PrintBillie Steffee compares watching the offspring of her stallion, All The Gold, perform to "watching your grandchildren. Andthey come in all shapes, sizes and colors," she said.
Steffee's prodigies outdid themselves at the International Hunter Futurity Finals, in Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 22-23. Two full siblings, Gold Digger and Gold's Gone Fishin' (All The Gold--Silver Surf, The Silver Prince) claimed the 3-year-old grand championship and the 4-year-old reserve grand championship, respectively.
"We felt a little greedy when we backed the car up to the ring to pick up all the prizes," Steffee said wryly. Her Craighead Farm owns both youngsters, and her daughter-in-law, Laura, rode Gold's Gone Fishin', while Olin Armstrong rode Gold Digger.
"We're very proud. It goes without saying that when you take a baby to the International Hunter Futurity, you don't have expectations. You don't know what they might do, so winning is even better," said Steffee.
"It's fun to have brother and sister trained in two different parts of the country by two different people and have them both do so well. Neither of these has campaigned or drilled. They've been started just the way I would hope everyone would start a baby, which is to take them to a few shows and expose them and go slow."
Steffee raised and broke both horses on her farm in Novelty, Ohio, but she sent Gold Digger, or "Phoebe," to Cismont Manor Farm in Virginia this spring as a green-broke 3-year-old. There was a buyer there interested in her, but the deal didn't happen, and Steffee kept Phoebe in training with Armstrong. The move paid off with the IHF grand championship.
"This is the first time I've had one of mine go [to the IHF Finals] as a 3-year-old," Steffee said. "We just had such a good feeling from working with her, from the time she was a little pipsqueak on the ground. It was so easy to break her, and she was so balanced. Three is an early age to go away from home, but we thought she could handle it."
Phoebe won the conformation and working over fences classes on her way to the tricolor.
Phoebe's older brother, Gold's Gone Fishin', has taken a bit longer to mature into his winning ways. He currently stands 17 hands, and "every time you look at him, another part of him is growing," said Steffee.
"Hap" was broken at Craighead Farm last year, then traveled to Wellington, Fla., with Laura and David Steffee for more training, though he didn't make his show ring debut until July of this year. He stays with Laura and David at their farms in Wellington and Lexington, Ky.
Close To The Heart
The two IHF stars were sentimental favorites for Steffee. She bought All The Gold in 1988, and the chestnut Hanoverian (Gepard--Gotthard, Goldfisch) showed successfully in the regular working divisions. Steffee's daughter, Sarah, also showed him to many amateur-owner, 18-30, champion-
ships. They retired him in 1993 because of the increasing demands of his breeding schedule.
Phoebe and Hap's dam, Silver Surf, is by the sport horse stallion Silver Prince, who stood at Jessamy Rouson's farm in Keswick, Va. Sarah had the mare in training in California, and she was showing real promise for the hunter ring. But after Sarah's death in August of 1997, Billie shipped Silver Surf back to Craighead Farm.
Steffee's prodigies outdid themselves at the International Hunter Futurity Finals, in Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 22-23. Two full siblings, Gold Digger and Gold's Gone Fishin' (All The Gold--Silver Surf, The Silver Prince) claimed the 3-year-old grand championship and the 4-year-old reserve grand championship, respectively.
"We felt a little greedy when we backed the car up to the ring to pick up all the prizes," Steffee said wryly. Her Craighead Farm owns both youngsters, and her daughter-in-law, Laura, rode Gold's Gone Fishin', while Olin Armstrong rode Gold Digger.
"We're very proud. It goes without saying that when you take a baby to the International Hunter Futurity, you don't have expectations. You don't know what they might do, so winning is even better," said Steffee.
"It's fun to have brother and sister trained in two different parts of the country by two different people and have them both do so well. Neither of these has campaigned or drilled. They've been started just the way I would hope everyone would start a baby, which is to take them to a few shows and expose them and go slow."
Steffee raised and broke both horses on her farm in Novelty, Ohio, but she sent Gold Digger, or "Phoebe," to Cismont Manor Farm in Virginia this spring as a green-broke 3-year-old. There was a buyer there interested in her, but the deal didn't happen, and Steffee kept Phoebe in training with Armstrong. The move paid off with the IHF grand championship.
"This is the first time I've had one of mine go [to the IHF Finals] as a 3-year-old," Steffee said. "We just had such a good feeling from working with her, from the time she was a little pipsqueak on the ground. It was so easy to break her, and she was so balanced. Three is an early age to go away from home, but we thought she could handle it."
Phoebe won the conformation and working over fences classes on her way to the tricolor.
Phoebe's older brother, Gold's Gone Fishin', has taken a bit longer to mature into his winning ways. He currently stands 17 hands, and "every time you look at him, another part of him is growing," said Steffee.
"Hap" was broken at Craighead Farm last year, then traveled to Wellington, Fla., with Laura and David Steffee for more training, though he didn't make his show ring debut until July of this year. He stays with Laura and David at their farms in Wellington and Lexington, Ky.
Close To The Heart
The two IHF stars were sentimental favorites for Steffee. She bought All The Gold in 1988, and the chestnut Hanoverian (Gepard--Gotthard, Goldfisch) showed successfully in the regular working divisions. Steffee's daughter, Sarah, also showed him to many amateur-owner, 18-30, champion-
ships. They retired him in 1993 because of the increasing demands of his breeding schedule.
Phoebe and Hap's dam, Silver Surf, is by the sport horse stallion Silver Prince, who stood at Jessamy Rouson's farm in Keswick, Va. Sarah had the mare in training in California, and she was showing real promise for the hunter ring. But after Sarah's death in August of 1997, Billie shipped Silver Surf back to Craighead Farm.
