Caramba!

Congratulations to Zorro PRE!
Caramba has now had her baby filly foal! Mum is a Vinatero III mare we sold to Sweden 1999, dad is a exclusive pure black Escalera stallion. Such a pretty little thing!

Competiton coming up!

Stablegroom Hector always positive and never stops

Javier & Donoso VII

Jade
These are the LAST photos I made with my now dead phone. Yesterday I did a (unconscious) phone-test, we did a extended trot over it phone and it broke. Sorry Ericsson, no trot-extension scores, but I am happy as I now have the phone I always wanted and I know it will make me happy. Lesson; Never settle for second best. So at the moment one of my two collegues (computer & phone) are now cooperative. Let's see what test I can expose my computer to..

Start and I will do our first PSG next weekend! Very very exciting and the competitions are right here (above) - at home!
My new phonenr; 0034 616 314 307

Donoso VII to European Championships!

We have been invited to represent Sweden at FIECVAL 2010, Salón del Caballo y Salón del Toro - the first ever European Championships for PRE! The event will take place in beautiful Valencia the 15-18 of April, hope to see you all there!
Info Valencia & EU-Championships here;

More info here; http://www.fiecval.es/

Days longer, temperature rising..

Paola, Donoso, Start & meTodays training in indoor Jade, it is getting warmer and the days are longer now. I love my horses, they are such good students. Yesterday Start & I went to canter in the countryside, you cross a narrow passage with huge bulls next to you, majestic creatures, so happy they are on the other side of the wall! At the moment I am working Nr 361, I think I might keep him with me I really like his attitude and movement. It is a pleasure to ride a mature horse that is self-confident, you can advance fast. His canter is a dream, brings you forward and uphill. It is so easy for him to sit the hind which gives him piaffe talent. With the suspension he has it will not take long to develop a passage either. We'll see! 

Training again!

I had not seen my trainer for about 1 year so it was fun to see him and hear his feedback on my horses. I only had two lessons in Sweden with Elisabet Lundholm so I have been working on my own since March 2009. We started with Start. He said he was more fat. No I said, it is all muscles. This is the thing, I very rarely agree with my trainer, if he does not see every minute detail and understands me 100% I am not happy. But he does see the sensitivity in the horse and the rider and does not get offended when I go - NO, this that and the other. He listens, there is a two-way comunication and we work it out using both points of view. Very diplomatically he had me riding for a while so that he could see, and I could show, where we are and what we have to work on. He adapts to his client, I LOVE being the client and I am VERY demanding one because being 'at service' all day long makes you appreciate being served! Something to think about..

Anyhow, we went on and off he went with the half pass, changes, pirouettes, zick zacks, extentions etc, etc and I went STOP to accelerated - too many things and Start goes hot. Start is not easy, too much activity makes him go behind the vertical and he drops hindlegs and back. Too litte activity makes him floppy he goes loose and drops back and hindlegs. I want a PERFECT back and contact, otherwise not happy and no forms will be performed. Se worked on that one and then did the forms. He said he could see improvement in changes, in contact, in activity of hindlegs, in extentions and in forms so basically I have been doing a good job, but it is going to be much better now! Above Start and Eduardo same day he left for Sweden in March 2009.

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.