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.