Hilltop News
Photo by Pics of You
Michael Bragdell returned to Morven Park this weekend for the 2nd show of the season for Team Hilltop. Iris Aberbach’s wonderful gelding Boxster A won his Prix St. Georges test on Saturday and was 2nd in his first Intermediaire I test on Sunday with a strong score of 65%. Mitch & Lara Mitchelson’s Dutch gelding Faberge Blue LJS (Contango-Democraat) made his first outing of the year a winning one earning scores of 75.9% to 76.875% and placing first in all his First Level Tests. Finally, Sternlicht Hilltop (Soliman de Hus-Rascalino) commandingly won his First Level Test 2 with an 80.78% and the FEI Five-Year Old class on Sunday with an 8.48 – a fantastic start to this season for this talented young stallion.
Stallion News
Hilltop Archives
With great sadness, we must announce that our beautiful Holsteiner stallion Cor Noir was put down November 3, 2003 for humane reasons. Cor Noir gave tremendous quality to our Hilltop Farm breeding program, producing our top broodmares and the foundation for so much of our success today.
It was an absolute perfect finish to our Florida show season when Chris and Witness were invited to be on Team USA for the first ever CDIO3* Nations Cup competition in Wellington, Florida. Chris and Witness started the weekend out strong with a 2nd place finish in Friday’s Prix St. Georges, but they really shone in the Freestyle under the lights on Saturday night.
Hilltop Articles & Interviews
The phone rings at Hilltop Farm and breeding manager Natalie DiBerardinis answers. Just as she suspected, it is a mare owner looking for advice. Which stallion would be a good match for her mare, the caller asks anxiously. With scientific advances in artificial insemination, the choices for a perfect partner have never been greater, but that doesn't mean the selection process is any simpler. DiBerardinis asks the owner a few questions about her mare and suggests she complete Hilltop's online questionnaire. After reading it, she and the caller will talk again to discuss the options.
Kristi Nunnink's default expression is a smile. It doesn't matter how hard she's working, what level she's riding or how the horse under her is performing -- her mouth curls faintly upward, unforced. It may just be a coincidence of facial structure, or it may be a product of years of habit. But either way, the expression fits her, because Nunnink may very well be the happiest rider at Rolex Kentucky. At 48, she's heading to her first CCI**** with her horse of a lifetime.
