UC Holiday

UC Holiday and Jaclyn Gagnon going over a jump. Look at Holiday's happy ears! Photo provided by Jaclyn Gagnon.

UC Holiday in her field, photo provided by Jaclyn Gagnon.

Adorable.

Smart.

Impeccable ground manners.

A heart of gold.

That's UC Holiday!

I had the pleasure of speaking with UC Holiday's biggest fan, Jaclyn Gagnon, yesterday. She adopted Holiday in 2006 and still rides her regularly.

UC Holiday was born in 1985 to the lovely UC Fascination, one of UConn's top broodmares at the time. Her sire is the legendary Hall of Famer and two-time World Champion, UC Ringmaster. (see his pic in the Jan. 26 blog entry).

Holiday produced some lovely foals for UConn: UC Holly, UC Nutmeg, UC Fascinatin Rhythm, UC Cinnamon*, UC Holiday Pride and UC Celebration.

Hers will be a fun a chapter to write. She's a little mare with a big heart and Jaclyn told me that she trusts Holiday more than any horse she's ever met. Holiday also loved to jump back in the day: ears up and hooves clearing the fence with room to spare. She's also quite the pretty dressage horse--perhaps a trait she picked from her sire, UC Ringmaster. Cheryl Orcutt told me that Ring would have blown his competition away in a dressage test; he was perfectly balanced and had a wonderfully soft and responsive mouth.

I can't wait to meet her when Spring arrives! Look at that wonderful blaze....

(I am eagerly awaiting a brand new set of drawing pens so I can get started on the illustrations. Gotta get crackin'! FUN is!)

*there are two UC Cinnamons, Holiday's was the second Cinnamon. The first UC Cinnamon was by UVM Viking and UC Spicy Lass, born in 1979.