Babes is our senior stallion. He turned six years old on April 10, 2009. He was originally imported along with his dam, Melodee by Lise McNamara of Blarney Stone Acres in New Jersey. I purchased him from Lise when he was sixteen months old. I had seen a 12 hand stallion when I was living in Europe; that horse inspired me to want a “small stallion” of my own one day. Babes was the smallest, cutest colt I had ever seen. I knew he would not be too big when he matured. Today he stands 13.3 hands and is everything I believed he would be. He is a son of a Robert Watson stallion known as Lad, sometimes called Robert’s Old Horse and his dam is Melodee, a Pratt family bred mare. As a son of Lad he is a grandson of the UK Roadsweeper and a great grandson of The Coal Horse which connects him to the very foundational beginnings of this breed. His first foals were born in 2008. All three were fillies.
Babes’ Foals:
Shaylee’s Bevin – filly out the mare Shaylee
LadyGrace of Marlborough – out of our mare Magic
Blarney Stone’s Farrah – out of the mare Fiona
Babes as a colt at Blarney Stone.
Photo courtesy Brianna Tummino
Babes at two years old.
Photo courtesy of Heidi Gridley.
Babes at age six.
Photographed by Mark J. Barrett
This photo captures his intelligent and kind eye. We love this boy!
My dad taught me how to do this. I couldn't find a crystal ball though.
WR Heart of The King age three photographed by Mark J. Barrett
WR Heart of The King GV00600F1
Stud Fee - $3500
Faith and friendship are the foundations on which Belle Rose Farm is becoming a reality. The acquisition of WR Heart of The King from Bill and Wendy Ricci of WR Ranch is another blessing and gift and we recognize it as such. I have adored Heart since he was born. However, I knew his value and accepted the fact that he was out of my reach. Knowing that Bill and Wendy are special Vanner friends I felt I would always be able to keep track of this colt as he grew. Carliss and I have carefully selected the horses that live in our barn. As we looked at our breeding stock we decided we really wanted to find horses with two bloodlines missing in our current stock – the Rose line and the Gypsy King. Eventually we hoped to find two horses with these breedings. Last fall (2008) I received an email from Wendy saying she was looking for a good home for Heart. They might keep him, but if they could find just the right home they could part with him. I called Carliss and asked how much we had in reserve with hopes we had enough to offer a down payment on the colt as he possessed not one but both bloodlines we wanted! We came up with an amount and my hope was that they would accept this as a down payment. To my overwhelming surprise I opened my email the very next morning and found a message from Wendy: “Bill and I have been talking and we believe you are the perfect person for Heart and we would like to offer him to you for…..” The amount was the exact amount Carliss and I felt we could offer as a down payment! Yet, they were stating this as the purchase price! Tears, yes tears, rolled down my face. I typed back a message, “We will buy him.” We are pleased and honored to have this stallion in our lives. Heart is a son of The Gypsy King out of the mare, Panda Rose. He turned three years old on May 20, 2009. To find out the rest of this story see our “Charity” page.
All photos of WR Heart of The King are courtesy of Mark J. Barrett.
I love spring grass if I could just get it
Catch me if you can!
The stallions of Belle Rose Farm stand at public stud to registered Gypsy Vanner Mares only.
