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August
14, 2014 I was home alone and decided that since it is supposed to rain all next week, I would take some pictures and you know who my favorite subject is---Fred. I couldn't get him to run around at all, he just wanted to eat grass. As I was watching him, I noticed that birds would come right up to him and eat next to his nose. He really didn't seem to mind at all. It amazes me what goes on in nature. Also an observation that winter is not far away. Fred is losing his gorgeous gold color and getting his winter hair and dapples. We really didn't have much of a summer this year and I don't think I am ready for the cold weather. The only thing is that next year, I will have some "little Fred babies" to play with. That excites me.
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August
11, 2014 As you know, when Fred was in Mississippi, he was ridden by both Monte and his daughter Tyler. They took him on trail rides and also to ropings. They didn't ever rope off of him-----I can imagine that Fred would chase a calf but would probably try to pick it up as he loves to put things in his mouth. Well, Joe has started riding Fred. I think it is really good for a stallion's mind to be ridden. Of course, Fred is very lazy and does not think riding should be at a very fast pace. Look for more pictures of Fred under saddle and who knows, if I can get a high enough stool, maybe I will even get on him.
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July
7, 2014 You know how Fred loves playing with a rope (or anything else). Joe decided that he would give him the rope and they would have a "tug of war" with it. Well, you would have thought that Fred being the bigger one would have won but Fred decided that it was more fun to eat grass than play with someone pulling on a rope so he let go of it.
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July
8, 2014 We have been talking about riding Fred for quite some time. Now that breeding season is over, Joe has started working him with the saddle on and soon he will be riding him. When Fred was in Mississippi, Monte and his daughter Tyler rode him a lot. They took him to ropings and trail rode him. He is so lazy that he doesn't seem to want to exercise on his own. Soon you will see pictures of Joe on his back and heck, perhaps I will even get a ladder and get on him. In the meantime, I sat on him in the stall and then I got a picture from Tyler Beasley from when he was in Mississippi with her sitting on him.
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July 4, 2014
What a way to spend the 4th of July. Mike and I spent the day working around the farm. He cut grass and I took pictures. It was relaxing and our weather was beautiful. I probably have more pictures of Fred but I will post these.
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June, 2014
Well, leave it to me to procrastinate and not keep up with my Fred (Classically) news. Now I am having trouble remembering where I kept the pictures. I will try to post them all under June and then I will try to keep up from now on. It seems so much easier for me to put them on Face Book and not bother Vicki to post them to my web site. If any of you want to be my friend on Face Book, just ask me and if I don't accept you, write me a note. I understand that there is a limit as to how many friends you can have and I don't want to reach that limit and then not be able to accept any more. We had some beautiful days in June so I "forced" Joe to hold Fred while I took pictures of him. He lost his winter hair and shed out to be a beautiful gold color. He had not gotten his "summer dapples" yet and was not bleached from the sun. You can see how big he has gotten on the picture of Joe setting him up. Joe stands 6 foot tall and Fred is almost 16.2 and as Joe says, he is getting fat from not exercising and just breeding every other day. The trouble with him is that he is a very lazy horse and when he is outside during the day, all he does is eat grass.
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May 24, 2014
It is a beautiful day and I am home alone. I decided to take my trusty camera out and take some pictures of "guess who"--- Fred
(Classically). He is getting fat from no exercise other than breeding. He is only getting 3 pounds of oats a day and his vitamins but I think he eats hay all day. I suppose I shouldn't have him outside in the sun as his beautiful golden color will fade but he has been confined for so long because of the cold, rainy weather we had, I just can't help but leave him outside all day.
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May 11, 2014
Happy Mother's Day from Fred to all of his girlfriends. Joe and I found this halter with red roses on it and put it on him for some pictures. Fred was probably embarrassed having to wear the "girlie" halter. Our weather was finally nice enough to go outside and take some pictures. It has been a long long spring, too cold and rainy to put the horses outside.
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4-6-14
An
absolutely
beautiful
day in
Wisconsin.
It is almost
60 degrees
and no wind
and the sun
is shining.
Fred is
still
quarantined
to his
paddock
because he
would dig up
Mike's grass
in the
pasture. He
had a great
day playing
with his
ball. We
watched the
Wisconsin
Badgers lose
to Kentucky
last night
in the Final
Four of the
basketball
tournament.
I am
thinking
that Fred
may have
been better
at
basketball
than he is
at
football.
Too bad I
didn't think
of that
sooner. We
lost the
game by one
point when
we missed
the final
shot.
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3-30-14
I just
noticed that
I have not
updated
Fred's news
for quite
some time.
I guess it
was because
of our sub
zero weather
and I could
not get the
horses
outside.
March 30
was finally
a nice day
but Joe had
to leave as
he had
training
horses
coming in to
his barn.
I asked him
to give me
10 minutes
and lo and
behold I was
able to get
a good
profile
picture of
Fred before
he left. I
think
breeding has
been good
for Fred.
His neck
looks better
than ever
and his hip
is getting
bigger. I
thought
stallions
were
supposed to
lose weight
when they
bred, but
not
Fred. In
fact, I
think he is
getting too
fat. This
will
probably be
the last
picture with
snow in the
background----anyway
I hope so.
The other
pictures I
took with
him in a
small
paddock.
Mike does
not want the
horses to
tear up the
grass in the
big pens and
with the
temperature
above
freezing, it
probably
would.
Look out,
with the
weather
getting
warmer, I
will be
taking a of
pictures.
Hopefully I
will be able
to
get outside
pictures of
the foals.
They have
never seen
the sun
because of
the freezing
weather and
then the
ice.
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2-19-14
Such a beautiful
afternoon and
Fred got to
enjoy the
sunshine and
warm
weather---that
is if you call
40 degrees
warm. We are
expecting bad
weather for a
week and it
could return to
sub- zero
temperatures
next week with
rain, wind and
snow Thursday.
Will spring ever
arrive?
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2-19-14
We had a great
collection
today. This
picture was
taken with a
phone and the
quality is not
that good but it
shows how
correct Fred is
and the amount
of muscle he
has. This is
the kind of
picture I try to
get with my good
camera but
somehow just
can't find the
right place to
stand to take
it. Excuse the
background and
the fuzzy
picture but I do
love this shot.
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2-18-14
We had a great
collection
today. This
picture was
taken with a
phone and the
quality is not
that good but it
shows how
correct Fred is
and the amount
of muscle he
has. This is
the kind of
picture I try to
get with my good
camera but
somehow just
can't find the
right place to
stand to take
it. Excuse the
background and
the fuzzy
picture but I do
love this shot.
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2-9-14
It seemed like a
heat wave in
Wisconsin
today. The sun
was shining and
the temperature
was a balmy 15
above zero.
Someone
mentioned
putting a pink
halter on Fred
so before we
turned him
outside to play,
we put a pink
halter on him.
He didn't seem
to know the
difference and
he had so much
fun playing with
his ball. When
the weather has
been so cold, we
have been
turning him lose
in the arena and
there is a cloud
of dust out
there as he
plays with a
rope. Fred is
just "one of
those horses"
who seems to
have to have
something in his
mouth at all
times.
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2-3-14
Today was the
first day that
we shipped semen
and everything
went great.
Fred was a real
"gentleman" and
the semen looked
and extended
good. Thanks
to my wonderful
"crew" for a job
well done.
Fred enjoyed the
rest of the day
playing outside
in the snow.
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1-16-14
I took a picture
of Fred's legs
today. I was
told that the
reason we
haven't shown
him was that he
doesn't have
good legs. They
can pick on him
in other places,
but to question
his legs took me
by surprise.
This horse has
always had great
legs and he is
and always has
been solid on
them. The
reason he has
not been shown
is that I never
wanted to show
him. He has
never had a
steroid in his
life-----he is
what you see
naturally.
Fred is the
result of many
years of
selective
breeding and I
believe that he
will prove to be
a great sire. I
guess time will
tell that.
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1-12-14
Fred likes to
take a nap after
his breakfast so
I decided to
take a picture
of him.
Unbeknown to me,
Joe was taking a
picture of me
with his phone.
Poor Fred----he
is depressed
that the Packers
lost last
week. He is
trying to decide
whether to back
the 49ners or
the Seahawks.
Both
quarterbacks
have ties to
Wisconsin.
Russell Wilson
was our
Wisconsin
Badger's
quarterback and
Colin Kaepernick
is from my
hometown of New
London,
Wisconsin. I
will let you
know his and my
decision before
the game.
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1-10-14
It has been
brought to my
attention that
AQHA is
requiring that
all
stallions who
list 25 or more
mares on their
breeding report
in 2014 must
have their 5
panel genetic
test on file
with AQHA before
the 2015
breeding
season. Any
stallion owner
who does not
comply, the
foals by that
stallion will
not be eligible
for
registration.
I am happy that
Classically
(Fred) is
negative on all
5 genetic
tests.
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1-9-14
During the cold
weather, Scott
Francois decided
to take a trip
down and see
Fred. As you
can see by the
picture, he
knows how to
dress for the
cold. It is
even colder in
Marinette,
Wisconsin than
it is here.
Bob snapped this
quick picture of
him and Fred.
It is too bad
the picture is
blurry as I
think it is a
good picture of
both of them.
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1-7-14
We had the
coldest weather
in years in
Wisconsin. Some
of our horses
live outside
with shelters
during the
winter with
heated Nelson
waters in
them. However,
during last
week, Dr Fox
recommended that
we keep all the
horses in the
barn as wind
chills could
reach 55 below
zero. Of
course, the
horses did not
realize that it
was that cold
outside and
wanted to go
out. Finally,
with only a wind
chill of 9
below, I put the
horses,
including Fred
outside for a
few hours. I
about froze my
hands taking
these pictures
of him.
Thankfully the
weather has
"warmed" up to
above zero and
to be honest, it
feels warm by
comparison.
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1-5-14
Fantasy Football
by Vicki Livasy.
Bitter cold
today in Green
Bay. Wind chills
will be -24
during the game
and then -55
during the
night.
Fred
(Classically) is
ready for the
challenge as he
has been outside
practicing all
week. He
is shown here
knocking down
players while he
carries the ball
for our first
touchdown. He is
hoping the
Packers can hold
up and he
doesn't have to
kick field goals
too.
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1-3-14
While I was at
the AQHA World
Show, Jerry
Vawter told me
that he had
drawn another
picture of what
he feels we
should be
striving for in
our modern day
quarter horses.
He surprised me
with the drawing
and such a nice
note to me.
Most of us
respect Jerry as
a great
horseman-------after
all he had Kid
Clu and many of
the other great
stallions of our
industry. I
found a picture
that I had taken
of Fred and
compared it to
Jerry's
drawing. It is
amazing just
how much Fred
looks like
"Jerry's
target."
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1-1-14
As I reflect
back on 2013, I
have some
wonderful
memories. I have
a wonderful
husband and
family and
friends that I
have known for
many years with
whom I have
shared many
great times. I
have also "met"
so many new
friends through
Face Book and I
am truly
thankful for you
and all the
enjoyment you
add to my life.
2014 is going to be very exciting for me. Never did I think I would stand another stallion. After breeding over 100 mares a year to Impressivist in the 80's, I thought I would enjoy myself and do what I love, which is raise foals. Then Fred (Classically) came along. He was the last foal out of my favorite mare of all time, Miss Bunny Tardee and sired by Kids Classic Style. Some people question why Classically has never been shown. The answer is that I never wanted to show him. He and Rebecca (You Bet Im Cool) are the last connection that I have to Miss Bunny Tardee. People also question, why I have not bred him until now. The answer to that is that I didn't want to stand another stallion. Last year, I decided that if I were going to carry on the genetics of Miss Bunny Tardee, I needed to stand Classically. I thought long and hard about standing him in Texas and I also checked out a wonderful place in Wisconsin. Both places would have given him the care and the expertise needed to satisfy me. Then, I thought------this is the horse that I have bred a lifetime to get and did I really want him to be gone from me? The answer was no -----so the alternative was to stand him here this year and enjoy him. He is enrolled in the AQHA Incentive Fund, the APHA Breeders Trust, the Palomino Incentive Fund, the Breeders Halter Futurity, the Big Money Futurity and the WCHA Futurity. Scott Francois and I feel that these incentives will give those of you who choose to breed to him, the opportunity to enjoy and profit from foals sired by him. And, I will be "living my dream" of seeing what my many years of breeding has accomplished. |
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