Guatemala National show

Thanksgiving day I traveled to Guatemala city to visit with my boyfriend and his family, and also to attend the National Peruvian horse show of Guatemala. Renzo Crolle Claux came from Peru to judge.

They always start the show off on Friday night with a cocktail & dinner. Its really great because everyone has a chance to hangout before the competition starts the next day. One thing that stood out to me was that the majority of the members and BOD are the "younger" generation - its such a family activity there that are multiple generations working to put on a great event! This is something glaringly lacking in the US.

Andres had 9 horses exhibiting in the show. He had several of the younger horses ready for their first time. They won several halter classes - 1st place with JAP Tizana, 1st place JAP Mina, and 1st place with JAP Maximus. JAP Mina went on to be the National Champion Halter Filly! She is really exceptional and has won since her first shows, but this was her first championship.

Later that day I rode in the Mares 6-7 class on SBA Venus and placed 5th. Next up was MVH Melodia, the dam of JAP Mina. Melodia won her class, and went on to win Champion Mare! Mother and daughter in the same day! I also exhibited WER Gacela in the zootechnico class, where she won the top honors.

For something fun, the association decided to hold their first champagne class! A whole bunch of people got into the fun. Of course everyone said I was going to win (and I did ;-), but it was so much fun I don't think anyone cared. Franky Marcucci Sr. and Fernando Jarquin had more fun sipping the champagne than riding! Fernando lent me his great pisos mare Gema to ride.

Sunday I got a great surprise - I was named "mejor montador" or Best Rider by the judge. The head trainer for Criadero la Laguna, Julio Arias also won "mejor Jalador" or Best halter trainer. It was a great honor for both of us! We also had a great party at the ranch, making pizzas in the wood fire oven and looking at all the horses.

I had a great time getting to know several breeders from Panama and Ecuador who were there visiting. I hope to make it to the National show in Panama in January!

US Nationals

In October I traveled to Ft. Worth for the NAPHA national show to ride horses for Barbara Windom and La Estancia Alegre.

I rode LEA Dorado de Domecq in sidesaddle, Western and several other classes. He was the 2009 National High Point Versatility horse of show! We also wond the Western Pleasure class, and a beautiful custom made buckle donated by Sharon LaPierre of Red Raven Ranch - thanks Sharon!

LEA Poema was competing for her third champion of champions in the Amateur & Open Performance Mares division. Roberto Quijandria, her wonderful trainer, rode her to her Laureada in the Open division, and I rode her to her 2nd laureada in the Amateur Division! Its a huge honor and very difficult to win one national laureada, much less two!

Central Coast Classic show - so much fun!

So - I'm playing major catch up here!

September 12-13 we were at the Central Coast Classic show in Santa Maria, CA. This show is a lot of fun - its held on the grass, and has a great family atmosphere. They always sponsor a fun barn party Saturday night (this year we celebrated the laureado of DR El Patron), and its just general great fun! I always show out of the trailer - its only 30 minutes from home so that's easier for me. We set up "camp" on the grass next to the arena and just tie horses to the trailer.

This year my Dad and Yvonne came down. Dad was going to show again! I had him ride one of my mares RDD Flora y Fauna. Shes a great big powerful mare and she looks just great with my Dad. He hadn't shown since his stallion died, 11 years ago was the last time he showed. My good friends Dianna Whisenant, Nicole Pichel & Luke Schwartz also came to help.

Friday night we were bathing horses and packing the final things in the trailer. I decided at the complete last minute to bring my old man, RDS Fastigio, out of retirement. He's 17 and hasn't shown since he was 8 years old - hes a great trail horse that anyone can ride. He did very well in his younger years, winning several Champion of Champions and High Point Versatility awards. So - Saturday am off we go with a full trailer! Fauna, KLP Sedona and RDS Fastigio! Fastigio made a great return to the show arena - even beating Coronado in one of the Champion of Champions! MCD Coronado+ went directly to the Champion of Champions Classes for Sunday afternoon. It was pretty neat to be the owner of both horses in the Ch. of Ch. class!

We had such a good time and I am so thankful for my friends and family for their support and help in the show season! Come Sunday afternoon, with all 4 horses qualified for the championship classes, we were really busy tacking, grooming, cleaning, etc. It all paid off with great results and we had a great party after the show to celebrate back at my house.


All in all we had a fablous show!
RDD Flora y Fauna - ridden by Mike Powers
1st Mares 4-6 Breeding

KLP Sedona
2nd Mares Amateur Performance
2nd Open Performance Attire

RDS Fastigio
1st Open Performance Stallions
1st Amateur Performance Stallions
Champion Open Performance Stallion
Champion Amateur Performance Stallion
Champion of Champions Amateur Performance Stallion!!!

MCD Coronado+
Champion of Champions Performance Stallion

Central Coast Classic

Our next show will be the 2009 Central Coast Classic show in Santa Maria, CA September 12-13. Always a fun show held on the grass at the Santa Maria Fairpark. I will be taking MCD Coronado+, KLP Sedona and RDD Flora y Fauna. Come join the fun! More info at www.ccphc.net

MCD Elegancia+

One of my grand old mares is MCD Elegancia+. She is one of few US National Laureado horses, winning the 1997, 1998, 1999 AAOBPPH US National Champion of Champions Pleasure mare awards. Pictured here at 19 years of age.

2009 Los Amigos Championship show

So...I'm a bit behind in catching up...

The Los Amigos Championship show was in Santa Barbara, CA. Phenom Farms was well represented with MCD Coronado+, KLP Sedona & RDD Flora y Fauna. A few of our wins...

MCD Coronado+
- 1st Crystal Breeding
- Champion of Champions Amateur Performance Stallion

KLP Sedona
- 1st Mares AOTR performance
- 1st Non traditional Tack & attire
- 2nd Mares Performance
- Champion Amateur Performance Mare
- Champion of Champions Amateur Performance Mare!

RDD Flora y Fauna
- 2nd Mares Zootechnico
- 4th Mares 4-6 Breeding
- 3rd Non traditional tack & attire Performance

Sedona is now a Champion of Champions! For her short show career so far - she has been 1st, Champion or Reserve EVERY time shown, and now a Champion of Champions! This was our goal to get sometime this year and we are very excited.

Pictured below is the "Phenom Farms VIP lounge"

NAPHA Zone 2 High Point Award winner is....

MCD Coronado+! The award winners were announced yesterday and Coronado has won yet another high point award! Zone 2 region is one of the most competitive areas (Southern California/NV) so its a great win.

Weaning the foals

NOT fun! I separated the foals from their mothers about 10 days ago, by putting them in a smaller corral sharing a fence with the dams. That worked well - everyone was comfortable. On Saturday I started trying to work with them - they figured out pretty quickly how to use each other to escape being caught! So....I decided it was time to learn how to tie. The corrals are set up under the oak trees, which make great tie hitch from above! After stringing up some ropes from the branches above, I caught Elegido and clipped him up. He figured out pretty quickly that pulling back didn't do anything but put some pressure on his head, and when he walked forward it went away! A few times doing that process, he just hung out pretty relaxed. The great thing about tying from above is that they really don't have anything to pull against, no sitting back and being able to break the lead or hurt their poll.

Tentacion didn't catch on as quickly. She kept pulling and jumping, pulling, rearing, etc. After a few minutes she caught on like her brother and they calmly sat there for about an hour.

Newest MCD Coronado+ foal!

Cynthia Gasman had a chestnut filly yesterday from MCD Coronado+ x Victoria Bonita. As soon as they send pictures I will post them here! His first east coast baby.

2009 Gold Rush Classic

I think I'm finally recovered from the Las Vegas trip. Before we even got going, my truck blew the water pump, literally in my driveway the night before we were leaving! Thankfully, the mechanic was able to get it in at 7:30 am and fix it up quick so we were on the road by 1:30 pm. We had a great trip and arrived to Las Vegas around 8:30.

The show was tons of fun as usual! We started off Friday morning in the Amateur Stakes class. I rode Coronado, and my friend Dianna rode Sedona for me. Coronado was 1st for the CSPHC, 3rd for the RGPHC. Sedona placed 2nd for RCPHC, and 5th in CSPHC. It was great competition and a huge class. In the afternoon, Coronado and I won the champagne class once again! Out of 10 years of the GRC, I've only lost champagne once!

I was very excited to show Sedona in a large show like this one to see how she placed with out of state competition. We qualified for the Amateur Performance Mares championship and the AOTR championship. She was the 2009 RGPHC Champion Amateur Performance Mare! Very exciting since there was some awesome competition there!

Coronado won his first regional Laureado for the CSPHC Amateur Champion of Champions Performance Stallion! This is his 3rd year in a row, and he is now a laureado or retired with honors from the CSPHC show.

Show Results

Had a great weekend at the SCPPHC show in Ventura. Results:

KLP Sedona:
- 1st Member to ride performance
- 3rd Mares pisos
- 2nd Peruvian Attire (breeding division)
- Reserve Champion Performance Mare

MCD Coronado+:
- 2nd Stallions Pisos
- Champion of Champions Amateur Performance Horse

Sedona worked so well, and has once again place great in all 3 divisions. She is gaining more experience and handling the shows better each time.

Next up - Gold Rush Classic in Las Vegas, NV June 26-28th!

SCPPHC Pacific Coast show this weekend

On to another show this weekend! We will be at the SCPPHC Pacific Coast Championships with KLP Sedona & MCD Coronado+ Saturday and Sunday.

www.scpphc.org

Videos from the weekend

Had a great but short trip. Here are some videos we took - just having fun but they came out pretty good!

Criadero la Laguna

I'm on my way to Guatemala for the weekend to visit my boyfriend. We will be spending the weekend at the farm, since their regional show was moved to July. A weekend with family & horses on a beautiful ranch - what could be better?

Here is a picture taken by Andres of his mare GCLP Maringa. Click on the title link to see the ranch website with lots of great pictures!

2009 Artistry in Motion workshop

The two boys, MCD Coronado+ & RDS Fastigio, and myself were once again invited to the Artistry in Motion Equine photographer workshop held by April Visel & Sharon Sheppard. Last night we did photos on Summerland beach. For being a born & bred Texan, Coronado sure likes the ocean! He goes right into the water with no fear. He was really great, putting up with all the crazy things I asked him to do. Fastigio, who is 17 years old, has never been to the beach before, and wasn't too excited about it! As it gets later, the waves get a lot bigger and are very noisy as the tide comes in. I had to rush him into the water a bit since the light was fading. He eventually got used to it, and I was able to walk him into the ocean pretty deep. That was hard to walk with huge waves hitting us both.

This morning, bright and early at 6 am was the liberty shoot at Tierra Alta, a peruvian ranch in Los Olivos owned by Louise Clarke & John Carbon. They have the most amazing views of the entire valley from the mountain top pastures. Of course the boys are supposed to run around with lots of sexy hair flying in the wind - Coronado instead decided that he would rather take advantage of the lush pasture grass! I was hoping Mattie would help chase him, but she decided it was much easier to just hang out with the photographers and watch what was happening. Fastigio was a bit more accommodating, and ran around without a lot of me having to run after and chase him! And of course, he stood and posed in his famous ways!

Tonight is the riding shoot at Pacifica Arabians. Several different costumes in the trailer - will have to see what comes out later!

2009 Fiesta of the Spanish Horse Show

Phenom Farms does it again!

MCD Coronado+:
1st Crystal Class Breeding
Champion of Champions Amateur Performance Stallion
Champion of Champions Performance Stallion
Champion Breeding Stallion
Champion of Champions Breeding Stallion

KLP Sedona:
1st Place Open Attire Performance

Unfortunately, Sedona got a little stressed and didn't make the championships. Coronado was ON for this show and performed better than ever! I'll update later with pictures of the neat trophies we won!

The newest edition to Phenom Farms

Last week I adopted 4 hens and a rooster off of craigslist. They have been living inside the barn in a stall, as I needed to finish off a coop. Its not a fancy coop, but in the spirit of earth day - very "green"! All materials are recycled, reused or scrap. Hence the pieced together look! The nest boxes are kitty litter containers screwed onto a board, perches made of bamboo. At this point its just fancy enough to have a place for the hens to lay, and to protect them at night from the various forms of wildlife I have here. I'll have to see if I can still hear the rooster crowing now that hes a little farther away from my bed (I live in an apartment in the barn). He is right on time I have to say - starts crowing about 2 minutes before my alarm goes off at 5:30 am, and had the decency to wait until 6:45 on Saturday and Sunday, after I had already woken up from my weekly routine.

So far the hens have names, but the rooster is working on earning his. He's big and beautiful pure white. Dad suggested BBQ, which I wasn't too fond of until he attacked me Sunday morning out of nowhere! He spurred me, drew blood, and left a nice bruise below my knee before I drop kicked him across the barn! The girls are Rubia, Blanca, Zamba & Peliroja, and after Sunday, the roosters current name is Almuerzo for LUNCH! He was very humble today when I was chasing and catching them all - hung upside down from his spurs he wasnt so tough!

My beautiful mares

Enjoying a Sunday afternoon, out eating grass!

More getting ready for the show season

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day - 75 degrees, slight breeze, lots of sun. Although I did make it out for a trail ride, I've been working most of the day on a the show premium for the Gold Rush Classic Show. I have been helping this fabulous show in Las Vegas for three years now as the Publications and Promotions chair. Its a double regional show, which means that there are two judges and two ribbons given in each class. The show is held in the South Point Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Everything is under one roof - the hotel and the barns and arena! Even the horses have air conditioning!

This is one of the best shows for the Peruvian Horse world wide - exhibitors from a dozen plus states and Canada, spectators from literally all over the world - for the Peruvian horse - THIS show is EXCITEMENT! Plus tons of MONEY! The GRC is one of the few shows which awards a ton of cash - over $40,000 in the last two years alone. Its a great way to promote the horse, and such a great place to compete with the best of the best.

See more information about the show here at www.goldrushclassic.com Sponsor a class or take advantage of our awesome cheap hotel rates and come watch!

Preparing for the first show of the season

May 1-3 is the Fiesta of the Spanish Horse show in Burbank, CA. Its one of my favorite shows to go to because there are multi breed shows going on at the same time. They have shows for Andalusian/Lusitanos, PRE, Paso Fino, Peruvian Pasos, and this year Fresians also. Saturday night there is a big extravaganza where they sell tickets to raise money for cancer research. Lots of spectacular acts and entertainment! I think Coronado and I will do the Champagne challenge again this year - we have won the last 2 years.

I have been working on getting KLP Sedona and MCD Coronado+ ready for the show. Spring is here and its so much easier to do with all the extra daylight hours! BUT this crazy wind that we have been having the last few days has made it impossible to ride. I'm hoping is a little calmer tonight. Andres is coming up to the show and is going to ride Sedona in a few classes - hopefully they can repeat their championship performance from last year!

If you want to find out more about the show, see www.fiestaspanishhorse.org

My dad and his gelding!

Just had to share this great pic of my dad on his gelding RDS Tapado. He's a super sweet horse, and really flashy too!

Halter training

Tentacion had her first halter training experience on Sunday. She wasn't too happy...I brought her and Torcasa into the foaling stall so it was nice and safe, caught her up and put the halter with lead on. She kept trying to get away, but wasn't stupid - just basically pushed mom in circles around the stall, then would stop and try to hide. She is quite the little diva - very different from her bro Elegido. She was wonderful with all the handling - doesn't mind her legs, ears, head touched. Tentacion is 5 weeks old today and very big and strong! Elegido is a month today - his halter training is next!

In Arabian Horse World

One of April Visel's fab photos!

Spring Riding!

A friend, Kimerlee came over for a trail ride, and her first ride on a Peruvian. She is riding MCD Coronado+ (not a bad way to test out a Peruvian - on the 5 time national champion of champions!) and you can see the ears of my mount, KLP Sedona. Beautiful afternoon for a ride.

First trims for the little ones!

Master farrier Coco Fernandez was here today to trim some horses. He always starts trimming foals at 2 weeks of age. By trimming them correctly from a young age, you can shape a healthy hoof for the rest of their life. Below are pictures of where he trimmed KLP Elegido's heels for more support:




Here you can see how high the heel is, and how with every step he was rocking back and forth and putting stress on every part of his leg and tendons.



Unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures of how his hoof looked after trimming, but these pictures show how important it is to trim those hooves from an early age. Without this trim, he would have been rocking back and forth on the heel with no support! Coco has lots of case studies and photos on his website at www.cococaballo.com

Finally...some decent pictures of KLP Elegido!

2 weeks old today!


Anyone looking for a future National Laureado Performance horse?? This flashy little guy is a son of **TWO** US National Laureado Performance horses! He is for sale, but not for long!

Website updates

I've been playing with some new things on the website at www.phenomfarms.com
New photo galleries are up, as well as updated sales pages. I've been trying to keep the videos updated also. Trying to use all the wonderful pictures I have is hard - I have so many favorites. Check it out and let me know what you think!

KLP Elegido arrives!

KLP Elegido
(MCD Coronado+ x MCD Elegancia+)
Chestnut colt with 4 white socks and a blaze

KLP Tentacion - 7 days

Enjoying the new filly!

Yesterday afternoon I took Torcasa & Tentacion out of the barn for the first time. It was such a beautiful afternoon, warm and sunny, and I figured Torcasa would like to eat some grass. Tentacion was a little worried at first - she stuck by mom's side and wasn't sure what she could do in all that open space. She gaited around a little and then figured out she could run! Of course mom got a little worried with that, and Tentacion was a good filly and came back to mom's side. I turned them out in a paddock for a few hours so Tentacion could run around - she definitely enjoyed that! Tomorrow they will go out for the day to enjoy a little more space and the sunshine.

2009 Centroamericano National show, San Pedo Sula, Honduras

Last week I was in Honduras for the only international show in the world - the 2009 Centroamericano Nationals. This show rotates around 4 different countries, and breeders from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua bring horses to compete with each other. Below are some pictures of the Produce of Dam class. I was riding SBA Minerva, owned by Frankie Marcucci, and Andres is riding his mare SBA Venus. They are the offspring of Criadero La Lagunas SBA Oro Pesa and won first place. SBA Venus was also the winners of the mares pisos class!

KLP Tentacion has arrived!

Born Feb 17, 2009
KLP Tentacion (MCD Coronado+ x RDS Torcasa)