Now HERE is an up and coming star at the farm that's going to go places! 
When we brought him home, we dubbed him "Woody" (SHORT FOR HOLLYWOOD)
because of his illustrious bloodlines.  Woody was not purchased with the intention
of keeping him as a stud,we just like fine riding horses and he caught our eye and
we had to have him!  However, to this day  he's never given us a bit of trouble, and
lives in a seperate pen with our babies for company. (he's very social!)

Matt and I decided that as long as he wasn't obnoxious, we would make allowances and keep him as a stallion,
something we don't generally do.  This means special care, but for now, he's just a great young colt with a
beautiful face, kind eye, great disposition, nice conformation and a very (very) trainable mind. 

Yearling Woody with Jessica, who spent alot of time socializing & grooming him (and fussing with him)

This spring, when Woody turned two, he really started to shape up. His body,
although still gangly, started to fill out. His lovely head started to get 'cheeky', like
studs always do.  And of course, during the 'lusty' days of June, he developed a bit
of an attitude, but with consistent and firm correction he stayed in line, and was still
nice and even tempered.  Woody is not a 'loud' stud and you rarely here a peep from
him.  In fact, I still catch him doing the baby' chewing' motion over the fence when
the older geldings and mares come by for a visit.   What a suck.  Of course, I am
sure this will change if Woody ever gets to try sowing his oats.  We dont' believe
in indiscriminate breeding, so until Woody proves he's worth siring a foal or two,
he'll just be Matt's horse.  Matt loves this!   Matt always was one to like having
his own stuff.  When we stole Max from him for the stable, Matt decided a stud
was the only way he could keep a horse for himself, since we aren't allowed to
use them for public riding.  And that suits Matt just fine!

So, when Woody looked physically ready for being 'backed', we
started him with some ground driving and lunge training, to get him
used to the idea of doing something that 'we' wanted, rather than
just having his own way all the time.  Woody didn't put up much of
a fuss, and took well to training, proving that his bloodlines are
very good in disposition and good breeding makes good sense!

When the big day came, we used our favorite trainer (and resident blacksmith)
Dave Peterson, who always does a fine job with breaking all our horses.  Just to
add a sense of adventure, Dave backed Woody for the first time (!) during our
Wrangler Training Camp, and we all held our breath.  Dave wasn't worried,
of course!  Dave showed the girls the proper methods of teaching a colt to
accept a rider, and we were very happy to see that Woody was ready and
willing to take a rider.  So when Dave swung his leg over, everything went fine.

Now, Matt rides Woody approximately twice per week.  We dont believe in straining a
young horses' growing body, because we usually keep our horses for a long time and
value soundness over everything.  Matt has big plans for Woody, and for once in my life,
I'm actually keeping my fingers out of Matt's affairs.   (Ha, we'll see how long I can
keep that up!)  Learning to train horses from scratch is an important part of being a
good horseman, and although I put in some suggestions once in a while, I see
already that Matt and Woody are finding their own way without any  help from me!

Here is Matt introducing Woody to our resident calves, Kramer, Wonka, Buck and Turbo
(of course, my 'city slicker 'campers named them *grin*) 

We keep a few calves around for practice with the horses, and it's a great way to teach a colt to enjoy what
he is doing while keeping his mind occupied on something interesting.  Matt would eventually like to move
on from Team Penning, and get more involved with working cowhorse and perhaps cutting - time will tell!

Woody certainly has the breeding to move on in western performance sports.  His
father "Dun It You Won It" is a very popular and well known reining champion on the
Ontario Reining horse circuit, with some great cowhorse bloodlines.   Dunny was owned
& shown by John Purdy for much of his Canadian career, and is known as an exceptionally
quiet tempered stallion with a massive body, pretty face, and solid conformation.   Dunny is
known to throw Dun colored, very sound babies with trainable minds and solid dispositions.
And from what we've seen,  we are pretty sure Woody is going to live up to this reputation! 

You can read more about Dunny by clicking here

Woody's grandfather is immortal.   The top sire,  "Hollywood Dun It"
pictured right - is by Hollywood Jac 86 and stands at McQuay stables. 
Hollywood Dun It is the number one top producing reiner in history. The
stud fee on this amazing stallion was $10,000 US - and he's produced
babies with over $3,600,000 in winnings.  To read more about
Hollywood Dun It, visit McQuay stables by clicking here

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