Anna was the first foal bred by Maple Leaf Lipizzans. Her sire is the gorgeous stallion Siglavy Americana. He was evaluated at 87.5 in 2003 by Dr. Oulehla. Her dam is Haida, evaluated at 87%. She was sold to some Canadians along with her half brother, Siglavy Pachena, a gelding. Several years later their owners fell on hard times financially and the horses were confiscated by the stable owner in lieu of unpaid board. This person was unfamiliar with Lipizzans and the value of these two horses and advertized them for sale on the web. My girlfriend Sharon Gerl saw a good opportunity, flew up to Canada, took a look at the horses and bought them inexpensively. She trained and showed the gelding Siglavy Pachena (Jag) up to second level dressage and sold him for about ten times what she paid for him!.

I bought Filipana after I read her pedigree. I knew it was superb. But I still didn't know how lucky I was to have her. She became more and more beautiful with time. With her lovely head and swan neck she is an elegant mare. At first she was not easy to ride as she was quite high headed. Her trot felt choppy and hard to sit. I decided to take her to Baudouin Hallet. Within two months he had taught her to stretch out her back and round up. "She is one of the most intelligent mares I've ever worked with." he told me. Anna, it turned out has an incredible work ethic. She is very serious about doing everything right. She wants to know what to do and it's important to her to do it precisely. There is never any need to chastize her because this mare works 200% all the time.

After Baudouin had worked with her I began riding Anna and her trot was now as smooth as silk. Even running in the pasture, Anna had changed her whole posture. She moved as Mr. Hallet had taught her.

Anna is my favorite trail horse. Strides out with a big walk; is not afraid of anything and loves to be first. She is comfortable to ride and eager to go out and see the world.

In 2004 I bred her to Maestoso Contessa, a wonderful Piber stallion imported to Oregon by Tracey Wiess and the next year she had Maestoso Filipana or "Corsica" as we call him. The day he arrived I knew Anna would foal soon and I had set up my bed in the barn, with a book and my foaling kit. At 4:30pm I went up to the house for a bit. At 5pm the stall cleaner Katy arrived and saw Anna pacing a bit but when she left the barn at 5:30pm nothing had happened. At 6:00pm I arrived to spend the night and there on the foaling straw was a brand new black colt with a white star on his forhead. Anna had done everything herself and the baby was fine. My husband Aaron dried him off and we helped him get up to nurse. Anna let us handle her baby and she became a superb mother if a bit on the strict side. She never let her baby out of her sight and he wasn't to wander more than ten feet away. Corisca is probably a very mild young stallion now because he had such a very strict dam. His two "aunties" Isabeau and Patrizia also mothered him so he was a much loved little tike.

At four months old Corisca was gradually weaned from his mom. First at night, and then gradually for longer times during the day. He never missed a beat because he was out with his aunties and with Siegfried his gelding babysitter.

Anna was bred to Favory II Candita whose evaluation score was 88%. This should be a beautiful foal And will be for sell in 2008.