Circle M Farm´s Historie

Vi har mere end 50 års erfaring med heste i avl og sport. Annette var fortabt heste elsker, lige siden hun bare 6-7 år gammel fik sin daglige gang på Koldings forskellige rideskoler. Og Viggo har også altid været heste tosse og har lige siden sin konfirmation været ivrig heste ejer og springrytter.

We have more than 50 years of experience with horses in breeding and sports. Annette was a “lost” horse lover ever since she just 6-7 years old got her daily walk at Kolding’s various riding schools. And Viggo has also always been horses crazy and has ever since his confirmation been an avid horse owner and show jumper.

Vi mødte sågar hinanden på heste ryg. Viggo på en skimlet varmblods hoppe og Annette på en skimlet Welsh Mountain. Og da vi som et helt ungt par i 1978 slog pjalterne sammen og købte vores lille “drømme-bondegård”, her hvor vi bor idag, – så var det fordi vi ville leve vores liv sammen med vores heste. Allerede dengang startede vi vores “Professionelle” heste liv som hingste ejere, med vores dejlige “Pirat-Hingst” Trikker, som betalte mange af vores foder-regninger, når vi kørte rundt i vores flotte “TAROK” trailer og bedækkede alle mulige hopper i omegnen.

We even met each other on horse backs. Viggo on a grey warm blood mare and Annette on a grey Welsh Mountain. And when we as a very young couple in 1978 joined forces and bought our little “dream farm”, – where we live today -, it was because we wanted to live our lives with our horses. Even then, we started our “Professional” horse life as stallion owners, with our lovely “Pirate Stallion” Trikker, who paid many of our feed bills when we drove around in our beautiful “TAROK” trailer and covered all sorts of mares in the surrounding area.

I starten var det Dansk Varmblod vi arbejdede med. Men da vi i Tyskland oplevede Western Ridningen og ikke mindst de Amerikanske Paint Horses så ændrede hele vores liv sig til denne livsstil. Og siden 1988 udelukkende med American Paint Horses.

In the beginning, it was with our Danish Warmbloods. But when we in Germany experienced Western Riding and not least the American Paint Horses, our whole life changed to this way of life. And since 1988 exclusively with American Paint Horses.

Vi startede i bogstavelige forstand Paint Horse avlen og sporten i Danmark, med den absolut mest anvendte hingst i Dansk Paint Horse avl, J J BAR KING. Så vi kender hele historien bag.

We literally started the Paint Horse breeding and show program in Denmark, with the absolute most used stallion in Danish Paint Horse breeding, J J BAR KING. So we know the whole story behind it.

Circle M Farm, 2009

Og her skal i så få hele historien om Circle M Farm:

Vi måtte jo først og fremmest markere vores ny virksomhed med et navn. Inspirationen hertil var ganske enkel. For ligesom de første Ranch-ejere i USA brugte deres brændemærker, som navn på deres ranch, – så gjorde vi det samme. Og da de først ankomne nybyggere for nemheds skyld brugte en ring udenom det første bogstav i deres efternavn, så gjorde vi det samme, – altså: M – for Mortensen, og så en ring (eller cirkel) udenom, så blev det til “Circle M Farm”.

And here’s the whole story of Circle M Farm:

After all, we had to “Brand” our new company with a name. The inspiration for this was quite simple. Because, as well as the first Ranch owners in the U.S. used their brand’s as the name of their ranch, so we did the same. And when the first settlers arrived for convenience used a ring around the first letter of their last name, then we did the same thing, – that is: M – for Mortensen, and then a ring (or circle) around it, then it became “Circle M Farm“.

Og da vi for alvor fik gang i Paint hestene, hvor vi solgte allle vores varmblods heste og alt traditionelt udstyr; så gamblede vi det hele på American Paint- og Quarter Horses. Så derefter kom alle de føl vi avlede til at hedde “Gamblers” til “fornavn”. Vi satte simpelthen alle sejl til, for denne livsstil med vores heste.

And when we really got the Paint horses going, then we sold all our warmblood horses and all the traditional equipment, we “gambled” it all on American Paint and Quarter Horses. So then all the foals we bred came to be called “Gamblers” as their “first name”. We simply set all sails for this way of new life with our horses.

Vores eventyr med American Paint Horses startede nærmest som en eksplosion, da vi ved et rent tilfælde var så heldige at købe en 1-årig hingsteplag som hed J J BAR KING.

Our adventure with the American Paint Horses started almost like a blast, when we were lucky enough to buy a 1-year-old stallion named J J BAR KING.

Alle kendte ham, eller har hørt om ham, og han har da helt bestemt også en ganske speciel plads i vores hjerter.

Everyone knew him, or had heard about him, and he certainly holds a very special place in our hearts.

Vi købte ham og hans mor da han kun var et bette skrævl, men han viste sig hurtigt at blive en ener i Paint Horse avlen i hele Europa. For med sit flotte udseende, sit helt fantastisk gode temperament, samt det helt utrolige faktum at han viste sig at være landets første Paint hingst som avlede brogede føl hver eneste gang, – ja, så blev han altså vores livs guldklump.

We bought him and his mother as he was only a tiny suckling, but he quickly turned out to be a one-of-a-kind in the Paint Horse breed throughout Europe. Because with his good looks, his amazingly good temperament, and the incredible fact that he turned out to be the country’s first Paint stallion to breed pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors foals every single time, – well, he for sure became the “golden nugget” of our lives

Med langt over 250 føl som alle er brogede, og hvor ca. halvdelen er registrerede Paints og resten Pintos, har han slået sit navn solidt fast i Europæisk Paint Horse avl og ingen anden hingst vil nogensinde kunne gøre ham kunsten efter. Dengang var der stort set ingen Paint hopper i Danmark, men vi kunne jo se at i USA brugte man Engelske Fuldblodshopper i Paint Horse avlen. Så denne trend kopierede vi blot her hos os. Vi kørte rundt og købte en hel del små kraftige “Sprinter” typer hos galop avlerne og med en sikker hingst som lavede brogede føl hvergang, så gik det med lynets hast og pludselig var Danmark på verdenskortet i American Paint Horse Association regi.

With well over 250 foals, all of whom are motley, and with about half registered as American Paint Horses in the US and the rest Pintos, he has made his name famous in European Paint Horse breeding and no other stallion will ever be able to copy him. Back then, there were virtually no Paint mares in Denmark, but we could see that in the United States the English Thoroughbred Mares were used in the Paint Horse breeding. So we just copied this trend here with us. We drove around and bought quite a few small powerful “Sprinter” (actually “Quarter-Horse”)- types from the racetrack breeders and with a “safe” colour breeding stallion who made painted foals every time, then we went ahead with lightning speed and suddenly Denmark was on the world map under the auspices of the American Paint Horse Association.

Vennerne elskede ham, og konkurrenterne gjorde nok nærmest det modsatte, og mange morsomme historier om ham har i tidens løb faret gennem luften. Men en ting er sikkert, – Han har startet Paint Horse avlen i Danmark og sikret, at vi alle på rekordtid fik denne pragtfulde hesterace udbredt over hele landet.

Selv i udlandet er der i dag masser af afkom efter J J BAR KING

His friends loved him, and the competitors probably did almost the opposite, and many funny stories about him have rushed through the air over the years. But one thing is certain – He started the Paint Horse breed in Denmark – and ensured that we all in record time got this magnificent horse breed widespread all over the country.

Even abroad, today there are plenty of offspring of J J BAR KING.

Da J J BAR KING som nævnt startede sin karriere længe inden der fandtes APHA godkendte shows i Danmark, blev hans egen showkarriere meget kort. Kun 3 – 4 gange blev han showet i Tyskland, dog med rimeligt pæne placeringer i Halter, Trail og Reining. Men efter at vi kunne fastslå hans særlige evne til at producere brogede føl turde vi simpelthen ikke fragte ham rundt fra show til show, med risiko for transport skader og lignende.

When J J BAR KING started his career long before there were APHA approved shows in Denmark, his own show career was very short. We only took him 3-4 times to the shows in Germany, though with reasonably nice locations in Halter, Trail and Reining. But after we were able to establish his special ability to produce motley foals, we simply did not dare to transport him around from show to show, with the risk of transport injuries and such.

Hurtigt blev vi klar over at blev nødt til at investere i nye hingste, så vi kunne servicere alle hoppe afkommene efter J J BAR KING. Så i 1992 Købte vi en nyt hingsteemne i Tyskland: US IMPRESSIVE BLUE:

Quickly we realized that we had to invest in new stallions so that we could give service to all the mare offsprings by J J BAR KING. So, in 1992, we bought a new item in Germany: US IMPRESSIVE BLUE:

Og igen i 1993 købte vi endnu en unghingst: BR DYNAMITE QUINCY. Denne gang tog vi vores allerførste “Business-Trip” på indkøbstur til Oregon, USA. Dette var stort for os dengang.

And again in 1993, we bought another young stallion: BR DYNAMITE QUINCY. This time we took our very first “Business Trip” on a shopping trip to Oregon, USA. This was big for us back then.

Efterfølgende har vi hentet adskillige alvsdyr hjem fra USA. Se blot resten af denne website

Du kan se et lille udpluk af vores “PAINT-HORSE” oplevelser rundt i verden ved at trykke på dette link:

You can see a small selection of our “PAINT-HORSE” experiences around the world by clicking on this link:

https://circlemfarm.dk/circle-m-hall-of-fame/

I 1995 tog Annette og Viggo initiativ til at starte PAINT HORSE CLUB DENMARK, og fik den godkendt hos APHA i 1996. Viggo har i rigtig mange af klubbens leveår været President for PHCDK. Ved generalforsamlingen i november 2012 trak han sig ud af direkte foreningsarbejde i PHCDK.

In 1995, Annette and Viggo took the initiative to start PAINT HORSE CLUB DENMARK, and had it approved by the APHA in 1996. Viggo has for many of the club’s years of life been President of PHCDK. At the annual meeting in November 2012, he resigned from direct association work in PHCDK.

I APHA’s samarbejde med de andre internationale klubber udenfor USA, har Viggo lige fra starten været valgt som de danske APHA medlemmers repræsentant. Og lige fra begyndelsen af APHA’s International Committe’s oprettelse, har Viggo været udnævnt som Vice Chairman for denne komité. Også disse to jobs har Viggo i 2017 valgt at træde ud af på grund af private årsager.

In APHA’s cooperation with the other international clubs outside the United States, Viggo has from the very beginning been elected as the Danish APHA members’ representative. And from the very beginning of the creation of the APHA International Committee, Viggo has been appointed Vice Chairman of this committee. Viggo has also chosen to resign from these two jobs in 2017 due to private reasons.

Ærgerligt, at de mange gode års fantastiske udvikling og fremgang er gået i stå for PHCDK. Men sådan går det åbenbart engang imellem. Lad os håbe på at PHCDK igen finder vejen til succes. I fremtiden vil Annette og jeg koncentrere os 100% omkring vores egne private Paint Horse interesser og kun på hobbyplan, men til gengæld med nogle af de allerbedste avlsdyr der overhovedet findes i Europa. Vi vil fortsat deltage i alle de nøje udvalgte APHA shows som vi finder interessante i hele Europa.

Too bad that the many good years of fantastic development and progress have come to a halt for PHCDK. But apparently that’s how it goes once now and then. Lets hope that the PHCDK will find the way to a new succes. In the future, Annette and I both will concentrate 100% on our own private Paint Horse interests and only on a hobby level, but on the other hand, with some of the very best breeding animals available in Europe. We will continue to participate in all the carefully selected APHA shows that we find interesting throughout Europe.