Festivo has started making his way to the dressage stars in the USA! We follow him with great satisfaction, this is were I imagined him, showing everyone that his natural relaxed movement stands up to all races! Way to go Doreén, Robert and Phil, and well done for being at the right place at the right time giving Festivo the oportunity to get this important merit nailed to his curriculum! 

http://andalusianworld.com/blog/?post_type=post&p=1100

Developing a systematic training method can be tricky. I don't use my head as much as my feeling when I am riding, one day's training is never the same as the next. But it is important to be systematic so I do reflect afterwards and before and each horse has a plan. This works for me and for my 'students'. When I help someone training their horse I use connection as the basis of the work. First I feel in the horse and then the person and last the pair. But we are all different and as many horses and riders there are as many ways there are. But this is also what makes this work so interesting and complex. I have had readers writing me and asking why I am training my horses myself without the help of a trainer. The reason is simply because I have not found anyone here that can tune in to the personal connection that is necessary for me personally, or to the way I like to train my horses. So I had to develop my own training method and do the best I can with help of videos and photos. 

In Spain there has not been any professional education for horse trainers so everyone has had to develop their own way, or they have followed the way of a particular teacher (maestro). I have learned alot from observing riders training and competing their horses. But observing has not always been a positive experience. Some spanish riders train their horses out of authority from fear of the rider and controlling the animal in this way is very old fashioned and the opposite of my training philosophy. As long as the horse is dancing away in a nice piaffe and passage the rider being at times even brutal is excused. As you can probably imagine the horses trained in this way often get leasions because of too much pressure in relation to their capacity. I have seen horses looking terrified competing high levels of dressage, bloody flanks from whiplashes and attacked horses flying in a yes, spectacular trot. But to me this is not art nor is it sport. I am not for a whimsical training attitude, I do think being strict, disciplined and consequent is absolutely fundamental. But in Spain being rough and sometimes even brutal ok and not very criticized at all. On other hand it is not at all constructive to meet agression with agression. So I get on with my way and let other's get on with theirs. We are all responsable for what we do and in the long run the happy horse, trainer and student are the good examples.  

Today I got a greeting from beautiful abundant hair-lady Donita VIK! (born 2010) 

This is the girls today living the good life under the spanish sun and trees. The temps have dropped during the night so I tried their blankets on for first time and they were cool with them.

   
Baby black, a very playful little guy
 

After medical visit today I decided to award myself with some swedish sweets that I have a constant have craving for. Arriving to the shop I did not see a sharp curb, hit it hard and exploded my tire.. But luck was on my side and polite police (local, not guardia civil) actually helped my changing my tyre after a 20 min search for tools that were hidden in strange places in my car. But what great good guys! So swedish sweets became a expensive story since I am having swedish version of tyres really great for all climates and for pulling the trailer in crappy weather conditions, of course impossible to find in Spain so needs to be imported from Sweden. It's crap I know, but better with a explosion on a curb than explosion with a horse in the trailer,..

The other day we went to visit Donoso and Halagador babies born in April this year, they were both incredibly tall and very beautiful. Halagador got a filly and her mum brown/black, around 165 cm with 3 white feet and a star. The filly is jet black no white markings, tall and very feminine. She did not get Halagador's beautiful head, her hook angle is alittle bit too wide and her movements are not very powerful but she is a elegant, adorable and a very pretty lady. This breeder sells all male offspring and keeps the females for breeding and riding :)

Maestranza

   
Donoso's boy is a copy of himself and even though his mum has white legs and star he came out totally bay no white markings. He has powerful movements and a beautiful totally correct conformation. He is closely related to Donita VIK as her mother and the mother to this colt are also halfsisters, both sired by Delegado MAC. This is a incredibly cool guy that rolled himself around in the grass next to our feet, lot's of personality and selfconfidence. A mini-Donoso, one of the two only male D-offsprings and most certainly a future campeón - FOR SALE :) 

Both are 6 months now and now weaned from their mums. 

Don Donoso

Neither are not yet registered, there are a few Donoso's offspring not yet registered;

- Yeguada Windy Hill in Sweden has 1 black filly from 2011

- Yeguada Zorro PRE in Sweden has 2, one grey 2010 filly and one bay 2012 filly 

- And this bay boy in Spain 

Makes a total of 8 PRE Donoso VII offspring. 

Halagador has 10 offspring.

Whilst Betty is standing guard for her person's tack Viggo is racing up and down the indoor with all horses available and moving. So today we started dog-training-from-horse and he seems to learn quickly! 'Vig' immidiately understood stop, come and sit (as long as floor is fluffy and not cold because then we only get a half-sit). So that was easy, then I wanted to teach him to stay at the door and not enter the indoor. Start and I had to chase him out twice but then he got that one too and waited patiently by the wall, clever doggy! This is my first Italian greyhound, they really are beautiful dogs IF they are given the possibility to move and think because this is as important as food for this race. Other than that I can say very social, friendly, fun, quick learners and always happy to snuggle up and relax by your side :)

Viggo in tackroom

Happy sunday! Posting a video for you of two classy young PRE boys, enjoy!

Nr 604 BREEDING http://www.horsespre.com/product/product.asp?id=1448&fn=true&scid=6&cid=0

So from no rugs to winterrugs in one day, two days ago temps dropped to 4 degrees so I was in stables 23.00 to put their rugs on, Start has already had his first bodyshave so he felt abit naked in the windy night. Tucked in their blankets we all slept well. Now we are back with thin autumn rugs, as warm sun was out they had shampoo showers after work.

Start is doing serious work, we learned from our Grand Prix that we have to work on that part as we had a register of bucking, levadas and kicking added to the program, hmm.. Being the strict teacher now I am focusing on projecting his hot temperament into controlled power and energy instead of fire and explosiveness. From his fire he gets his spectacular movements so I am not trying to take it out of him nor change him, just organize it creatively. I always warm him up in back first in trot and canter. Then I choose trot or canter excercises as it is too much to do all excercises of both on his level. But Start chooses (the way I feel him for the day) and today we did both trot and canter. It is very easy for him to do tempis but with his temperament he sometimes skips off adding a one when we are doing the threes and twos. So today I trained the 3s and 2s on circle and then did the ones. It was very good as tempis on a circle is great way to get the horse straight and in between aids. So after that the tempi ones was automatic, I just had to set him off and he finished the 15 great. If he makes a mistake I don't punish, I just make him repeat it. If he is naughty I tell him off by my voice. When he has done all excercises well or one especially well I stop. So after the tempis ones today I stopped and he got his dinner. 

Naughty but happy Start in GP

Still a clean flying change after rodeo diagonal :)

Passage and trotwork was better..  

Please everyone I cannot take your calls as I have lost my voice, please communicate on email or messages, thanks! Today was Viggo's first day at the stables, he has run out 8 dogs, two PRE fillies and been chasing mummy on top of two cantering horses so finally he is tired enough to sleep tight on his puff.. Action Viggo is a fast guy with never ending energy!

Halagador has actually passed a vetcheck yesterday, spotless. That guy has never had a scratch, not even one swollen leg once. Of course it feels good knowing the health of the horse you are selling but it is up to a professional veterinarian to give the guarantees of the health status. We would never make a sale if the client did not have the horse vetted prior to purchase. We can assist and suggest but it is up to the client to find out what they are buying in the way they feel comfortable; What kind vetcheck, how they want it done (if any special xrays or clinical exam) and by whom they want it made. 

Tomorrow is friday again and I will have visitors in the morning so goodnight!

Going through the typical autumn cold now so after some Espidifen I am having a indoor day with paperwork, computer and cooking swedish mashed potatoes, 'pannbiffar' (like meatballs but flat) with lingonberries. The Halagador client followed my recommendation and decided to buy the young bay stallion born 2009.
Congratulations M to this very beautiful and talented PRE!

So now it is Halagador-client Nr 3:s turn and I have sent most of the information. Now planning alittle as november will be a month with visits by clients, family, friends and then SICAB also has to fit it the shedule, something to look forward to!

Have a great day people!