Reina Vikinga in Norway

Yeguada VIKINGA PRE.s first born REINA VIKINGA with her person Sölvi in Norway!
5th of February 'RV' will be 2 years old. Her page here

Donoso VII-diary Sweden 2009

The diary of the summer events in Sweden 2009, see albums under his page here
19/20-09-2009 Swedish National Championships Strömsholm - Donoso VII - Campeón de la Raza/ Campeón de Functionalidad. Read about it here

17-08-2009 Elisabet training. Got some great advice on flying changes and extended trot. Recently we have had some difficulty getting the changes through to the left and I had more than usual in hand so it was nice to get some support on this one and it went real well, he is such a good boy, very ambitious. Because of resistance I wanted to him check him up. He showed no lameness which is good but I was not happy with that, I felt there was something in right hindleg as this is the one pushing through left flying change. With a special high-teq ultrasound we could see a bleeding in patella cross ligament, right hindleg. From two different ones this one apparently is the 'good' one which heals, but it takes some time so now we will take it easy. It is difficult to say how this has appeared but simple slipping or twisting in paddock is a possible reason. So no swedish PRE championship nor competiton next weekend. I am happy he had done some great competitions and his first season of breeding, it has been full on for him so this will be his holidays walking in the forest and getting perfectly fit for more!
27/28-07-2009 Training with Elisabet Lundholm in Ängelholm.
How refreshing and inspiring! This lady is positive and such a good teacher. She helped me with my Martini mare (SWB) a few years ago and just like then I now felt encouraged and inspired by her help. She isn't just a horse and dressage master, she is a good pedagogue too. It is an art to be clear in communication, give constructive advice and be open to both rider and horse. Her authority comes natural from knowledge through experience. She has been the national team coach for the swedish dressage team, now she trains national team in eventing. Elisabet also helps riders at other levels develop their riding and gives courses in leadership development.
24-07-2009 Donoso's second competition. This time indoors which turned out to be fantastic luck as impressive black clouds rolled in and we had a majestic thunderstorm. This is Sweden for you, one minute you can grow oranges in scorching sun and the other we have a monsoon.. Donoso did a lovely performance, good rhytm and suspension, flowy. He is straight, loose, totally attentive and focused, there is a soft harmony and he transmits so much beauty!
27-06-2009 Donoso did his first competiton! He had never seen a white dressage fence in his life and he was so sweet and confident relying on me to tell him where to go. Only I was not be the best pilot, had done this program many times so I simply relied on it to be there, but I got total 'where-am-I-block' - twice, puh. Never mind! We lost many points like this but I was totally humbled by this wonderful horse that did it all gracefully, powerfully and elegantly. He was a 100% with me and simply enjoyed shining and working out his extended trots, flying changes and schools. We got some positive remarks from judge which is encouraging and also appreciation from spectators. He has been covering mares until now and this has also been new to him. Good boy. We did the Intermediate level - nivel 4 - MsvB:3.

Start-diary Sweden 2009

These photos were taken here in Jade, Madrid yesterday, below the diary of competitions and training in Sweden 2009, See albums under Start's page here

17-08-2009: Elisabet Lundholm training. Pretty much went through all teqnical; Half pass, shoulder in, passage-piaffe transitions, tempi ones, twos and threes - fun, fun! His passagy trot is beautiful, what a lovely feeling. Start makes me very happy, he is such a sensitive and sweet horse.
27/28-07-2009: Training with Elisabet in Ängelholm. How refreshing and inspiring! This lady is positive as few and such a good teacher. She helped me with my Martini mare (SWB) a few years ago and just like then I now felt encouraged and inspired by her help. She isn't just a horse and dressage master, she is a good pedagogue too. It is an art to be clear in communication, give constructive advice and be open to both rider and horse. Her authority comes natural from knowledge through experience. She has been the national team coach for swedens dressage team, now she trains national team in eventing. Elisabet also helps riders at other levels develop their riding and gives courses in leadership development. Video;

2009-07-26: Start's fourth competiton. This time indoor. I observed almost all competitors this time, we had a good overwiew of warming up as the competiton arena where on the opposite side. As usual there were many 30+ in my class. Saw some nice horses, some quite limited in their movements and many were on their front. I saw one that ambled (?) and another that was totally uncomfortable in his hindlegs, painfully tense and jerked his hocks in all sideway movements and walk pirouettes. When I saw the scores in the end, frankly, I did not understand anything. Very confusing indeed. So I decided to have the judge explain it to me. As I can only talk for myself I discussed the issues with reference to my own performance. My protocol had only negative remarks. I did not do a spotless performance, but there was alot of quality movement, elegance, harmony and correct performed movements. These qualities where not reflected in my protocol, not with numbers nor with words. My conclusion is that when we focus on the negative we get lost. We got a big applaud in the end.
2009-06-07: Competition in Kungsbacka. Wonderful feeling and Start was super with all the teqnical. He happily wanted to play with the others warming up, did not get much response as they found him a little frightening which he liked, he said - come on warmbloods let's have some fun - but they were all very serious and concentrated.. Got a pretty good score although we had some silly mistakes, very relaxed, good flow, rhytm and energy. Next time we will do another program two levels up, we know this one now, ready for new stuff!
2009-05-24: Big national competitions with some impressive horses and some good riders to be inspired by. Start was totally elegant, simply stunning and hat was cooperative. We did some good stuff but score was not so exciting so I had to meditate a little on that as several things did not make much sense to me. My conclusion is that I choose to give importance to the positive. The totally exhilarating feeling of making a complicated movement beautiful, balanced and being in harmony with my horse is happiness for me. Start is such a talented happy-go-fun-loving individual and at the same time serious, ambitious and pedantic. We enjoy it all! See photos here
2009-05-10: First competition in Sweden, so much fun! We got the score we need to qualify for national competitions - 62.9% - so very very content! Start was brilliant although we did not get much warm up and had quite a few mistakes for this reason. We had a silly incident with the hat that simply did not want to stay on, it was very very windy, and this brand new hat did not have any string.. Excuse me hatmakers? At one point I thought I would had to ride in, let the silly hat blow off and continue without it, but luckily assistance came from very kind & helpful PRE friends so we got something (rather big) on head and could warm up at least alittle and do the thing. Thank You so very much Therese! In Sweden you are hardly allowed to sit on a horse if not wearing a helmet or hat, it is a bit uptight, but very safe and very correct yes. Looking forward to next competition!

Start today

Javier did these of Start and me today, I just love this horse, I could never get enough of feeling him move and seeing his gestures, this year he will shine!

Tack Kim!

Photos; Kim Paulin





Today we recieved these lovely photos from Kim Paulin that she made of Donoso VII at the Swedish Championships 2009. I especially liked these head pictures, aren't they wonderful!? Thank you Kim!

Video Donoso VII SICAB 2009

See the ANCCE video of Donoso VII competing morfology in SICAB here!

Sun & Snow

Javier & Start

Today was a glorious day! Sunshine on pretty snow and I had the indoor all to myself, jippie!
At the moment we are waiting for a client arriving from the USA, all travelling is difficult these days because of the weather conditions, not only in Spain. We have Stefanie's horse standing by for transport to Germany, Chiaki's for Singapore and Leslie's for Canada, there is alot of coordination and arrangements for them keeping us busy. We have another swedish client this month looking for a stud stallion for breeding and dressage and we have to do testrides, view new horses, check up development of  horses we already have listed. I am also working on a article I was asked to do for a swedish horse magazine about SICAB and our personal experience, no time to get bored!

Paola & Donoso

So here we are, we brought the snow from Sweden but it is ok if you have a fourwheel car and a indoor arena!

We are back on track, found two happy boys, ready to play, very happy to see me so off they went in the walker that had to be the 'canterer' as they just had to do their show of capriolas etc, (abit like a thriller, exciting but scary) and get all that happiness out of the system! I on the other hand was very happy they did that in the machine..
This is Paola 15 years old, if Donut wasn't such a cool guy it would have been too much horse for her, but she is a a sensitive rider and a very good student!




Yes we ride inside the stables and our horses know they have to stand still!

Last day Sweden holidays

'Inma' got a haircut and I am impressed as always, she stands absolutely still, does not even move her head though I am in and around the ears with a loud machine, such a intelligent lady madam. Look at this head, simply beautiful. Tomorrow we are going home to Madrid to 'los chicos' Donut and Starti. I am working out their 2010 competiton calendar and I am so much looking forward to this year, see you in Madrid!