Hilltop News
After such a long, cold winter we were thrilled to see the arrival of spring and the first horse show of the season at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA. The VADA/NOVA Spring Dressage Show was held April 4-5 and Michael had an excellent start with Iris Aberbach’s Boxster A (Bugatti-Weltbekannt) and our own Qredit Hilltop (Quaterback-Dream of Glory). Boxster won both his Prix St. Georges Open classes with scores of 71.447% and 71.776% and was the High-Score winner for Prix St. Georges. Qredit made his FEI debut in the FEI Test of Choice Classes, also doing the Prix St. Georges test. He won both days and earned a great score of 71.25% on Saturday. Both of these horses are US-bred and Michael started both of them, so seeing their success and the potential to come is especially rewarding.
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.
Festrausch (Florestan-Carprilli) has been an important part of the stallion line-up at Hilltop Farm since his purchase in 2000. His bloodlines, incredible movement, and elegant type stood him apart, and it is the movement and character that he passes to his offspring that have made many of his breeders very loyal to him over the years.
Hilltop Articles & Interviews
Whether you are learning about showing your horse in hand or just looking for some tips, this excerpt from the 2015 USDF Sport Horse Breeders/Handlers Seminar is for you – Showing Sport Horses In Hand with Michael Bragdell.
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.
