It’s an annual migration to Colorado in late April or early May! And it’s a good thing too, as the temperatures in Scottsdale are almost in triple digits. We love being able to enjoy riding and the outdoors every day! And the horses….. well, the horses are just different here. They look better, more alive, taller, shinier! There is no way to fully describe it.
By now, it’s our 6th year here, they know where they are. They know the routine. Koyote comes off the trailer and gaits right down the barn aisle to his stall. He’s so smart! We need to get them adjusted to the grass, but that is about it.
I guess by now, we know the routine too. We were unpacked that night and we started riding the very next day! Even by our standards, that was fast. The only change for us is that we are getting older – but what’s wrong with more wine on the porch watching the elk or deer graze across the street? Perhaps this is the year without the laundry list of projects. Bring on the trail rides in the mountains, new journeys to Taos, maybe visiting the LONE RANGER movie set and just enjoying each wonderfully clear, crisp Colorado morning.
We’d love to share Colorado with you! Come and meet the Marchador and share our passion.
As always, thanks to Ned Leigh for taking such good care of our horses during the ride here. www.nedleighequinefocus.com
Take a look into our life! If you click on a photo, you can get the large image.
Koyote and Artemis relaxing after the long trailer ride
Azenha de Maripa enjoying the pasture life in CO
Caboclo waiting for a ride
Seamus da Boa Fe moves so well up here – soft, not granite!
The view down our property from horseback.
We love to garden and to cook! Plants hardening before planting!
Azenha and Brasilia are both pregnant! YEAH!!!
The deer and elk were here to greet us. Babies coming soon!
Sleeping in the Sun is Seamus
The MM ears point the way up the meadow! This is our regular route.
The Ocala MM Clinic was a resounding success. Hosted by Connie Claire, Ocala FL, everything went off without a hitch for the first ever Sela de Ouro (the Golden Saddle, the way of the Marchador) in the U.S.! The Sela de Ouro consists of 3 phases: a long ride similar to an endurance ride with vetting and judging, classroom and arena instruction and judging of conformation and gait, and also a functional test, similar to an obstacle class.
Some photos from the clinic, just click to enlarge!
Thanks to the team! Kate Barcelos, Connie Claire and Tiago Garcia
Kate giving private instructions to Folego do Lucero and owner Sue Current
One of the groups going off for the trail!
Aline Greene won the ride portion on her mare, Erva-Doce de Tesouro!
The MM clinic Opening Ceremony!
Jeff Bosley and his mare Bacara do Summerwind, grand champion
Sue Current and her gelding Folego do Lucero, riding for the championship in the functional test!
Champion stallion Ritmo A.J. with owner Bill Kambic
Connie Claire with LEO, DaVinci do Summerwind, champion gelding!
One of the ribbon ceremonies on Sunday! We were all winners!
All the way from AZ, Adrienne Scheck got to ride Lynn Boone’s mare, Aviadora do Campo Real
It was a family affair! Our instructors pose with the Bosley family
Grace Funderburk, Sunset Farms, on her MM gelding Havai Por de Sol
On the trail, me on Esthique do Premier, Aline Greene’s MM mare
Brooke Little, Marchadors InMotion, on her young stallion Cheveyo do MManor
Aline Greene with her mare Erva-Doce de Tesouro. They won the trail competition!
Bill Kambic on imported MM mare Aliane Fazenda Zouga (Amora). Amora was bred by Rick Schatz in Brasil!
Connie Claire and Adrienne Scheck out on the trail. This was Leo’s first trail ride, ever!
Tiago teaching from the back of Cheveyo do MManor, owned by Brooke Little, Marchadors InMotion
Connie Claire, clinic organizer at the awards table.
Brooke Little atop her stallion Cheveyo do MManor of Marchadors InMotion, Ocala.
Jeff Bosley and Bacara do Summerwind. They won the functional test and Grand Champion!
Instructor Kate on Ritmo A.J. owned by Bill and Sandy Kambic, Haras Lucero, TN.
World champion archer Lukas Novatny did an exhibition for us. Thrilling!
The instructors were flown in from Brasil to evaluate the 18 people and 12 Marchadors that participated. Most were from the East Coast, but some of us came from AZ and OK too. The breeders and owners there represent 40% of the Marchadors in U.S. (Next year, the clinic moves west.) The instructors were ABCCMM (Brazilian MM association) professionals Tiago de Resende Garcia and Kate Moura da Costa Barcelos, both licensed veterinarians and judges in Brazil.
Tiago is the ABCCMM Director of the ENA – the National School of Judges. The ENA’s objective is to train MM judges on how to evaluate conformation, gait and functionality of the MM breed. Tiago and his team judge every sanctioned ABCCMM show in Brazil. Tiago has hosted symposiums and lectures to enlighten and inform MM breeders.
Kate is an ABCCMM inspector (the 1st woman) and education program director. Kate was the instructor of our 2011 MM clinic. An accomplished rider, competitor and instructor, Kate was the #2 dressage rider in South America and now uses classical dressage in preparing and training Marchador horses for many farms in Brazil.
We had a fabulous time meeting new people, Marchadors, and of course, learning more about our fabulous MM breed! Our heartfelt thanks to Connie, Tiago and Kate!!!!
The Champions:
Sela de Ouro ride on Friday – Aline Greene, Saint Horse, SC and her mare Erva-Doce de Tesouro
Combined Gait and Conformation on Saturday: for Stallion – Bill Kambic, Haras Lucero, TN and his imported MM stallion, Ritmo A.J.; for Mare – Sandy Kambic, Haras Lucero, TN and her imported mare, Amora or Aliane Fazenda Zouga (bred by Rick Schatz, Flying Oaks Ranch, OK when he was breeding MMs in Brasil), for Gelding – Connie Claire, FL with her gelding Leo or DaVinci do Summerwind (bred by SW Future Foal, AZ)
Functional test on Sunday – Jeff Bosley, SW Future Foal @ Lumber Bridge on his mare Bacara do Summerwind (bred by SW Future Foal, AZ)
Almost every person excelled and placed in each competition so the results were exciting and close! We even had a tie for the winner of the Functional test so there was another run made by Jeff and Bacara against Sue Current on Folego do Lucero! Brooke Little from Marchadors InMotion, came with her young stallion Cheveyo do MManor (Erva-Doce’s son) who impressed the crowd with his gait, disposition and performance. Except for his youth (he had just been started under saddle at age 3), he could have won it all, in my opinion.
And a good time was had by all! Be sure to come to our next one if you can!
On the trail, Lynn Kelley on Esthique do Premier, Aline Greene's MM mare
The Sela de Ouro is Portuguese for “Saddle of Gold”, the WAY OF THE MARCHADOR. It is a multi-day event that the Brasilians use to test the Marchador horses and the Marchador riders.
In Brasil, throughout the year are qualifying rides for the final Sela de Ouro held at the time of the Mangalarga Marchador National Show in July. The European association has hosted a Sela de Ouro in Germany since 2009. Now in 2012, the USMMA and ABCCMM are helped Connie Claire host the first ever in the U.S. at the MM Clinic in Ocala, FL.
Riders from the US and Europe that finish the Sela de Ouro in their country can qualify to ride in the final Sela de Ouro in Brasil!
During the ride, the horses and riders are evaluated on the trail, on a track and in an obstacle course over several days.
Marchadors are evaluated on their marcha in these aspects:
Gesture
Comfort
Style
Length of stride
Regularity
In addition, a vet check tests them for endurance fitness and integrity.
The riders are evaluated on riding skills and also on the functional test.
Seat and leg contact
Center posture and balance
Use of the aids
Control and security
Naturalness
Functional test (like an obstacle course – see the video below)
Each competitor has to demonstrate minimal skills of a good rider and good knowledge of his horse on the trail. The tests and judging are conducted in environments and situations that simulate the roads, sports and travels of ancient knights in speed and distance variables. The trail has natural hazards in varied terrains of forests, rivers, valleys and mountains.
The circle of life is hardest to accept when it’s time for your dearest friend to pass on. Today, our beloved dog Mac died at age 13. People will say Lynn and I were lucky to have him with us for so many years, but there is never enough time.
Mac joined our world on St Patricks Day when Lynn surprised me with a border collie puppy. It was particularly sweet, since I had had only one other dog in my early years who also was a border collie called Spike. I lost that dog on the day my father died on my seventh birthday. Looking back I realized that Spike was more my father’s dog then mine, since he stood over my father and shortly there after disappeared. Getting Mac from Lynn was almost like finding Spike and closing a painful chapter in my early life – the circle of life.
Mac was unusually large for a border collie but a gentle intelligent soul that touched everyone that he met. He could outrun a Frisbee, run for hours, and herd anything. He was very protective of his younger brother Jamie. Once when coyotes lured Jamie into the brush at our ranch, Mac charged the pack and brought Jamie back safely.
Jamie and Mac on a hike up Troon Mountain in AZ.
On another occasion, we were at the car wash waiting for our car when a young mother with a baby in a carriage approached and asked if it was safe to pet the dogs. The baby pulled on Mac’s ears, poked him in the eyes, and laughed loudly. Mac sat quietly. A few minutes later a young man with a manly dog came by and the dog lunged at the baby, teeth showing. Mac raced over, placed his jaws over the face of the dog and drove him to the ground. I was fearful Mac might harm him but he just stood between the baby and the dog in that sideways look so common for border collies.
Mac was very smart. I often said he was smarter than most of the people I have met during my life. Back in New England one of his jobs was to get the morning paper. If there wasn’t one on our driveway, he would search the neighborhood until he found one. We always let him out through the garage and he came back in the side door. One winter morning I was out with him and told him it was time to go in the front door. He turned and looked at me oddly but trotted over to our actual front door which we never used. I looked at him and realized I had said the front door not the side door. When I corrected myself, he calmly trotted to the side door waiting for me to let him in.
The family photo
Mac could talk. He just used a different language. I don’t mean that he barked but rather he would make an endless variety of sounds that over time Lynn could understand. He would wake you in the morning, talk to you about how hungry he was, and constantly describe what he saw on his morning walk. It was my problem that I didn’t always understand.
As we grew older together, we became more and more alike. Protective of our routine and less tolerant of others, we enjoyed our time together.
I will miss Mac forever but will be forever grateful for how he explained the circle of life to me. I think I will be better prepared as life and death move on.
