Wilga Park Morgans

RanchBoss Cortez - Champion Morgan and Reserve Champion Ridden Buckskin at Laidley Show!

Mt Tawonga Oscar - Reserve Champion Morgan and Champion Ridden Morgan at Laidley Show and our Haymeron Park Ruby Jane wins the pure mare class again!

We have had a busy few months with little time to update the web site - our apologies to those who have mentioned they have been checking for more news. Cortez and Oscar brought home the Champion and Reserve Champion Morgan sashes from Laidley Show - and they were in good company, so we are very proud of them.

Haymeron Park Ruby Jane, RJ to us, is growing into a beautiful mare as she is beginning to mature. She and Cortez, being Foundation Morgan stock, will make beautiful babies one day.

One of the criteria of Foundation Stock is that they have no Saddlebred blood (which came from a Morgan stallion, initially) in their bloodlines since 1930. We are so lucky to have this wonderful Western Working Stallion and this Lippitt mare to carry on Foundation stock in Australia.

Cortez and Oscar Compete

Cortez and Oscar have also been competing at various events during the last couple of months. Oscar and Kathy have hopefully gained the qualifying scores necessary to nominate for the Queensland State Dressage Championships to be held at Caboolture 12-14 October.

Kathy competed both horses in official Novice competitions at Nerang and at Murwillumbah, NSW over recent times. Cortez was also, at the same time, being trained in some Reining moves in preparation for the National Reining Championships held at Gatton in early August. The Stockman's Challenge was put out to all who wanted to have a go at Reining at the event. Our Instructor and trainer, FEI Dressage rider, Linda Shore from RiverRange Warmbloods, decided she would like to take Cortez into the Challenge for some fun. It turned out to be a huge event, with lots of well trained stock horses entered into the Challenge. Cortez and Linda certainly looked the part and had lots of fun running the dry pattern. It was an excellent evening of fun for all - competitors as well as spectators!

Elementary Dressage is the first step into the exciting world of really dancing with your equine partner!

It is quite amazing to think that at the beginning of last year, Oscar and Kathy were just beginning to head out into Preliminary Dressage as Oscar had turned 4 years old. During his 3 year old year, after being started, he was worked maybe two times per week, with some weeks off altogether. As he entered his 4th year, Kathy and he began some more serious training and by the end of that year were beginning to venture into Novice classes.

After a summer break, they came back into work, Oscar now a 5 year old, and it all seemed to just come together beautifully. Within weeks they were training Elementary level and mastering some of the more collected movements. Oscar loved it!! The goal was to be ready to try their first Elementary test together at the Toowoomba Dressage Inc competition held at Gatton in August. With the encouragement of Linda, Instructor Extraordinaire, they nominated for both the unofficial and the official Novice and Elementary classes at the event. Oscar scored 61.47% in his first ever Elementary test! They were very, very pleased and proud of themselves.

Cortez had 90 days of reining training in the United States as a 5 year old when he was first started. He was then used for Stud duties and was not under saddle again until he was almost 7 and we introduced him to Dressage in Australia. He proved to be a very athletic stallion with the ability to learn very quickly and he qualified for the Qld State Dressage Championships in just 11 weeks of training. His sliding halt had to be trained out of him ... and now we will attempt to put it back.

We approached two excellent Reining trainers to take him on, but both were reluctant to do so because of his age. Cortez is now 8 years old and both Trainers felt it may be too hard on him. However, Warren Cox did eventually agree to assess him. After scrutinizing his moves in the round yard and riding him for 20 minutes or so, Warren decided Cortez was certainly worth putting some time into. We know he will not win any National level events, but if he does well at amateur level, we will be very happy. It will show just how versatile this breed, particularly this stallion, is.

Wilga Park Summer Beauty, bay filly by Cortez out of Eagleview Skybeau, is available for sale. Summer will be as pretty as her Dam, but will be a little taller, finishing 15+hh. Her breeding is superb and, apart from being an exceptional asset to any breeder, she should make an awesome competition horse.

Madagascar is by Ragtime Oro Blanco ('Casper'), the perlino Morgan stallion from the USA, who is owned by a closed syndicate. Marrella and 'Casper' have produced this stunning colt, who, we believe, is stallion material. We would love to keep him and have him as a junior stallion one day, but as we have his Sire's frozen semen, we will sell this boy as a stunning gelding to the right home. He should finish around 15'2hh and he is superbly put together, with the sweetest, most 'willing to please' temperament one could ask for.

The Buckskin Boys, (Right)Golden Ash (SOLD) and (Left) Madagascar (4 months)

RanchBoss Cortez Stole the Show at the Stallion Parade, May 26th! Read More

RanchBoss Cortez - Supreme Champion Dilute at the Toowoomba Royal! Read More

January saw the birth of the very first Australian foal by the superb Morgan stallion, Ragtime Oro Blanco, here at Wilga Park.

It was also an eventful month for our 3 yr old filly, Haymeron Park Ruby Jane. Read More

December has been a wonderful month for us. Our first two RanchBoss Cortez foals have been born! Read More

The Sunshine Coast Dressage Championships, Queensland State Dressage Championships, South Queensland Dilute Championships and the Allora Championships, and maybe just one little trail ride! Read More

Gold Coast Centerary Show. Huge three-day event...what a milestone for RanchBoss Cortez!

We were invited by one of the Assistant Ring Masters of the Gold Coast Show to take Cortez to the Centenary Show. The invitation came after she had judged him at a Dressage Competition. We decided to take up the invitation and were so very pleased that we did. Read More

We felt it was important to have Cortez's colour genetics in certificate form, for those interested in colour. We sent hair samples to the States for testing for three factors - Red/Black, Agouti and Cream. Read More

With the breeding season soon upon us, we decided we should have Cortez collected for testing in differing extenders for shipping chilled semen. The results were impressive. Read More

We recently had the Regional Dressage Championships here in Toowoomba and...nah!!...no first ribbons or prizes, but what a great weekend we had. It was exhausting and exhilarating. We were running on adrenalin as we rushed from one deadline to the next. The highlights of the weekend for us were Mt Tawonga Natasha in her Novice Freestyle and RanchBoss Cortez's impact on the audience in the Stallion Parade. Read More

Since arriving in Australia and being released from Quarantine on 22 December 2005, RanchBoss Cortez has settled in well and has begun to make his mark in Dressage Circles. Read More