Offering frozen semen for overseas distribution!
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Dynamic In The Dark, The Southern Horseman, March 2001
A Young Stallion Destined For Greatness.
As most any breeder will tell you, good stallions are easy to find. It's the great ones that only come along only once in a great while, if at all. That's why Stephen and Cindy Stephens, the owners of Riverside Ranch, felt so fortunate to own an incredible stallion like Dynamic Deluxe. "We believed it was a once in a lifetime opportunity," says Stephens, "So, when Dynamic In The Dark came along, we felt twice blessed."
By one of AQHA's recognized Leading Sires, Dynamic Deluxe, and out of the great producing mare Pocos Unique Fashion, Dynamic In the Dark, a.k.a "Calvin," was born on February 28, 1994, to Riverside Ranch. The Stephens own not only Dynamic Deluxe but Pocos Unique Fashion as well.
Dynamic In the Dark was the second foal by Dynamic Deluxe born to this great mare, the first being a black mare, Dynamic Fashion, who went on to enjoy an astonishing show career. Among her many honors were Congress Championships, Tom Powers Championships and Superior Pleasure awards in the Open, Youth and Amateur Divisions. Therefore, it's no wonder that Stephen and Cindy were so excited when "Calvin" was born.
A strong colt from the start with all the looks of a future stallion prospect, Cindy says she had high hopes for this youngster long before he ever entered the performance pen. "As a yearling, watching him move across the pasture," she remembers "He already had the look of a slow moving, broke pleasure horse. That's why he quickly became my favorite and later that winter, when I started him under saddle, I just couldn't believe it. He was broke before I ever climbed on his back!"
"I also liked his sweet disposition," she adds. "It's always refreshing to have a horse that you can love and spoil, especially when you're dealing with a stud colt."
As his training progressed, it was apparent to everyone that 'Calvin' was definitely going to be a top two-year-old contender, so it was decided that Cindy would load up and go on the road with the stallion to show at the larger futurities. And thus began their adventure. With Cindy's mom, Solveig Schlicker, behind the wheel and Cindy's son Casey, they traveled across the country and reaped the rewards of tremendous success along the way. At the end of the year -- and 15,000 miles later -- Dynamic In the Dark had not only become the champion or reserve champion of many of the major futurities but had been named the NSBA High Point Two Year-Old, and Cindy had captured the NSBA High Point Limited Rider of the Year title.
During that year, Grant and Shannon McKenzie of Garibaldi Highlands, British Columbia followed the progress of the young stallion closely. They had originally purchased a show mare from the Stephens in 1988 with which they had done extremely well, and over the years the two couples had developed a special friendship. They had enjoyed raising children together, taking group holidays and, of course, traveling the show circuit together. When the McKenzies expressed an interest in purchasing half interest in Dynamic In the Dark even before he had completed his two-year-old year, the Stephens readily agreed. As Stephen puts it, " After enjoying so much success with Dynamic Deluxe, we thought it would be fun to share the excitement that a great stallion can bring with Grant and Shannon."
Dynamic In the Dark started his career in the breeding barn as a three year-old, breeding only a few select mares, and that same year Stephen began training him for western riding. After breeding season and with only limited showing, "Calvin" still managed a top ten finish for the year in AQHA's High Point Western Riding standing and also placed third in the Junior Western Riding at Congress. Calvin' is the most incredible, natural lead changer I have ever ridden," says Stephen. He really makes my job as a trainer very easy."
The Following, despite a very full breeding schedule, Dynamic In The Dark was back out in the performance pen again, and this time he captured the Tom Powers Western Pleasure Maturity Championship with Stephens aboard. he crowd, as well as many respected judges and trainers commented on both the stallion's looks and the movement that day, and this really added to the excitement for everyone concerned. As Stephens puts it, "You know you're on a good horse when it takes you almost an hour to make it back to your stalls after the class!"
Later that same year, "Calvin" returned to the Congress, where he placed third again in the Junior Western Riding and fourth in the Junior Western Pleasure class, which had over 1000 entries. Since that time, the surmounting demands in the breeding barn have kept him close to home.
"Words can't describe how exciting and how much fun it was to have 'Calvin' in the show pen, and there's no doubt he would have gone on to even greater honors had he been able to continue," Cindy remarks. "However, much as we would have liked to see him go on, we all agreed that it was in his best interest to concentrate on his career as a sire from that point on."
When Calvin's" first foal arrived the following year, they all possessed the same characteristics as their sire -- beauty, strength and size. When he observed this first crop, Stephen was so impressed he told the others, "Mark my words, this is only the beginning." And, his Prediction about this young sire's progeny has proved to be strikingly true, because out of that first foal crop have come two top five finishers at the World Show, a Reserve Congress Champion and countless futurity champions from coast to coast.
"As a yearling, watching him move across the pasture, He already had the look of a slow moving, broke pleasure horse"
The Outstanding progeny continue to arrive year after year, and Cindy and Stephen are convinced that it is only a matter of time until Dynamic In the Dark follows in the footsteps of his own sire, Dynamic Deluxe, to take his place on the Leading Sires List, too. In the meantime, Grant and Shannon Mckenzie are now enjoying the thrill of owning a great sire in addition to a great show horse. "When you see all those yearlings loping across the field and they already look like the finished product of a pleasure horse trainer, it just gives you goose bumps!" they say.
The Stephens have relocated Riverside Ranch from Sultan, WA to Weatherford, TX, but nothing else has changed. It is still a full service facility where mares can live year round and babies can grow up in lush fields. The ranch also offers a full training facility run by Stephen, Cindy and Terry Cross. Terry has been with the ranch since 1995, providing direction for the youth and amateur customers as well as showing in the open classes.
Dynamic In the Dark is standing along side his father. His foals are eligible for most major futurities. Shipped cooled semen is available. For a video or information on "Calvin" please call the office at 940-682-4622, or visit our website at www.RiversideRanch.com. We have some of his latest winners pictured there, and don't forget to visit the "New Foal" section where there are Dynamic In The Dark babies offered for sale. In addition, if you happen to be in Texas, please stop by to see "Calvin" in person, not to mention all of his incredible babies.
"We seem to use the word 'incredible' a lot these days," says Cindy, "But it sure seems to fit. We have an incredible horse, incredible babies and an incredible partnership with Grant and Shannon -- which makes us feel very fortunate indeed."
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