UPDATE: January 6, 2004
New Prospect Horse for Sale

UPDATE: January 12, 2004
Another New Prospect horse for Sale

Train with Olympic rider Imtiaz Anees at Bits & Bytes Farm.

January 4 , 2004

Rachael Roberts played groom AND photographer at the Shakerag Hounds Novice Hunt attended by Bits & Bytes Farm.

Rachael continues her training on the "Famous" Broadway Joe so that she can ride in the jumping group at the next fox hunt.

Gertjan and Marie at the fox hunt.

Marie and Brewster take a break.Photo by Rachael Roberts.

Barry and Our Boy Darcy. Photo by Rachael Roberts.

Welcome to Bits & Bytes Farm on the Web. Take a virtual tour of the farm and see the beautiful thoroughbreds we have for sale. Follow their training and learn how we bring them from racetrack to a new career in the show ring, fox hunting or eventing.

Captain Arias is for sale!

Captain Arias was the first horse Elizabeth found at the race track when she went looking for a horse to fox hunt. Captain is truly the horse that started it all. Elizabeth saw many horses that needed a good home on her buying trip weekend. When she flew home from looking for a horse, she sent out an e-mail letting everyone know about the beautiful horses at the track needing new careers. She was going back to get Captain with a four horse trailer. The response was tremendous and it was the beginning of Bits & Bytes Farm reselling Thoroughbreds. She did five trips that first year and brought back nineteen horses. Read more on Captain's story. Also, read more Captain Arias stories listed on our Newz page. He has a page of photos as well.

Elizabeth enjoys starting these horses fresh off the track. We could not get homes for so many horses without the help of our friends. Bits & Bytes Farm has many people helping to exercise and train our horses. Elizabeth is the first to get on the horses (with Barry holding the lunge line) to start their basic training. As the training progresses Elizabeth engages others to add their special touch and training to the horses.

The horses also get ridden by "Friends of Bits & Bytes Farm" who have all ranges of riding skills. Some are professional trainers and some are beginners. If we say a horse can be ridden by a beginner, then you know it has. Elizabeth enjoys doing the training on the horses when they first come off the track but she no desire to compete. Some horses show great talent and deserve to be shown. Captain Arias is one of these horses and his training has taken him to the Novice level in eventing.

Captain Arias is ready for sale. He has been competing for the last year at combined training events and dressage shows in the Southeast. He has shown great potential and he is now available for sale. Captain is ready to move up to Training Level and has the potential to be an upper level event horse or jumper with the right rider.

Captain Arias at Bits & Bytes Farm.

A professional trainer has done a great job getting him started as an event horse and she is turning her attention to several off-the-track horses of her own. She no longer chooses to train at our farm. We've enjoyed her time with us and we understand the time commitment it takes to train these horses. We are happy to see that she is interested in helping get horses off-the-track and training them to be sport horses.

More people need to take the chance on these former race horses. Most of these athletes just need someone to help them make the transition to a new life. Call us if you want to learn how to transition one of these wonderful horses to a new life. We need more people to go into this business. It is very rewarding.

Olympic rider Imtiaz Anees will be continuing to train our boarders and horses. Imtiaz competed in the Individual Three-Day event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and more recently at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain. He is a qualified instructor from Australia. Imti is a great teacher and has competed internationally for four years.

Captain Arias is being polished for sale by Imti. Captain can be tried at Imti's primary training facility at Rock House Riding Center, south of Atlanta, in Senoia, Georgia. Call Elizabeth (770-704-6595) or Imtiaz (678-378-6429) to schedule a ride.

Imtiaz has worked with other Bits & Bytes Farm horses. We have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Imtiaz. He has been helping with the training of Barry and Elizabeth and the Bits & Bytes Farm horses for the last two years in return for our designing and maintaining his Web site. Imtiaz's photos can be seen throughout our Web site riding Irish, Captain, Roary and others. Imtiaz will be available for lessons and clinics at Bits & Bytes Farm and at his farm Rock House Riding Center.

Ride with two International riders at Imtiaz's clinic

Imtiaz Anees has a clinic scheduled for January 17th & 18th at his farm in Senoia, Georgia. He will do the clinic with Diana Wilson from the UK. Diana trained Imti from Beginner Novice to Advance level. Diana Wilson is an International Three-Day event rider having competed at Badminton, Burghley and Bockelo. Diana is now a Grand Prix dressage rider based in the UK. Go to Imtiaz's Web site for more details on the clinic. Several horses from Bits & Bytes will be attending the clinic.

Imtiaz will be taking Captain Arias to train and compete in Florida during the month of February. He is taking several students with him and has just a few slots more open. Details are on his Web site. www.imtiazanees.com.

Bits & Bytes Farm attends the Shakerag Hounds Novice Hunt

Gertjan (Big Money), Barry (Darcy), Elizabeth (Chanago) and Marie(Brewster) attended the Shakerag Hounds Novice Hunt. It was Marie's first fox hunt and Gertjan's second. Photo by Rachael Roberts.

A good time was had by all who attended the Shakerag Hounds Novice fox hunt. Marie had the quietest ride on Brewster - the youngest of the four horses we brought. Gertjan and Big Money moved up to the jumping group with Barry and Darcy. We are still trying to get the smile off his face. Elizabeth and Chanago jumped some of the smaller jumps and showed he is ready to move up. We brought Rachael Roberts along to groom and play photographer for us. She did a terrific job. Next hunt she wants to come out and ride on Broadway Joe.

Coming home. Gertjan and Marie van Roekel.

Watch our Prospect Horses page to see what we have lined up at the race tracks. Call for more information on these horses. Details soon on the Prospect page. We hope to bring them in as soon as we find homes for the ones currently in training at Bits & Bytes Farm.

Joe Bear and Paula Gunnels - a "Friend of Bits & Bytes Farm" who helps with the training.

Rachael's mom June is even pressed into service exercising Sir Cahill. She looks good for an "ole saddle seat rider". June is working on getting Cahill to bend properly. Sir Cahill is "Mom -safe" which means even more quiet than "kid-safe".

Marie & Gertjan at the fox hunt. Photo by Rachael Roberts.

Elizabeth with Chanago & Gertjan and Big Money. Photo by Rachael Roberts.

Call or come by for a visit

Please call us to discuss which horse might be the best match for you based on riding skill, experience and equine personality. We do not send out videos because it is important to match the personality of the horse with the personality of the rider. We are matchmakers, not horse brokers. We have horses in a wide price range. Call us to discuss prices or to schedule an appointment. We'd love to have you come meet all of our horses--we know that it will be worth your time. Just bring peppermints!