Sparkling Acres Appaloosa Stud is based on a 37 acre farm in the fertile Whangaripo Valley, between Wellsford and Pakiri.

The farm was originally part of a much larger dairy unit. It's been well tended and the soil well fertilised using non-chemical fertiliser over the past few years.

Paddocks are large and each one is well sheltered by mature trees. Fences are tall and consist of 3 electric wires, leaving little for horses to get caught in.

There's a turning bay for floats and trucks and our barn provides 6 stalls.

We have our own breeding phantom so semen is collected off our stallions on site.

The area gets higher than average rainfall so the property isn't short of grass in summer and is large enough to sustain the horses through winter.

It grows mixed grasses that are ideal for horses.

We've started a sustainable and earth-friendly Bio-Gro Certified fertiliser programme to put the life back in to the soil, deal with the weeds such as buttercup and to address mineral deficiencies we've found.