A year ago a client sent me a few mares that she had bred at her facility, Vision Farms in El Paso TX, by way of another trainer here in Florida. They had been sent to me emaciated, injured and the youngest one had an unknown vitamin deficiancy that had not allowed her hair coat to shed even though it was approaching summer. My client had not seen them in a few months and was appalled to learn of their condition. I had sent her photos and she almost cried when she saw them.
Of course I set straight out to rehabilitate them and she was happy to support the cause. We worked on their health, feet, coats and finally started to condition them by long walks up the country roads, and eventually hacks. Their stamina increased and their dispositions brightened up.
Around Christmas time we started to work on figures in the dressage arena as a means to improve their gaits and otherwise 'downhill' frames. It was a different ball game for me, as I am used to riding warmbloods or Arabian crosses. But after a while the downhill battle showed glimpses of becoming at least level and before long we advanced to shoulder in and counter canter excercises for balance.
This past weekend I took two of them, Dali's Artful Legacy (Dali) and Barpasser's Vision (Ziggy) to the May Days Qualifier at Canterbury Showplace and they were shining stars! Dali was second in all lower first level tests with a high score of 69% and Ziggy won all four lower training level tests with a high score of 70%. They quite possible were the only representatives from the AQHA but they held their own.
I just looked back at the photos from last year when they arrived looking like rescues and feel quite proud of them both. They are sweet mares and give 100% of their hearts in everything they do!
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