Winter Update

We had a lovely fall this year thanks to a wetter than usual summer. Our trees typically seem to drop their leaves with one big shrug but this year kept them long enough for a beautiful display. Heading into our coldest time of year, things are on the wet and muddy side so life slows for the horses as far as exercise.

Our 2013 filly, Kiva, enjoys being a member of a mare herd. She is almost as tall as her mother and clearly showing the build and structure of her sire. She has inherited her mothers grey gene but in all other ways seems to be like her fine father. Her temperament has quieted from the playful foal we saw early on and is my most "laid-back" horse. Besides normal grooming we have started working on trailer loading, going slowly & making it interesting.

Kiva's mother Kisia is back to riding. We're lucky to be close enough to trailer for some dressage lessons at the wonderful facilities at Cedar Winds. After almost two years off and the stress of pregnancy and birth, Kisia has had some kinks to work out. Help from the chiropractor, regular stretches and just getting moving again has all helped her. We had what was probably the most fun riding lesson we have yet to have last week. Evie at Cedar Winds had us try a new exercise to supple Kisia. It went something like this.....make a large turn with the rider's body turning from eyes to hips to look over the back of the horse almost leading the horse, ask for movement with the inside leg, allow the horse forward then leg yield to the side. We did this at walk & trot. Kisia came ALIVE! It felt like we were both having fun and I could almost imagine the lightening quick power & grace of these horses in the bull fight, such was her enthusiasm and sensitivity to all that I asked. She & I are working at 1st level and, excluding getting our canter depart more consistent, are ready to show at training level.

Zorra is on a bit of a break after getting started under saddle last October. She looks amazing as always. She gets stretches (which she begs for anytime I work with Kisia). I continue to moisturize the scar on her leg and do a bit of light massage as suggested by our favorite local physical therapist. She will go out for some training next year to get her established riding.

Valencia is now well into the 3rd trimester of her pregnancy. She has been very peaceful and content only just recently seeming to appear somewhat tired. Her pregnancy has been quite uncomplicated. Her foal is swimming around seeming to be "awake" in the afternoon. The mares are off the foaling paddock which is getting a good rest, has been limed and treated for ants in anticipation of a new baby spending some time there next spring.

My retired dressage horse Miles is a few months from turning 23 years old. He is doing well this winter, so far keeping his weight on which has always been a challenge. We built him a smaller paddock just about in the center of the mares pasture where he can always see the other horses. He has slowed down somewhat which for an old racehorse means on occasion standing still. He is a grey horse who when I got him at 10 had melanomas. They have yet to cause any issue for him. I do think that one area of growth may have affected his hearing which has surprisingly lead to less worry and spooking for him. Always a difficult to please horse, he seems content in his retirement.

A few more months of muddy cold and spring is just around the corner with much to anticipate! Kiva pictured above on a cold winter morning. Kiva is a grey pure Spanish Andalusian filly.

Zorra's story

Our big black filly Zorra participated in a large public event recently. More on that in another post, but will say that she proved she is every bit as lovely as I've always believed. Easy to be biased when you've raised them yourself so is nice to see others reactions your horse. I got tons of questions about her. She drew many admirers and even more compliments. When you first see her, one might think she was bred for beauty. Not so! My foremost thought in matching her parents was temperament. That said, beauty, conformation & movement were all important in the equation . Zorra is an unusual cross of two breeds. Her dam is a registered Tennessee Walking Horse and sire an Andalusian stallion of Spanish & Portuguese bloodlines. Zorra's mother, Foxy, is a chestnut mare who never spooks, is trainable in the extreme & is very forward to ride. She is also gentle enough to be handled & ridden (in an arena) by children of about any age. She's quietly given many 1st rides to children and adults alike, even bareback rides to a couple of two year darling girls. If you've been around horses long, you know that the combination of forward energy & no spook/no argument is rare. The type we all dream of having....including myself. I imagined for several years a horse like that who also trotted. When I decided to try to breed for just that, I went in search of the perfect stallion. Zorra's sire, Chulo, was the perfect fit. His temperament is relaxed & friendly. One of those stallions people think is a gelding. I had also seen many foals by him in which he consistently added that nice temperament but also added height & good bone. Zorra is tall, at least 15.3 and stout of body. She's wide through her body & put together with total harmony. She has three floaty forward gaits...plus one. As a foal, I did observe her gait like her mother. She was a big leggy foal. At two weeks old, she figured out those longs legs & began to trot. So while I have not encouraged or observed her to gait much since then, the ability is there if someone wanted to develop it. She is an easy keeper, has a long thick mane & tail, a beautiful face & excellent feet. I missed her birth by 40 minutes. When I arrived she was up, walking around & nursing. Excluding one injury, she has always been strong & healthy. Zorra has been handled literally daily from birth. She happily comes in the barn, stands tied, is good for farrier & vet & has recently been started under saddle. Her first ride was a beautiful experience where she was ridden in a hackamore...walk/trot/canter with not a hint of wanting to buck or rear. She has experience in front of a large & loud crowd, has had several trailer rides with other horses & alone, has always been up to date on farrier & veterinary care. We've given the best start one could want for a young horse. She has true "dream horse" quality & beauty. She is the epitome of what we are trying to bring to the table with our breeding & young horse training program. She had her 1st ride with me yesterday in the round pen. We'll start going out on some trail rides around the property. Zorra is registered with IALHA and therefore eligable to participate in their shows. It's our intention to take her to Nationals next year to show in halter. Her sire is a two time IALHA national champion stallion and I expect she will easily follow in his footsteps. A new video of her 1st ride is in the works so watch for it here. Inquire with alicefbarr@gmail.com with serious inquiries on this special individual.

Walkabout!

Walkabout, as I like to call it, is a great way to teach foals many important early lessons in a fun way! Of course you don't want to force it on an individual who isn't ready. The foal should be well halter trained, yield to pressure, not invade it's handler's space overly & be independent enough of it's herd to not be stressed. Depending on the individual foal, I like to go for a walkabout in the morning while the rest of the herd is resting in the barn after breakfast. I leave the barn gate open so the foal has the option to head back in at any point. All of my horses love going into the yard....the grass is great & there are many curiosities about to investigate. As far as leadership from the handler, I basically set up some mental boundaries as to where I don't want to go then let the foal explore this new world with me coming along for the ride so to speak. Our new Andalusian filly shown here on her 2nd walkabout recently was quite curious about the deck on our house. Now there is a lot going on over there. She had been exceptionally brave on her 1st outing with no spooks but still I didn't think ready for so much stimulation. So we had a brief discussion & decided to go elsewhere. "Elsewhere" in these cases needs to be somewhere good.....like a little patch of clover or excellent grass. This way your ideas, when you need to present them, are a nice alternative. If you allow your baby into a situation that over_faces them or even worse, they get hurt....you run the risk of doing more harm than good in your relationship. That said....things happen & horses are forgiving. If my young horse seems overstimulated I typically make the decision to head back in. Also, if they are difficult (which is rare in one adequately trained) they are immediately put back up as this is to be a treat. I've found that early Walkabouts teach my young horses that it's ok to leave their herd. If you've ever dealt with a herd bound horse, you know the frustration as well as danger that particular vice can be. Many horses are not parted from their friends for the 1st time until several years old. Doing it in a low stress & interesting way early in life is invaluable. On Kiva's 1st few outings, a couple of her herd mates called to her a few times. She could not have cared less which was great! She knew they were there & she could go back whenever she wanted....but never did. So of her own choosing, she's been exposed to tarps, a hose on the ground, a garden with all kinds of oddities to help the plants grow, a swing, dog coming out the garage, vehicles going up & down the road, a driveway, etc, etc. All at just 4 months old. These things may seem benign. But speaking from experience of having been on a 12 year old 1200 pound Thoroughbred the first time he ever saw a tarp.....well I just wish someone would have had the for-thought to give him that kind of head-start in life! All of our young horses as they show they are ready get the pleasure (for them & me!) of many walkabouts. It's a good thing & I believe not only helps the horse learn to be brave but also builds trust & confidence in their humans.

Bloodlines.....Kiva

Kiva is our 2013 pure Spanish filly out of Kisia H & by the stallion Klickitat. Kiva is a combination of two of the best & most decorated breeding programs in our country, Herradura Andalusians & Jackass Mountain Ranch. A good deal of research went into choosing a match for her mother. Her mother clearly out-produced herself with the stallion adding his most fine qualities to the cross. I'm very pleased with her.

Kiva's mother, Kisia H, is a cross of the stallion Gitano MOR with a daughter of the great Remate. This particular cross has been repeated several times. It produces a horse of correct conformation, correct & straight movement, versatility, bravery & beauty. For a detailed look at Kiva's dams's bloodlines, see her blog here.......http://lvandalusians.blogspot.com/2013/07/bloodlineskisia-h.html

Kiva's sire, Klickitat, is an impressive black stallion & rising star. While the number is increasing daily, in comparison to other breeds, there are not many Andalusians competing at the highest levels of dressage in our country. You will see lots of  "dressage prospects" or those "bred for dressage". One must also note that there is a difference between a horse that is great for lower levels of dressage & one that can excel at Grand Prix. The horse must have not only the physical ability to perform the movements but also the mental stamina needed as well. I'll stop here rather then venture into a totally different subject, but will say the point of this is that Klickitat has proven himself capable in several different arenas. As a two year old, he won IALHA National Champion Colt and IALHA PRE National Champion Colt. A halter champion. He has also been a best movement winner. At present he is actively schooling FEI Grand Prix and showing PSG and I1. He was also 2013 IALHA FEI highpoint winner at Prix St George. These are impressive feats & prove the exceptional quality of this stallion. Klickitat has added height, length of leg, quality of movement & temperament to Kiva. She inherited extreme balance from both her parents along with striking beauty. She has her dams athleticism, bold nature & super charisma.

Her sire line includes several impressive horses. Her grandfather is the famous Kianto who has produced numerous champions in all venues. Kianto is a son of Genio III, a black stallion imported from Spain who is sire to many IALHA champions & brings Bocado bloodlines to Kiva's pedigree. Mare lines are vital to good breeding & often left out of discussions. Kianto's dam, our Kiva's great grandmother is the mare Samba III. Samba III has produced get of such quality that several of her sons are herd sires in some of the most prestigious breeding programs in our country. She also has a daughter that is one of a handful of qualified mares in the USA. Kiva's paternal grandmother, Alegria AK, brings older lines to the mix. When I think of horses like Imaginario, Castiblanco, Leopardo & Temario V, I envision classic Andalusian style & beauty. The unicorn or fairy tale white horse of legend. 

Kiva's lines come together nicely to create an exceptional athlete with all the style & beauty known to the breed. It's unlikely she will ever be mistaken for anything but an Iberian, such is her clear type. I'm proud to have participated in creating such an individual & look forward to her future.

Bloodlines......Valencia ADP

If interested in performance, one would have a hard time finding much better breeding than Valencia. Valencia is a 2010 Andalusian mare who is inscribed with ANCCE & registered with IALHA. She is a tall bay daughter of Noble GF & Palena KDW. Our "Valli" carries the rare ability to produce chestnut in her offspring. Valencia was bred by Andalusian Dressage Partners, a rising star in the breeding of dressage type PRE horses. Truly she has it all...height, conformation, beauty & movement, movement, movement. No surprise considering the wonderful bloodlines which have so richly contributed to her quality. Valencia's sire is one of a handful of PRE stallions to have competed at Grand Prix in dressage. Noble GF was bred by Gremlan Farms, a standout program for dressage type breeding. Noble's sire, Gaucho III, is a qualified stallion who was imported from Spain & was also a successful Grand Prix horse. Gaucho is half brother to Invasor II, a two time Olympic horse for Spain. Noble's dam is a daughter of "The Lion of Spain" Indiano XVII, known for his stunning movement & classic Spanish type. Noble's dam is ,as well, a grandaughter of Regalado II who not only was a successful dressage horse before he passed but a son of the great stallion, Leviton. Valencia's dam Palena KDW is a line-bred mare to the stallion Granadino XIV 1978. Granadino was a son of Leviton. Leviton is considered the #1 military stallion, siring many champions including Evento, another Spanish Olympic horse. Palena is also a grandaughter of the great mare, Quizas III, a Vasallo II daughter. Vasallo II was a Champion of Spain & foundation sire for the famous Miguel Cardenas Osuna stud. Valencia's pedigree, indeed, brings together powerful performance bloodlines. She is a type that might be bred to many stallions. She's so nicely put together with such perfection of movement that it will be hard to go wrong. That said, we'll be picky in the extreme as to who we choose for her. She came to Lafayette Valley at two years old. She spent the next year getting to know her new herd & new owner. She has blossomed into the stuff of dreams in that time. At three, she was bred to the several times Grand National Champion stallion Gitano MOR for a 2014 foal. After her foal is weaned next year, she will go into training to get a riding foundation in place & hopefully show off that incredible movement in some forum. Excluding a black filly, her 2014 foal will be available to support our program. It's impossible to imagine this foal will not be of the highest quality........ so like it's mother, a gem for someone. Valencia's future is bright....we're graced to be a part of it!

Bloodlines.....Kisia H

This post starts a short series on some of the bloodlines in our program. The gorgeous mare pictured here is my first Andalusian mare, Kisia H. Kisia is PRE inscribed with ANCCE & of course registered with IALHA. Born late 2006, Kisia was purchased in utero & came here at five months old. I've had the honor of raising & enjoying her most of her life. Primarily a riding horse, she produced her first foal, a filly by Klickitat, this year.

Kisia's bloodlines are excellent with her sire being bred at Cortijo Las Morerias in Mexico. Las Morerias is one of the most famous breeding programs in Mexico having won numerous titles in Mexico & the USA. Kisia's sire Gitano MOR, himself a many times IALHA National Champion, is a son of Corsario IV who is considered the most honored Mexican stallion. Corsario IV was a son of the qualified mare Bizarra XVI & the stallion Macanuo III both of whom are of Jose luis de la Escalera breeding. Gitano MOR has sired several national champion get himself. He possess great beauty & is stunningly masculine with the presence & charisma of true breeding stallion. Gitano has a powerful pedigree which mostly consists of Escalera & Military breeding. He also has many famous siblings & relatives as his lines are prominent in the Las Morerias breeding program.

Kisia's damline is also impressive. Her dam, Habana H, was bred by one of our favorite programs, Heradurra Andalusians. Habana is an exceptional moving & powerful mare. This is no surprise considering Habana's sire is the famous & now deceased stallion Remate II. I was graced to have had the opportunity to meet Remate. He was known to pass on elegance & movement to his get which continues to show up even in later generations. Remate, who was a several times IALHA national champion, was a son of Champion of Spain, Jugueton V. Jugueton V was bred by Miguel Cardenas who is probably the most famous breeder of the PRE horse of our day. Habana's mother & Kisia's grandam was a mare named Jibara IV. On our first visit to Heradurra, Jibara was one of my favorite mares. A lovely bay mare who carried bloodlines of Paco Lazo, Terry, Military & rare Muira breeding.

Kisia was lightly started at three years old. She & I then spent the next year lightly riding, mostly trail type riding around our property. She spent three months at four years old at the Mid-South Dressage academy with one of their excellent senior trainers for some real education. From four to five we attended several clinics in our area, had some dressage lessons & even spent a month in FL where we attended a two week course in Natural Horsemanship for fun & learning. Thanks to excellent breeders & trainers mentioned here, Kisia is a brave, athletic & powerful mare. She has many fine qualities of her forebears. She has outproduced herself in her 2013 daughter which in itself is a mark of her excellent quality. We've started back riding & look forward to getting out again when her daughter is weaned.

Alfredo Hernandez Clinic

Recently, I had the opportunity to audit a clinic with Alfredo Hernandez. It was a super learning experience, even from the bench! This clinician is a charismatic Spaniard who specializes in training Piaffe & Passage. I was able to observe him instruct horse/rider teams of several levels from a 4 year old green mare all the way to several horses showing Grand Prix in dressage. How fascinating to see his approach to solving issues that are thought of in terms of the basics by incorporating these upper level but classical movements into the horse's training program. For example, a lovely dressage pony with tons of front end elevation was having a hard time with extensions. Alfredo used Spanish walk to help him learn to lift at the shoulder rather than just the knee. There were several other similar examples. This was a very different type of learning from the usual dressage clinics I've attended in the past. Here are a few "tidbits" I found particularly useful from his instructions. Please note that these are not direct quotes but quick notes I took as watching. So these statements are through my own understanding of the training & should not be taken as exactly from Senor Hernandez. I do my best to take precise notes but this learning is through my own eyes as the observer...."The most important thing is for the horse to be comfortable, To improve a fast tempo, you want to get the hind legs stepping under, The horse should understand that the whip does not always mean forward, The horse should understand contact vs reins mean stop, Jumping once a month can loosen the back for a dressage horse, Don't get into a fight with the horse, Lameness can result from lack of enough transitions in training, Don't get comfortable & neglect to ride every step of the movement, If the horse is slow to react to a request you should work on this first, Don't ride with the whip if the horse relies on it too much, Use a different "cluck" for different movements so you don't confuse the horse." There was so much more I learned that is hard to put into writing. I found Senor Hernandez to be much like an artist & quite organic in his teaching. He used several patterns to teach the horse & rider. He was adept at "the release" & quick to remove all pressure when the horse "got it". I would jump at the opportunity to attend another clinic & love to one day attend with one of my girls.

Handling foals....make vs want.

I should preface this by saying that I don't consider myself an expert on foal handling...yet! I do have a passion for foals that I discovered early in my journey to becoming a lifetime student of the horse. A slightly wild new colt was born at a facility in FL where I was taking riding lessons. I was immediately smitten & visited him as often as I could. My second experience was at a breeding facility where I boarded my thoroughbred Miles. They had a paddock full of wild (literally) colts that had just been weaned. They were in a smaller enclosure & had halters with short lead ropes attached. The owner was pretty old school....a cowboy type who believed that hard knocks teach great lessons. So he said of course I could do anything I wanted with them.....I had signed my life away already so "No problem!". I was elated. These colts were young racehorse prospects. When one of the colt's new owner came by later, I asked how his young bay weanling was & told him I had spent time grooming  & leading him. He laughed & said he now understood. He had expected a wild thing & picked up what he had thought was just an exceptional temperament. He also said I could do anything I wanted to any of his colts! This is in my opinion the entire point of foal handling. Horses are born wild. They can stay that way for some time & still become a nice horse. But what an opportunity we have if only we take it. I wholeheartedly believe that early foal handling sets a horse up for a better future with humans. It's not in the nature of a wild animal to trust humans....it's not in the nature of a lot of  grown & tame horses out there trying to get along with humans either. I've had horses handled "correctly" as young horses. Some of them trust but some just can never quite get there. I'm also incredibly fortunate to have been able to raise my own in a way that focuses on the horse trusting me as he might another horse. There is no comparison, truly. The first foal I raised was my now 6 year old mare, Kisia. She came to me as a weanling already halter trained. She had been handled exceptionally well. She was smart, learned quickly & never failed to spare me her opinion on anything! My mistake with her, which lead to great learning, was because she understood the basics of pressure, leading & such, along with her intelligence made it easy for me to be overly ambitious. We worked it out & both learned our lessons. So at my next opportunity I decided to experiment. I was keeping the foal so if I made a mess of it...it would be mine to own. My plan for Zorra was for her earliest training to be almost totally be at liberty. This meant no ropes attached to give me leverage or control of where she goes....so she could leave whenever she wanted. If I wanted to get anything done, she had to want to be there. I could not make her. So ambition was quickly thrown out.....patience & trust must rule this time. It worked wonderfully & honestly......if she had been my first foal, I would have thought I was a horse whisperer indeed as she's been incredibly easy to train. But her parents were chosen foremost because of their brains. She will always be a standout in the temperament department thanks to smart breeding choices. The basic lesson here is that liberty type training for foals & young horses is an excellent tool. It takes away "make". My newest foal marches up to me at every opportunity. I've never forced anything on her. She is more like her mom, Kisia, in temperament. She has a mind of her own, can be concerned about restraint & shares her opinions. So she is more challenging than Zorra as a foal for training. She will, although, be able to do things later in life that will challenge a more laid back Zorra. All types are good.....they're just different. We started leading two weeks ago after taking several slow weeks to get her comfortable being haltered. I had to go very slowly with haltering & pressure from the halter or rope to get movement. But when the trust was there she just did it. Same with fly spray. As a matter of fact, I still can't believe I was able to accomplish fly spray without some type of restraint. Training at liberty is worth trying if you have a young one. All that's required is time & want. Throw away your schedule & any idea of "make"...if you dare! Now I know that there are times when force can be necessary. Life & death situations do arise. Training at times must be set aside to provide care when needed. That said, if the trust is there, the horse will allow you to do things you never thought possible. I've already experienced this with Zorra & Kisia thanks to their early training. Will share an older video here of a weanling Zorra & a colt named Cash. Cash was a rescue we fostered. He came here at around 6 months old totally unhandled & quite malnourished. You'll see him eating in the barn isle. He did eventually make it into a stall, get haltered, groomed, learn to lead, stand tied & stand for the farrier before he left. All with the same philosophy of liberty training. He was the most gracious creature I've experienced. https://vimeo.com/16378593

Permission to ride....

The last two weeks I've been free lunging (as my dressage trainer calls it) or playing the circle game (one of the seven games as defined by the Parelli program) Kisia as we prepare to start riding. She's had the last year off due to pregnancy. Her daughter is now about 7 weeks old & learns as well while I work with her mother. Kisia lost a good deal of muscle in the last months of her gestation so I've been watching for that to develop. In the past few days I've seen much change particularly in her shoulders & back. During our online time, I've been asking her for a better quality of movement. She's knows these exercises & is quite bored with them despite the time off. Asking for something more particular from them has caused an improvement in her attitude & even better, her movement. Kisia is a powerful & very "dressagy" type moving Andalusian. That said, it can take a bit to "get the lead out" so as to see this wonderful movement. During our exercise yesterday, I found it difficult to get her energy up so asked her for some yields & lateral work (which she likes). Rather than go out sideways as I'd asked, she quietly came sideways to me, lined up for mounting & gave me a peaceful look that said...."Don't you just want to ride?" YES! I didn't ride but that offer means she's mentally ready & feeling like a partner. She knows how to offer this to me thanks to something I learned while attending a course in Ocala, FL at the Parelli campus. The exercise has you standing on a block, rail, whatever.....ask the horse to line up to mount & stand quietly...which they probably don't do...then play a bit of squeeze game until standing in just the right place. I've played this game with both Kisia & Zorra & let me tell you....they understand what it means to stand quietly for mounting from both sides, under tack & bareback. It's a good game. Kisia understands it on such a level that she knows how to offer it to me when she's not in the mood for lunging. Very cool as I value my horse's opinion & desires. She is in my opinion the type of horse that it's best to be clear with but always maintain the option to negotiate. She's exquisitely honest & has a highly tuned sense of justice. So you always know how she feels (as does everyone around you....thanks for all the lessons in ego Kisia!!). If she's being less than good, she tolerates a correction....if you've misunderstood her....not so much. So I work very hard to always listen to her & accept everything nice she offers. She's an addictive type horse for me & one that's easy to get too ambitious with. That said...she's mature, strong & just offered me a ride! Photo here of a four year old Kisia having a canter on a trail ride.

Summer update

Much has happened since I last posted an update on my old blog. As posted previously, Kisia foaled a filly we've named Kiva. I devoted many sleepless nights to making sure I was there for Kiva's birth. It was a great experience that went smoothly. Hopefully I'll be there for many more over the years. Kisia in the past two weeks has started back on a fitness program as we'll get back to riding soon.

Zorra went out to a colt starter in January & promptly injured her hind leg just in front of the hock. It's been a long & hard recovery. The tendon is healed & the wound is now about the size of a quarter. I'm wrapping it every 2-3 days depending on how the bandage holds & treating it per my vets advice. She's incredibly bored. She watches as the others get worked & seems to wonder if I'll ever do anything with her again. My goal is to ride her! As soon as the wound closes, we'll get to it but no rushing.

Valencia spent several weeks in TX at Herradura Andalusians where she was bred to Gitano MOR. He is a special stallion & , I believe, will make a magical cross with our tall, gorgeous, fabulous moving Valencia. She's in excellent health. I free lunge her 2-3 times a week lightly for fitness but also to keep our "language" intact.

Foxy has gone to a new home. She will be giving therapy rides to handicapped children as well as get back to some carriage driving. We miss her & cherish the time we had with her.

Miles, my thoroughbred, is 22 this year. He continues life as a retiree. He seems to feel good behaving quite, & uncharacteristically I might add, relaxed these days.

The photo below is of Dehesa who is a retired broodmare at Herradura. She is our Zorra's great, great grandmother. She was imported from Mexico. At 25 years old now, I understand she had 18 foals in her career.

New Blog! & Kiva's optimization!

Welcome to my new blog. Due to some issues with my email address it became tedious to log in & out from the previous blog. If new here feel free to go over & check out posts from the old blog at http://lafayettevalley-alice.blogspot.com/.

This past year has been one of growth & change for our budding breeding program. Kisia our grey Andalusian (Inscribed PRE) mare produced her first foal for us....a wonderful grey filly we've named Kiva. She's a really lovely combination of her parents, very like her dam but taller, longer legs & somehow looks like will even move better! Like her mom, she is very beautiful....think Unicorn pretty folks....this one will seriously draw a crowd one day....her face is perfection. She also inherited her moms power & balance. She's strong, sensitive & athletic. I believe crossing Kisia with the stallion Klickitat (Revised PRE) has added to the temperament as well. I've been calling Kiva my 100% girl. Her mom as a foal was an overachiever who gave 150% at least to new things, which sounds nice, but can be daunting in a sensitive, powerful creature. Kiva so far is proving VERY trainable. If you followed my old blog, you might recall a post about Zorra's optimization where I explained the process or theory of optimization in developing a horse. For ultimate optimization one starts with choice of parents. I applied this same thinking to "making" Kiva. Choosing a stallion that compliments Kisia in every possible way was, of course, key. There are many good stallions around. That doesn't mean they are great for my mare. I also enlisted the help of Kisia's breeder who patiently watched many videos, sharing her own knowledge & expertise about what some stallions might add to my mare. My first question to her was asked as Kisia was traveling here as a foal. I asked for an honest assessment of her strong & weak areas which gave me a head start in my search for understanding how a mare & stallion can outproduce themselves in their offspring. Health & condition of the mare is clearly vital. Our mares are on individualized nutrition programs, get daily exercise and stay up to date on immunizations & deworming. Besides stallion choice & mare health, one often over looked aspect is that of my mare's training. I'm convinced that when my mare is happy to see me coming, she imparts this trust of humans to her foals. She should also tolerate all kinds of handling so I might safely clean & care for her as her foaling time approaches. She should patiently allow me to handle her new born foal. Basically, she should trust my intentions. This means I've put the time in to develop a relationship with her as well as exposed her to types of handling that will be required well before she is foaling or has a brand new baby at her side. Not everyone does these things nor does everything think they are important. I'm not saying they are wrong but that this is what I feel gives my foals the best start I can provide. My goal for breeding foals is that they are physically & mentally able to partner with a human but also like it! At just over a month old our Kiva is bright, super athletic, friendly & happy. She lives in a herd of well socialized mares, comes in the barn daily where she wears her halter, has a meal & gets groomed. She yields to pressure nicely, is respectful, picks up all feet & is friendly with every part of her body. An "optimal" start in my opinion.