“Hello friends!
At the beginning of the show season this year, Tim noticed a yearling mare that he absolutely loved. Her name is Cameo and she was owned by Jerry and David Chandler, two really super Percheron folks. Tim and I got to know Jerry about two years ago and have come to call him a good friend. Tim asked Jerry if he would be willing to sell Cameo and, Jerry laughed his very infectious laugh and said without hesitation, “No”.
As the show season progressed, Tim kept his eye on Cameo. Late in the season, Tim flew out to Indiana to watch the show there and to help Jerry and Dave with the horses. When he came home he told me that he thought Cameo had a really bright future ahead of her, not only because of her winning show record and pedigree but because she just screamed, as you can see from her picture, “LOOK AT ME! I’M SPECIAL!”
In October, Tim traveled out to Ohio to look at a stallion we are interested in breeding to and, when he came home, he was still talking about Cameo. “If only Jerry would sell her,” he lamented.
Now Tim is nothing if not determined. With the World Percheron Congress coming up he was sure that he wanted to own that horse before she left for Iowa. He was nervous that once she got out west, someone would make Jerry an offer and she would be gone! So Tim made one last ditch effort to get Jerry to sell her to us.
Two weeks before Congress at about 10:00 p.m., Tim walked into our bedroom and said, “Jerry and I made the deal. Cameo is ours.”
Cameo headed to Congress, along with another great mare we purchased from Jerry and David, Lorelei and although we choose not to attend Congress for a variety of reasons, some which were discussed on my last blog, we now ironically had not one but two dogs in the hunt.
Funny enough, and to show what a down to earth person Jerry is, when Tim called to ask if Jerry was in Iowa, a few hours after Jerry was to have left, Jerry laughed and said, “Heck no, I am ten minutes from my farm”. Seems as though someone had given Jerry new blankets for the mares to wear at Congress; only problem was they did not fit so Jerry got a late start and the mares were wearing old blankets. Jerry took it all in stride and said to Tim, “Looks like they are going to the big show wearing their coveralls!” That’s just the kind of guy Jerry Chandler is. Salt of the earth, not pretentious and able to have a good time no matter what!
Once Jerry got the mares settled in, he called us to tell us they were all safe and to tell us about the interest that Cameo was generating. Even the French delegation, here to observe the Congress, came by and asked to see her. Again, Jerry seemed to take it all in stride and boy was he proud! (Note to the French Percheron Delegation: You are welcome to stop by North Point Farm anytime – we’d love to have to you!)
Although we were wickedly busy here at home, we spoke with Jerry every day and almost felt like we were in Iowa with him. We had other friends call us who were also at the Congress but we never let on that we were rooting for Jerry and two special horses, having made the decision to keep the purchases private until after Congress. This was Jerry’s show and we wanted him to enjoy it and take all the well deserved credit.
When the dust settled, Cameo stood sixth out of over forty yearlings. To be honest with you, we were all a bit disappointed but had to remind ourselves that this was the world show and the entry was huge. Lorelei stood eighth out of another over forty horse entry and we were all very pleased with her.
We have very high hopes for Cameo in the show ring next year and, we have promised to put Jerry to work when we head out on the show road; we sincerely hope he will join us as Cameo continues her show career!
Meanwhile, Lorelei is waiting in the wings to take over as my cart mare when Victoria finally decides that she is done. However, don’t look for Lorelei to be in a six horse hitch because having a six is not part of the North Point plan! We are more than happy to do what we do best, focus on our outstanding halter horses.
Enjoy the video of Cameo at the Congress, with thanks to our friends the Trautman family of Platte Valley Percherons, for taking it and allowing us to share it here with all of you. Until next time, please keep up with us on our website www.northpointfarm.com or on Twitter!”
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