Cheese bread! Cachaca (sp)! Old friends! New friends! Marchador horses! It was a trip to heaven – I mean Brazil! It was the best of all worlds – I got to attend the National Show AND go out to visit farms! Perfect!
Photos below! If you click on the photo, it will show full-size and then you will need to hit the BACK button to return to the gallery and post.
We visited two farms in Brazil, a favorite of mine, Agro Maripa and a new one for me, but by no means new, Morada Nova. Exquisite horses and fantastic Brazilian hospitality. I am always happy to be in Brazil.
At the National Show, the event provided a good mix of entertainment and business. We met old friends, and some new ones there. It feels like home to me. I went down with Rick Schatz, the Marchador breeder from Flying Oaks Ranch. We did some business there on the Brazilian Saddle Horse project. We did some shopping. We admired the horses in the show and at the farm booths. We did some ABCCMM registration work on U.S. Marchadors for several breeders.
Of great interest was the ABCCMM/APEX collaboration on the project Brazilian Saddle Horse. APEX strives to promote Brazilian products around the world and has many offices here in the U.S. They have already worked with the ABCCMM promoting the Marchador breed in Europe and also at the Carnaval in Rio 2013. Their next events may be in the US in an affiliation with the PBR, Professional Bull Riding. We will have to wait and see. Also in the works is the Marchador at other big horse and non-horse events like the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
To read more about Brazil and the national show, you can keep reading!
On the streets behind the arena, horses are warming up, being groomed or being presented to admiring crowds! This may be a favorite mare of mine Zinhaga de Maripa being ridden by Sergio, the trainer.
Young stallion in training at Agro Maripa training and sales facility in Minas Gerais. Had we more time, we would have also gone to the fazenda in Jaguaruina, SP.
One of Ximoio de Maripa’s first sons, a young stallion about to start his saddle training. Perhaps a Hawke do Summerwind will look like this someday.
Brazilian champion stallion Teorema da Morada Nova coming out to entertain and wow the European and American crowd. And he was stunning! After winning the national champion, it’s his first or second breeding season. We can watch for his foals!
The future of Morada Nova, the foals born last winter.
The Marchador sculpture greets you as you enter Morada Nova. We enjoyed the fazenda with its Brazilian style and art collectibles. The grounds were lovely and the horses came in from the fields to be presented to us.
Good friends Kate Barcelos, ABCCMM and Rick Schatz, OK at the 2013 Nationals.
Presentation of horses for conformation class. There are 5 independent judges in each class. Like the Olympics, they throw away the high and the low score and then add the 3 to determine the winner. If it is unanimous, that is one really special horse!
Marcelo loves his horses – “too much”! This is Herdeiro de Maripa I think. Zinhaga x Buri de Maripa.
In front of the Agro Maripa sign with Claudia Godoi, ABCCMM. Claudia showed us all around when we first arrived and took good care of all of the ABCCMM guests.
Agro Maripa – the Marchador mule breeding farm. They use the gaited mules for work on the ranches. This is an old farmhouse he has restored. I have seen the project from start to finish during trips to Brazil. It looks fabulous now, inside and out!
The poster for the 2013 Nationals!
The M Brand Award and a banner for the horse are given to the champions of every class. There are champions in every age bracket by sex and by gait – marcha batida and marcha picada.
There is a promotional campaign running during the FIFA and WORLD CUP in Brasil for their horses. Designed to introduce their horses to the international community, the promotion is called the BRASILIAN SADDLE HORSE!
Horse Illustrated will be featuring the Marchador next year based on this initiative.
The Marchador is one of the breeds that is being featured as The Brasilian Saddle Horse, but there are others, including one that shares the same root, the Mangalarga (Paulista).
To read more about the 2 breeds and their split, here is a Summerwind Newsletter from the past! SEPTEMBER 2011
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!
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)
