NZ Warmbloods By Deborah Crawford, May 2002 THE STORY OF MAGISTAD 13 years ago I visited John Smith wanting to have a look at his then stallion, Wohler II, with the intention of possibly breeding my mare to him. John was to show me a foal he had born that morning. Little did I know that within 2 years I would own that foal. On that morning he was just a very new, very beautiful baby. The next time I saw him he was just on 1 year old and had run into a gate gudgeon and ripped his stifle open. It was a very ugly injury and John very nearly had him put down because of it. However he persevered with the colt and twice a day sprayed the injury with Yellow Lotion. I can never extol the healing powers of Yellow Lotion enough as the injury healed beautifully and has never impeded the horse’s movement or ability. By the time Magistad was just over 18 months old John had come to the sad conclusion that he had to sell him, and as the horse was at that time grazing with my youngster, John gave me first option on him. At the time I already had 3 horses and really didn’t need another one. But I did like the colt. Really liked him. So I went round all my friends to see what they thought, and finally, asked my mother what I should do, thinking: she will talk me out of buying him. She didn’t. She had seen him. So I bought him, and it was the best decision I ever made. He is known as Sam at home. I wanted to call him Beau but one of the other foals from his crop was called Bo, so I decided, as he was grey, to call him Sambo, Sam for short. He stands 16.05hh and is of Arab/ Hanoverian extraction. He is by the well known stallion Silver Reflection (Arab), out of the mare Sorrello. Sorello was by Allermund (Hann)out of the exceptional TB mare, Sorceress (Old Soldier). The first thing I did with him as a 2 year old was to go round the shows doing Sport Horse classes. He excelled, finishing the year with Champion Heavyweight Sport Horse at the Horse of the Year Show. As a 3-year-old he won Supreme at the Waikato Sport Horse Show, as a 4- year-old he won supreme (all breeds) at the Kumeu A & H show. He won Champion Ridden Horse at Clevedon A & P Show, his first outing under saddle. He has gone on to amass a large number of championships both In-hand and under saddle, (including the Royal Easter Show Show-hunter Classic 2 years ago.) Originally he was to be cut when we broke him in, however he was never colty and hard to handle, and then people started wanting to bring their mares to him, so he got to keep his where-with-all. He is well known for his temperament. It is quite amusing at shows when the person you have been sitting beside for the last 20 minutes suddenly realises their mare is standing beside a stallion. He started his career in dressage (rising to Novice level from only a few outings,) before it was decided that his future lay in jumping, (which he loves.) I love Show-Hunter and this is where most of his jumping career has centred. At home he is the biggest softie you have ever seen. He loves nothing more than to have a hug and his ears scratched. I often take him out riding with a mare by his side. I have hunted him, done dressage , show-hunter and show jumped on him. He is a perfect gentleman when out with other horses and with mares that come visiting. At present he is having a holiday as I am currently competing his daughter, Maquita. She won her first ever dressage series and her first show-hunter competition, and now she is winning her eventing classes, living up to the potential she has always shown she had. She won her first (of many ) champion class when just 6 months old, winning Champion Junior Sporthorse at the Royal Easter Show. His progeny tend to inherit his head, strong hind end, expressive movement and his exceptional temperament. It is nice to keep up with what his babies are doing but unfortunately I don’t get to hear about them all. However the ones I do hear about are all doing really well, and their owners love them to bits. But not as much as I love their dad.