All posts by summerwind

Education, In Print, SW News

The Dead Broke Rider

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Saddle and Stirrups – Issue 25

Please click on the pictures below to view larger to read the article!

You can also view other Saddle and Stirrups issues where the Marchador is featured!

Subscribe to this innovative ipad magazine today!  Filled with great information, photos and videos.  The Mangalarga Marchador will be featured often.

You can order from itunes or by visiting their website

 

Education, Events, SW News

MM Clinic in August!

August 17-18
Our friends are coming to visit!  And we are taking advantage of their talents to offer a clinic/get-together at our ranch in August.    Please come and join us !  You can bring your Marchador or use one of ours!  You can just sit, listen and laugh.   It will be fun and educational.
If you wish to participate with a horse, the cost of the clinic will be $100 per day or $200.  First 2 to sign up get the early bird special – 1/2 off!  Let let me know if you want to use one of our horses for the clinic.  I will try to match riders and horses. N/C.
If you wish to audit, the cost of the clinic will be $15 per day.
Included in the lectures and riding:
  • About the Mangalarga Marchador
  • Gait Genetics Study Findings
  • Marcha Gaits and Techniques to Improve them
  • Assessment of each horse and rider
  • Versatility and Gait Competition and Judging
Dr. Laura Patterson  –   Lives in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.  But, being English too, she speaks Portuguese and English fluently.  A great friend to have in Brazil!  She is a vet, rider, trainer of all breeds and has exported Campolina horses to Mexico.  The Campolina horse is a larger breed, but with similar gaits to the Marchador, mostly marcha picada is popular in Bahia.    Laura brings a wealth of experience and knowledge wherever she goes and we are happy that she is willing to share it with us.    In 2012, Laura and Ann worked together on behalf of the ABCCMM, the Marchador association in Brazil.  This year, Laura got the opportunity to study at Cornell and took it!
Several years ago riding the championship at 1.25M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpQyDT2Tgdw
Dr. Ann Staiger  –  We first met Ann because of her study on gait genetics.  The ABCCMM became one of her biggest fans, flying her to Brazil to collect DNA, measurements, surveys and videos of the Marchadors to be included in her study.    Originally from Maryland, her gaited breed is the TWH.  Her family owns and breed them.  But she loves all horses.   Ann studied at OSU, Masters in Animal Science and Breeding, and now Cornell PhD in animal science and equine genetics.  It is where she is seeking to discover and explain gait and temperament of gaited horses by finding a gait gene and gait gene combination with conformation traits.    We are quite impressed with her and her work.  For more information on her study, follow this link:  http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/brooks/study_intro.html
It should be a small and intimate group with plenty of time for one on one instruction if that is what you want.  Or, you can just sit at the picnic table and soak it all in as a spectator.
If you are interested, I can send out driving information, hotel information, camping information or whatever you need.  Come early or stay late!    We can share more time together than just the clinic days.
Please respond to me if you can make it!  I will send an invoice via PayPal or you can mail a check.  This is a special event, it can’t be repeated easily!
Thanks so much for being passionate about the Mangalarga Marchador!
Planning for the future:
Winter 2013 or Spring 2014
The Dead-Broke Rider with Ned Leigh, Equine Focus
Human to Horse with Alessandra Deerinck (probably in CA)

Education, Frozen Semen, History, SW News

Summerwind News October 2009

Like reading old newspapers or going through old photos, it’s fun!  See what was happening in October 2009!

In this newsletter:

  • Outliving your horse
  • News from SW, family and friends
  • Tips to stay safe
  • New products I found

To read the entire newsletter, please follow this link!

http://summerwindmarchadors.com/EasyContent/FilePage.aspx?RT=1&CI=4579&II=633&LI=2

Uncategorized

David Steele Baily 1944-2013

David, my sister Katie’s husband, passed away in May, losing his battle with cancer.  He did get to stay at home, and it was such a comfort to be at home.

David loved so many things, but one of them was photography.   One of the reasons we have such an extensive library of horse photos and family photos is because he was always taking pictures!   Below is an album of some of his photography work and some pictures  of him and our family.  I tried to pick horse photos that were recognizable and some that people have never seen.    Just click on the photo to see it full size.

The memorial service for him was beautiful, with poems, readings, singing and prepared remembrances.  What was surprising and touching though, were the unprepared remarks from the congregation.   The service lasted almost two hours with people telling stories, sharing pranks and recalling kindnesses.   They said that David continued to show them how to live, even up to the very end.   Just the Friday before he died, he made it to the weekly coffee get-together in Collinsville.  Living life to the fullest; always an adventure.

The part that got to me though was when my sister read.  LOVE by Ray Croft.  I don’t know how she could do it.  I just bawled.   “I love you not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.”   For the whole reading, follow this link.  It is beautiful.   http://rinabeana.com/poemoftheday/index.php/category/roy-croft/

We will love you forever, David!   Thank you.

 

 

 

Breeding, SW Future Foals

Hemingway do Summerwind! Arrives May 3rd!

Born a few days ahead of schedule, Hemingway is a special little Marchador foal!  Hemi is a great strong boy from Azenha de Maripa and La Paz Jivago! He also represents our first success using a frozen embryo transfer to surrogate mare.

We are so happy that Valarie Giacalone took the chance!   What a reward!

Valarie and son Chris visited us in Colorado last year and we were all impressed by their connection with horses and soft, kind hearts. Just made to own a Marchador! Get to know this new Marchador pioneer, just keep reading!   More photos at the bottom too.

Valarie’s story

I was one of those horse crazy girls who lived at the stable, mucking, carrying water, saddling, brushing, anything to be around the horses. I was raised around thoroughbreds and 5 gaited saddlebreds, very high strung show horses. I bought my first horse at 44 years old as I started my PhD work as a single mom. I bought a beautiful quarter horse and discovered trail riding in the rocky mountains. That lasted about 6 or 7 years until a friend came over with Tennessee Walking Horses one Thanksgiving Day. Within a year we had 4 Tennessee Walkers, and then went up to 6 of them. We love the Walkers, but hate what is happening to the breed with all of the abuse and a National Association that will not halt it.

Horses are a huge part of our life. I raised my son as a single mom and horses have helped keep the family together and eliminated a lot of the typical teenage drama because he always had the horses and chores and “real” things to do. It lead into my job where I run a horse program at a Residential Treatment Center for teenage girls. Each of our girls has their own horse, not to ride, but to “own”, love, respect and build a relationship with. The horses help greatly in the self-confidence, identity development, and empathy.

About 14 months ago I was reading on the Parelli website about Pat and Linda traveling to Brazil to see these horses called Mangalarga Marchadors. Everyone on the site was raving about these incredible horses, so I got online and researched them. I contacted Lynn Kelley and she was more than gracious about answering my questions (millions of them) and pointing me to more resources. My son Chris and I knew very quickly this was the next breed of horses for us.

The only option we had financially was to try a frozen embryo transplant. Lynn had one embryo to try, and we loved the Azhena/Jivago combination. Everyone we knew tried to discourage us from trying this. Our vet, Dr. Chris Kolste, said he had studied frozen embryo transplants, and had done hundreds on cows, but never had tried a horse. We all decided to give it a try and Lynn arranged it for us.

We went ahead with the frozen embryo transplant before we had ever seen a Marchador in real life. A few months later we went to Colorado to visit Lynn and John and instantly fell in love with the horses. I think my first words upon seeing Azhena were “She is so beautiful!” and I started crying. We spent two days riding all of John and Lynns horses and learning all we could about the breed.

The transplant was June 6, 2012, and we have counted down every day since then. Hemingway do Summerwind was born May 3, 2013, and we are beyond excited, thrilled and looking forward to the future!