Costessa Siyroun

25/03/2026

It was 3 years ago today that Siyroun finally declared and slipped into eternity. This light-hearted little video (the only one we made as we were late to the video world) is a just memory. Enjoy :

A family meal in the garden is interrupted by a (not altogether unexpected) equine friend !Un repas de famille dans le jardin est interrompu par un (pas tota...

20/03/2026

...as I promised, the tail line of Siyah Gosh in Europe in memory of Vicki Shortis. Take care, the direct tail line of breeding age is thin. (please let me know of any update to these data😃)

17/03/2026

Following on from the memory of Vicki Shortis, you may be interested to know where the female line of Siyah Gosh has gone to. This post looks at the lines in North America (to the extent that I have the information).
Next post will be for Europe.

07/03/2026

Sad news from Elevage Roxane. Ashok was the only progeny of Rosmear Faramir, his sire. In turn, Faramir was only one of two progeny of Eastern Kashin Khan.

Notre étalon Caspien Ashok s'est soudainement et dignement éteint à l'âge de 27 ans.

𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐤 (1998-2025) était un pur-sang caspien alezan d'1m18, étalon reproducteur licencié. Né au haras Rosmear, chez Fran et Brian Smith-Boyes, de la jument Rosmear Batool et de l'étalon Rosmear Faramir, de la lignée de Palang*.

En 2014, malgré ses 16 ans, son genou fracturé et consolidé de travers, Ashok était un magnifique représentant de sa race qui nous avait tapé dans l'oeil. Bo**ré de charisme, il servit de modèle à notre logo.

Puisse son empreinte perdurer à travers sa descendance de qualité :
- 2005 : Rosmear Kourosh, étalon licencié bai, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Soren, étalon licencié, bai, CASP
- 2016 : Roxane Farrokh, étalon licencié bai, CASP
- 2016 : Zarouch Haiko, mâle bai, CASP
- 2008 : Rosmear Rakhshan, étalon alezan, CASP, exporté en suède
- 2013 : Rosmear Aza Rosemary, poulinière bai, CASP
- 2018 : Rosmear Ara, jument bai, CASP
- 2019 : Rosmear Naveed, mâle bai, CASP
- 2022 : Rosmear Meesha, jument bai, CASP
- 2025 : Rosmear Orkan, mâle alezan, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Kamal, étalon licencié, bai brun, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Azad, étalon alezan crins lavés, CASP
- 2019 : Roxane Stateira, jument bai, CASP
- 2022 : Roxane Ashkan, mâle alezan, CASP
- 2024 : Roxane Shahrokh, mâle alezan, CASP

Ashok, de part sa personnalité et son statut était une figure principale de notre élevage, il faisait partie du dernier lot de Caspiens en attente de déménagement Pau --> La Rochelle. Nous regrettons qu'il n'ait pu prendre part à une dernière partie à nos côtés.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

𝑂𝑢𝑟 Caspian 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑘 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 27.

𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑘 (1998-2025) 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑛𝑢𝑡 pure bred 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 1𝑚18, 𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐵𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑎𝑡 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑚𝑖𝑡ℎ-𝐵𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐹𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑟, 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔*.

𝐼𝑛 2014, 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 16 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒. 𝐹𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑎, 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑜.

𝑀𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 :
- 2005 : Rosmear Kourosh, bay licensed stallion, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Soren, bay licensed stallion, CASP
- 2016 : Roxane Farrokh, bay licensed stallion, CASP
- 2016 : Zarouch Haiko, bay stallion, CASP
- 2008 : Rosmear Rakhshan, chesnut stallion, CASP, exporté en suède
- 2013 : Rosmear Aza Rosemary, bay broodmare, CASP
- 2018 : Rosmear Ara, bay mare, CASP
- 2019 : Rosmear Naveed, bay stallion, CASP
- 2022 : Rosmear Meesha, bay mare, CASP
- 2025 : Rosmear Orkan, chesnut stallion, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Kamal, dark bay licensed stallion, CASP
- 2013 : Rosmear Azad, flaxen chesnut licensed stallion, CASP
- 2019 : Roxane Stateira, jument bai, CASP
- 2022 : Roxane Ashkan, chesnut stallion, CASP
- 2024 : Roxane Shahrokh, chesnut stallion, CASP

𝐴𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑘, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑃𝑎𝑢 --> 𝐿𝑎 𝑅𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒.

05/03/2026

In memory of the breeder of Siyroun

This post is to remember Vicki Shortis who died one year ago today (5th March). Vicki was a very early member of the Caspian Pony Society (later renamed as the Caspian Horse Society). For much of this time, and up to the end, she was an active member of the Council, fulfilling various posts including publishing the magazine “The Caspian”.
As the breeder of Costessa caspians she produced horses that moved to several countries, with their progeny even more widely distributed.
Starting with the foundation mare Siyah Gosh she bred 13 female and 11 male foals born between 1980 & 2009. 5 of the males were licenced stallions including Siyroun (although Costessa Al-Mutakabir was later gelded after siring only 2 fillies).

Fran & Vicki had remained friends from the very first visit that Fran made in 1984 in her search to find a good stallion to start our Caspian adventure, at that time in Scotland, then in France via The Netherlands.
Fran chose Siyroun who, apart from a spell with the Darkhorse stud, remained with us till his spirit departed as this FB page celebrates.

The photos are of: Siyah Gosh with Siyroun 1982; Vicki & Fran at the 2004 International Caspian Conference & a list of the Costessa caspians. For the family tree of Siyah Gosh go back to 3 October 2019 on this FB page.

10/02/2026

Post script : Episode 6 - Rosmear Elske & Esta Chezir

Anne & Jacques just missed meeting “Le Vieux Monsieur” as on 23 March 2023, just a month before his 41st birthday Costessa Siyroun succumbed to the inevitable. That morning he was hardly able to walk so we decided that the time had come, it had already been necessary to put his feed bowl on a bucket as he couldn’t easily lower his head to ground level.
He was our 1st Caspian and we were beginning to think that he would be our last. That was not to be.
His physical remains lie in an unmarked grave but his spirit will live forever.
With Siyroun’s passing, his best friend, the Arabian stallion Esta Chezir lost his friend, they often touched noses when Chezir was in his box & Siyroun lived just in front (so that he could wander out whenever he wanted to).
We therefore decided that we would put Chezir in the field with our 2 remaining mares Elske & Namarki. Both had been ridden regularly until their young riders (Lauriane & Marine) moved on with studies, so both mares were left to graze in the field. For both, now into their 20s a well earned rest. However, Tariq, Elske’s foal, was now beginning to mature, we were not sure if introding Dad (Chezir) would go down well. In fact there was no problem although for safety we later put him with the 2 young caspian colts, Anoosh & Naveed.
Chezir had begun to slowly lose form from summer 2022 so we were not sure if there would be a foal from either of the mares. Despite willingness and multiple attemps, the time had passed.
But the bond, especially between Chezir & Elske was very strong and so we left them together for the rest of the year. Come winter though, we had to shut Chezir in the lunge ring at feed times to prevent Elske stealing his food, he would not push her away ! He quickly learnt the routine even at night.

02/02/2026

Post script : Episode 5 - Rosmear Namarki

Prior to M&M visiting (see episode 3), another event occured out of the blue. Somebody else had heard of the Caspians and again had been directed to us. We had missed a message but found a slip of paper in the gate with a request to visit. We agreed, with the result that Jacques & Anne arrived on the scene.
Again we spent much of the day talking Caspians, showing photos and then we asked Jacques if he would like to ride one as he is not too tall. He said yes.
So we fetched Namaki from the field, hastily put together some tack, prepared Namerki and off went Jacques for what we assumed would be a ride to the top of our road and back, a distance of about 700 m.
Much to our surprise (but not Anne’s) Jacques returned 2 hours later having had a very enjoyable ride !!
He simply loved Namaki and appreciated that the Caspian was indeed a horse and not a pony. (He had been riding all his life including around France a couple of times so had plenty of experience).
We explained the problem that we had with being left with 7 entire males plus Namarki & Elske. Jacques & Anne left to consider if they could buy one or two Caspians and to try to find homes for the others (as did Sarvy van Maris in Canada !).
The photo proves that Caspians are not just for children !

10/01/2026

If you missed our New Year's Greetings see below. Before adding the next episode of the post Script I wish to off our heart-felt concerns with events in Iran, already a difficult place to live and interact with the rest of the world. This also applies to our Caspian world. We hope they emerge from the current events unscathed.

Post script : Episode 4 - Rosmear Sholeh (Toffie)

Having bade farewell to Aza, Ara & Meesha, we were now left with the mares Elske (the part bred daughter of Siyroun), Toffie (Grand daughter) & Namaki (Great Grand Daughter) plus seven stallions, albeit one being The Old Boy himself.

We made contact with a lady who had helped Fran in the past with our horses when I was working abroad. She (Vanessa) had looked after Toffie for 6 months at that time after Toffie was recovering from illness. Vanessa already had 2 trotters but always preferred to ride Toffie. ! She said that she was interested in keeping Toffie, especially for her son Loan.

So it was that Vanessa came to visit along with her young son, he fell in love with Toffie on the spot so that was that !
Toffie, despite her having only one eye, had found a new home and was treated like a Queen. It was wonderful for us, as Toffie was quite difficult with other mares, loved to escape (at which she was an expert) but was full of character and wonderful with people.

(For those of you interested in Caspian colours & markings I have included a photo of toffie’s primitive rubiano tail markings, she had white hairs throughout her coat).

01/01/2026

IR: سال نو را به همه شما تبریک می گوییم، سلامتی برای شما و حیواناتتان آرزومندیم

FR: Nous vous souhaitons à tous une bonne année, une bonne santé pour vous et vos animaux.

EN: We wish you all a happy New Year, good health for you and your animals.

NL: We wensen jullie allemaal een gelukkig nieuwjaar, goede gezondheid voor jou en je dieren.

NO: Vi ønsker dere alle et godt nyttår, god helse for dere og dyrene deres.

SE: Vi önskar er alla gott nytt år, god hälsa för er och era djur.

DE: Wir wünschen Ihnen allen ein frohes neues Jahr, gute Gesundheit für Sie und Ihre Tierere Tiere.

DK: Vi ønsker jer alle et godt nytår, godt helbred for jer og jeres dyr.

CN(CH)*: 我們祝福大家新年快樂，健康健康，祝你和你的動物健康
(* for Rocky 6)

(Languages roughly in order of the spread of the Caspian)

May there be many more Caspian foals in 2026. The photo is of Rosmear Kourosh in 2005.

19/12/2025

Ost script : Episode 3 - Rosmears Aza Rosemary, Ara & Meesha

Ara & Meesha travelled well (as all Caspian owners would have expected) and are seen here in their new home in the Lot.

The time came then for the return visit to collect Ara.

As with her Mum, entering into a strange box for the 1st time was without delay or drama.

For us this was now the beginning of the end but we were so happy to have found somebody who was interested in the breed, both as pure bred and part bred, as we feel that the part breds are a very important element in expanding the Caspian experience and thereby keeping the breed alive. For this we feel that 50/50 crosses with other pure-breed horses (particularly Arabians) will give the most important support to the breed.

Once again, the journey went smoothly and Ara was happy to be re-united with Mum & sister.

They also joined Bita Banu who had come from Germany.

Since then the foals born at the stud, Merlioz Naheli, Opale & Orkan.

You can see more of their new home by visiting https://www.leschevauxm.fr/chevaux-caspiens or https://www.instagram.com/leschevauxm/

The images are : Rosmear Aza Rosemary with Meesha alone & with Mathieu & Marion and a short (a little fuzzy) video clip of Aza & Meesha reunited with Ara.