Look at it, I am going craaaazy over the colours, we said we wanted earthy colours, try this one the guy over the desk said (everytime we try a colour we have to get a whole big bucket of colour as there are no small ones for samples,.. TYPICAL spanish,.. But absolutely NOT this one,..
 
Then we tried to reason to a light and warm colour, sandyyellow, but as the bars are carriage red in combination with yellow we will have the spanish flag,.. so NO. I like grey with a bluetone to the red as it is a carriage red with lots of blue in it, BUT it was too blue and dark,..
 
We tried what they said was terracotta on the outside but,.. TOO pink!

 
So not very lucky so far with the colours, now we are back to the classical bone-white - and mandarin on the outside. Phew, colours are so important to get right, it's a matter of feeling comfortable or not.

As I have been going through a new outbreak of fibro and don't seem to get out of the route medicalcentre-stable-home (with the exception of a swedish midsummer celebration in Madrid yesterday) I am busy focusing on the positive and one good thing right now is the beginning of my arena. Little by litte and with alot of patience the finca is coming together :) 

And here a little midsummer-miracle-beauty, made in Norway by championmare Esplendida and Donoso, here 5 days old and named Antártica! She will no doubt be a lady on the catwalk of campeonas :)     

It is cold here brr, tonight all doors are closed and windows shut in stables because the wind is chilly!?

Boys got a pessoa-workout today, now when Start has turned into a stallion I can't keep him in paddock next door to girls, today I tried but in a little while he was very close to cover his new girlfriend over the fence,.. So now he get the same routine as the stallions, turnout in big pasture in the morning, siesta in stables, workout in afternoon/evening.

Tomorrow fill out sand is arriving, first small step for arena, yihoooo!

Donoso now has bookings in Sweden, USA, Australia and England, mareowners please send me pictures of your mares!

Here is the beautiful mare I have leased for Donoso this year, her name is Infanta and tomorrow we will see if she needs another Donoso-shot or not!

Infanta CXXIV

Boys are working out well and are getting into shape, Start have turned into a screaming stallion  , the 'real' boys just look at him quietly.. So after training yesterday I felt I need to channel all this energy into something creative, so now I have renewed my competition license! No arena, no trainer and but as you can see I prefer optimism to realism, we can do it Donoso Start and I!
Phonecall from Jessica, little guy joined Yellow and Red and was cool until he heard his mum, he then fired up and sailed over the 1,70m fence over to the cows side, or are they bulls?

Anyway, he found mum took a run and sailed over the same fence again, it's definitely jumper! 

And here's a new absolutely beautiful 12 hour old D-baby born in Norway,  congratulations to her Irene Andersen!
    
Photos; Irene Andersen
I have also chosen Donoso for the black lady, it was a matter of 100% black with Halagador or 100% quality with Donoso and I chose quality, sorry Halagador, can't compete with Donoso! 
     

She is Nr 117

Finca is filling up! With two new guests there are now 10 horses on our litte farm, we welcome Jessica, her horses and dog Charlie = Viggo's best friend, guess who is happy! There is so much grass so the more the merrier. And finally today we have had 31 degrees, tjohoo summer finally!
Jessica and her PRE colt today
 

So this morning farrier gave everyone shiny feet and I checked guests out that seemed more than happy in their new home. New little guy left mum yesterday and started his independence staying next to 'uncle' Halagador. Today he had his feet and hair done and got his first shower. Alot for a 8 month old little guy in one day but he did it very well!  When he is rested and feels totally at home he will be joining Mr Red and Mr Yellow in the pasture. 

As Jessica is busy studying veterinarian science she offered me to breed her black PRE mare. We selected this mare for her and I like her alot, she is very tall and athletic. And I am considering her for Halagador as she suits him very well. Start the 14 year old gelding is absolutely crazy about her, honestly is he really a gelding?   Then when I worked out Donoso I felt very convinced he is the one,.. Or maybe I should I try Start ha ha?! I have until monday to decide, fun!

'Tico' having his feet done for the first time, he was super good but then I also have a great farrier that knows what he is doing :)
Ernesto, Pica me and Tico now with his second halter as his baby one is now too small <3

  
Super-mami Picara
  

Tjolahopp as we say in swedish, new week new possibilities, can you see it?!
We have two new handsome chestnut boys on the homepage, one that is living with us and then a 3 year old Festivo son, both are super tall, one is an oportunity and the other is a little more expensive :)

Here is the young one living with us, Nr 653; http://www.horsespre.com/product/product.asp?id=1514&fn=true&scid=6&cid= He has a nice pedigree with Gaucho III and Lebrijano XXX, if you want to look him up his name is Trueno CXXV. He is a showman with super movements, the elegant type and will be very tall! 
   

Boys got workouts and girls got new haircuts. Pica never loved the machine so I've been doing her hair with the scissors but today it was late and I thought I'd try it. I did not bother to put the halter on and I had one of those moments that makes 'horsing' so wonderful. She showed me she really did not like it with her ears standing straight out to the sides, she did not move, but she let me shave absolutely everything in one go, even between her ears and the forelock. All I did was just to emphatize knowing she really doesn't like it, blow her in the nose and take it easy. That was all she needed, in 4 minutes she was done. That's my queen! And that's what I call a good temperament on a horse, she overcame her fear and flight-instict out of trust for me, awesome! 

Finca is slowly coming together, some painting is being done slowly and the brand new high-tec plumming seem to work great and no ugly tubes can be seen. All horses has brand new water-cups with super pressure, no water buckets needed hurray!

In Spain we have the bars on the,.... OUTSIDE of the window,.. Luckily we have well educated and satisfied horses that don't need to brake windows to look out, but obviously it is not ideal. How can you NOT think about this when you make a stable? 

Tomorrow we will welcome Halagador's lady, finally I got him the perfect match, more of that tomorrow!
Halagador happy with his view. Painting in progress..

Halagador is in super shape, his coat has never been more shiny and he is having fun! His natural excercise has done him great. He is at the peak of his life, he knows who he is and is proud of it. He is keeping fit with his daily work-outs on the pessoa and enjoying relaxing days in the super grass we are lucky to have at this time of year.  

Halagador waiting for his turn out in the grass
 
'Hagge' is the horse that has never had a injury, a colic, nor the slightest scratch, he can be outside and relaxed all day long. Halagador was sold to USA but came out came out postive on piro on one of the tests and doubtful on another, for export negative is compulsory on all 4 parts. We also had him tested for EVA (Equine Viral Arteritis) which was negative. EVA is caused by an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV). The piro test measures the levels of antibodies from a certain tick carrying a parasite called piroplasmose and when postive it means at some point the horse has been bitten and has developed antibodies. It does not mean the horse is ill. Most horses in Spain has at some point been bitten by such a tick and for export the levels of antibodies need to be whithin a certain limit. USA basically has 0 tolerance for any levels. I still have not seen a horse ill from piroplasmosis but I have read about cases of horses with very low immunesystem and if anemic, they can develop the disease, they get high fever, loose weight and if they do not get treatment the infection can be lethal. Start had very high levels of piro when I bought him but he has never had any symptoms. A very big part of the horsepopulation in Spain come out piropositive if tested, we know for a fact as we have had many horses tested for our clients over the years. None of these has had any symptoms either and would pass the veterinarian exam perfectly, so it is necessary to have the horse tested to find out the levels.

Piroplasmosis is not directly contagious from one horse to another, only via direct blood transfer. So if it is not a contagious disease why bother to include it in the import protocol one can wonder? Well there is a risk a horse can carry tick during transport, it can seem abit unlikely but there is always the possibility. It can seem alittle radical and rather a question of the governments making trading with other countries difficult, which to a point can be understandable, all countries prefer to enourage their own trading. With these experiences I have never considered piro a important health issue for the horse, only necessity for export.
Human infection with equine piroplasmosis is extremely rare. 

Here Halagador's lab report, with a funny name..

    
Halagador is now for sale as one of the most exclusive black PRE stallions in the world. After testing he now has a new price, which is reflecting;

1. The need to find him his new person as he is superflous for both Javier's and my breedingprogram. 
2. Because of my fibromyalgia I am not able to ride a 3rd horse for dressage competition/training.

3. Economic situation in Spain.

4. The decreased possibilities of international clients because of testresult of piroplasmosis.

I clearly want to point Halagador is now a oportunity and that his new price is certainly not not representing his real value. Anyone seriously interested in him and able to offer him a good him,  is most welcome to contact me for more information. Yesterday I got a booking on Halagador for 3 black mares in Spain for January 2014. I have had inquiries on him for international breeding, but we have not been able to accomodate as he is not available on frozen semen. He definitely has a market as a studstallion, there are not many black homozygous PRE stallions around of his quality and beauty in the world! I would be happy to refer breeders interested in him as a stud to the prospective new owner.
Halagador breeding 2011
 
Here some random pics over collected over the soon 3 years he has been with us, some are from his early years as we knew him from 3 years of age. 
May I also add that Halagador is pure pleasure to just watch everyday, to me he is black PRE nr 1. Only for sale to the best hands!  Enjoy!
2007

 
2010
 
2010
 
2012
 
2011
 
2010
  
2012
 
 
        
  

 
  
And here he is today! 7th of June 2013.
                                       

Can't wait to get him here but I have to as he is born 9th of March and still needs mummy. Now we have to give him a suitable name and I open for suggestions! Has to start with a B and if possible with a swedish/nordic/scandinavian theme, or a suitable spanish name.

Here are some of my favourites;

BIFROST - is the burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (the world of humans) and Asgard (the realm of the gods) in Norse mythology.

BOREAL - Ecosystema withsubartic climate in the northern hemisphere

BRILLANTE 

BIENVENIDO 

BRUJO 

BLONDIE
BRILLIANTINO

Proud to present my new little viking!