Autumn
2008
March has
been a terrific month for us here at
Everton. On March 17th Kate
and Chris welcomed their daughter Ava
Louise into the world. Our beautiful
girl has been warmly embraced by her big
brother Jack and all those close to us.
The day
after Ava was born Kate received a call
in hospital from Cheryl O’Brien the
President of the Hanoverian Horse
Society of Australia, informing her that
her colt Everton De Lite (Clayschool x
De Niro) had been awarded the
prestigious title of the national
Hanoverian Foal of the Year for 2007.
Needless to say we were “De Lited”!
Each year
a representative of Germany’s Hanoverian
Verband visits Australia to classify and
assess the quality of the breed. This
year the classifier was Herr Fritz von
Blottnitz, an international judge and
Hanoverian breed expert. This season
approximately 70 foals were assessed and
branded nationally. Nine foals scored an
average score of 9, whilst Everton De
Lite scored 9.5 topping the tour. Herr
Fritz von Blottnitz declared “This
shows the high standard of Australian
bred Hanoverians, which could have
defended themselves in the original
Hanoverian breeding area. Finding
out the winning foal was not easy for me
as I could not judge the possible foals
with the same scores at the same place.
I could only have one winner - a colt v.
De Niro-Clay School xx with much
expression and dynamic movements out of
a typey black thoroughbred mare, owned
by Kate Sheffield, Everton Stud. “
We were
immediately impressed with the high
quality of this striking black colt, so
it was a great thrill to be recognised
by this award. We have repeated the
breeding, though hoping very much for a
filly this spring.
EV De Lite
has been sold to Sandra & Darren Welsh
of Kennedy’s Creek Vic where he will
eventually stand at stud and begin a
dressage career. We wish them every
success with this wonderful horse.
