The Ablets, like both Abraxas and Crooner, are all grandchildren of the great Olympic show jumper Abdullah, but display a superb ability for dressage as well. Registered American Warmblood, they combine Trakehner and Thoroughbred bloodlines with a dash of Percheron. We were so taken with Abraxas and Crooner that we bred our own very typey, elegant Thoroughbred mare to the stallion and got Absinthe. We were also lucky enough to acquire Abraxas's mother, Sun Clipper, a big-boned Thoroughbred often mistaken for a warmblood, with strong Nasrullah lines and an incredibly sweet temperament, and so ended up with two more of the same crossing: Absalom and Abseil.

Absinthe  2003 American Warmblood filly. Absinthe's mother is a beautiful Thoroughbred mare right out of a Stubbs painting. We wanted to keep all of her elegance but add a little more substance, and that is exactly what we got: her mother's dreamy almond eyes, elegant sculpted neck, and bold forward temperament with her father's substantial bone and muscled athleticism. The striking length and prominent depth of her shoulder seems to be her very own contribution. And to top it all off, her once dark liver chestnut coat will lighten to a beautiful dappled rose gray, making her both as beautiful and powerful as her namesake. We think she has great potential as a show jumper or eventer, though her exceptional freedom of shoulder—noticeable in a tendency to show off a Spanish walk even in foalhood—also promises an exciting extension in dressage.

Absalom    2003 American Warmblood gelding. Abraxas's full brother, "Sol," is the joker in the gang, always finding a new game to amuse us and pester his pasture mates, playing catch with feed pans and dexterously removing everyone else's fly mask. From the day he was born, Sol has shown that pizzazz so important for a competitive dressage horse. His overall conformation is notably balanced and correct, with textbook-perfect hind legs, a gorgeous, beautifully set neck, and a strong back. A dark steel gray now, he will most likely dapple all over as strikingly as his half-brother Crooner. Even as a yearling, he is impressing us with his presence of mind and independence, the perfect combination of half-brother Crooner's boldness and full brother Abraxas's willing attitude; it does not fluster him in the slightest to be led away out of sight of the herd.

Abseil    2004 American Warmblood filly. Very early one morning, Miranda woke up with a start and headed for the barn. Clipper, due at any time, had somehow gotten out of her foaling suite. Miranda found her and Abseil prancing about in the dressage arena. "Guess what our new foal is going to be," she said, as Krister came up behind her. When we look back on photos of her then, a scrawny and gangly newborn, we can't understand how we knew that she would develop into such an amazing filly, but she did. There was something about her from the beginning. Awarded premium status and branded at her inspection, she is continuing to amaze us in her development into what we are sure will be a powerful and graceful horse. Bigger and rounder than her siblings, but with the same reliability of mind. Of course, at this stage she knows she is something special (Ah, youth!), earning her the barn name of Imperia.