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Karneval II
June 22, 2001

Karneval was the product of one of the most famous crosses in the Trakehner line- his sire was the stallion Ibikus, and his dam Kaprice. Karneval was a successful FEI competitor, known for his excellent movement, and fiery disposition. A friend told me this morning that many people (including the great Herbert Rehbein) said that Karneval was an Olympic caliber horse. Karneval stood at Hamilton Farm in Mass. for many years, before being semi-retired to our farm in 1993, at which point he began teaching many grateful people what canter pirouettes, tempi changes and passage (lots of passage, that was his favorite) felt like. Karneval has many offspring throughout the country, including American Pie who is showing FEI levels.

Karneval loved having an audience. One of my fondest memories of Karneval was from five or six years ago, during a lesson my mom was giving. The woman riding him was working on extended canter. Karney was feeling exceptional fresh that day, and gave a little buck in the middle of the canter. My mom and I both laughed, because he was 24 or 25 at the time, and still seemed to be enjoying every minute of life. Little did we know, our laughter would cause such a fuss. On the next long side, he did another extended canter, this time with a bigger buck in the middle, again, my mom and I laughed, and again, he bucked. At this point, he nearly bolted across the ring- he had such a good sense of humor (a trait he definitely passed on to Pie). Even the rider was laughing at him.

I don't think that Karneval lived one second of his life without a smile on his face. He truly lived each moment to the fullest. There's a lot to be learned from that.

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