Better late
than never...
Newsletter 2008
© 2008 Roxanne Rogers
OK, I am a bit late but a lot has been happening and its time
to
catch everyone up. The main event of 2008 is a sad one, the passing
of my
beautiful and talented mother, Lois Rogers on July 4th. It was
a long,
slow process as she was in long term care for a year and suffered
most
of this time but it is my hope that she is finally free of pain.
Her
obituary is also posted on the website.
My trip to France in the summer of 2007 has remained unreported
and I do
apologize. Many technical difficulties with cameras and computers
were a
problem, but now that I have a new iMac things should run more
smoothly.
So, France was amazing as always. And let me be the first to tell
the
world that I saw no shortage of bees btw. The lavender and sunflower
fields were just as vibrant as always and the little little yellow
fuzzballs were everywhere. I travelled with my dear friend Alain
from Geneva
to the Spanish border so yes, I can say "everywhere"
with confidence.
Alain picked me up in Paris and off we went to Geneva, Switzerland
as
he had some business with the Ambassador for Qatar, Michel Alattiyah
whom I was delighted to meet. Michel has a lot of Thoroughbred
and
Arabian racehorses and it was a great honour to meet him. He bought
us a meal
in a traditional Arabic restaurant where I made the mistake of
ordering the lamb - they brought me an entire leg! Later that
night Alain and I
found a little pub that was doing its best, and succeeding rather
well,
to copy a traditional biker bar from America. The bartender was
a
University student who spoke perfect English replete with appropriate
slang
much to my delight. I also found out that she was a big fan of
my
favourite radio station, CKUA which is Alberta's very own pride
and joy. We
had a lot of fun talking about music and keeping Alain awake past
his
bedtime.
I have to say as much as I adore the French Arabian some of the
nicest horses I saw were at the farm of the noted artist, Monsiuer
Jacque
Chalom des Cordes. This handsome second generation racehorse breeder
allowed us onto his very private farm, Haras des Cordes and showed
us his
pure Polish herd of uniquely bred Polish Arabians. Imagine my
delight
when I discovered he imported Dyska and the stallion Damocles
in utero.
He had a group of bay horses mainly from Damocles and another
of gray
horses from Negatiw lines. He had tall, beautiful, strong animals
and it
was a great pleasure to spend time with him and his horses in
Provence.
I also got to meet up with my old friend Jean-Claude Di-Francesco
and
finally see his fabulous group of horses. He is one of the most
highly
respected authorities on bloodlines in the country and I am honoured
to have had the privilege of sharing information with him and
his lovely
wife, Odeille. His stallion, Pepe le Mocco, is a most impressive
individual and I would love to be able to breed to him. I would
also love to
have any one of his beautiful mares in my programme. When I see
horses
like this it is hard to imagine that I will one day be able to
achieve
this standard but it is nice to know there is always something
better
than what I have at home as it gives me something to strive for.
If ever
I win the lottery Jean Claude will be one of the first to hear
about
it.
We also visited Buzut suz Tarn where I met the charming Monsieur
Dell'ova of Haras de Carerre notoriety. They were kind enough
to show me
all the young stock and I noticed that his programme incorporated
a lot
of Polish bloodlines, some Tunisian and other lines I didn't really
know
anything about. It was very interesting and they were most hospitable
people. The agricultural village nearby was like stepping through
a
timewarp. If there were no cars parked on the roads it could have
been the
1500's. Very charming.
At Gratentour we visited Alain's long time friend and highly esteemed
breeder R. Koch of Haras du Maury. As always there were so many
horses there that I would love to have in my own back yard. I
guess I will
just have to keep buying lottery tickets. There were many youngsters
there by Dormane that were extremely outstanding. Jean-Claude
also had
some impressive babies by Dormane.
At Haras de Monlau I had the pleasure of meeting Robert and
Marie-Ange Bourdette. Their farm is truly a work of art and they
are in the
process of gathering some exceptional animals. I saw a mare there
that I
absolutely fell head over heels in love with. I wonder if they
still have
her....
And, of course I have to mention my friend, Monsieur Alain Benarrous
who put up with me the entire time. He is one of France's top
breeders
and we know him here as the breeder of Virgule al Maury and the
exporter
of *Ala CroixNoire and *Haffir El Rimal. Without Alain racing
in the
States would not have achieved the level excellence it now has.
He will
kill me if I don't mention the fact that he has a truly outstanding
colt but I won't mention the breeding as he likes to keep his
cards close
to his chest. I honestly don't know how he tolerated me and my
endless
demands. He took me to templar castles and one of them,
Villerouge-Termenes was at the end of the Templar trail. This
was a truly
unforgettable experience for me. No, I'm not a fan of Dan Brown,
but I have always
been fascinated by the Templars. I was born Fri. Oct 13 and the
terrible
crime led by the Catholics against the Templars when they were
rounded
up and executed occurred on Oct. Fri. 13th. Coincidence, synchronicity
or just a curiousity? I had an intense feeling of deja-vu at that
castle though. The stone ramp was so amazing to see as the imprints
of the
galloping horses' shod hooves are still there as though they were
made
just yesterday.
The church accused the Templars
of all sorts of absurdities but it
was just to get their money as the Templars invented the first
banking
system. Once the knights caught wind of what was going down much
of the
treasure they owned was hidden in the mountains and people still
hunt
for it to this day. After being in those mountains all I can say
to the
treasure hunters is bonne chance.
You might have gathered I am
not Catholic (far from it) but it is the
dominant religion in France so I also harassed Alain to take me
to a
church where miracles had been reported. Of course, this wasn't
very hard
as all old Catholic churches have some official miracle. The one
we
went to claimed that its saint was cutting a branch from a tree
and blood
came out of the tree. Also there is a well underneath the church
that
fills with water and nobody knows from where. They use the water
for
healing. Just in case I lit a candle and meditated.
I also wish to mention that
I finally got to meet Alain's charming and
beautiful young son, Keran. Keran's Mom, Virginnie was very kind
to
put me up more than once and I was very happy that her English
is perfect
as she had spent a lot of time at Michael Byatt's. Alain's English
is topnotch
but he prefers French, and my French is, well I don't really have
any French
except the bits and pieces I remember from high school. That old
adage,
"if you don't use it use it you lose it" is very true.
So, it's been a year since the
trip and it's time to start planning another
one, so brace yourself Alain, the "Queen of Moron Land"
as he affectionately
calls me will be back! And to all my friends in France who are
reading this, I
hope to see all of you again soon.
As Ever,
Roxanne
Tanglewood
Breeders of Polish and French Arabian Horses and Thoroughbred
Racehorses
RR1
New Noway, Alberta
Canada T0B 3L0
Tel (780) 352-6413
roxannerogers13@gmail.com
This document © 2007 - 2009
Roxanne Rogers, all rights reserved.
