CarolU
12-13-2005, 03:02 PM
I would like to nominate Zarzamora del Reino (Zar) as AmericanPasoFinos.com Mare of the Year. Zar is a multiple Bella Forma Grand Champion mare that epitomizes the breeding goals of the original importers of Paso Finos to the United States. She is a beautiful black, well built mare, with a big white diamond, who turns heads and draws crowds. She is a great ambassador for the breed.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115Zar04BridgeSmall.jpg
Zar was bred by Stella Manberg-Wise in 1993. Stella’s original intent was to use her as a broodmare, so Zar had minimal training. One of the last available offspring of Favorito que tal, Stephanie Blanc convinced Stella to sell her Zar, so she could own her very own Fav daughter.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/231151ZarHeadOnly.jpg
Stephanie sent Zar to a trainer who apparently was unaware that Zar at age five, was barely green broke. He climbed on Zar and tried to work her as if she were trained. Zar had no idea what he wanted of her, so she bucked him off, breaking his arm. Stephanie came and took Zar home, deciding to train her herself.
Stephanie lived outside Washington, D.C., and had to keep Zar in a series of boarding barns. These were not working out for Zar because she is a very sensitive horse that needed a steady environment. She was teased, harassed and chased, and became very hard to catch.
http://pasobaby.tripod.com/PasoFinos/thumbnails/400x300/DSCF0037.JPG
I bought Zar, sight unseen, in 2000, because I also wanted my very own Favorito daughter. Here Zar is loved 24/7 and allowed to be the Prima Donna she thinks she should be. She still has her hard to catch moments, but is today a very different horse then stepped off the transport 5 years ago.
I started doing Parelli Natural Horsemanship with Zar in 2003. Her Paso Fino brio and sensitivity make her a quick learner and the partnership formed between us has replaced the fear and uncertainty she got from her boarding days. Today we are working on Level III and Zar does both ground work and saddle work at liberty (without tack).
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/2311526_sized.jpg
Besides Bella Forma, Zar competes and wins in Pleasure Mares, Country Pleasure, Versatility, and Trail Class, where she currently is No. 1. Zar is a great Trail horse and we’ve ridden in the Great Basin deserts, the Colorado Rockies, the Uintahs of northern Utah, and through the beautiful red rock country of Zion’s National Park. Zar has brought new owners to the Paso Fino breed when shown at all breed shows and at the Utah Horse Expo. I’ve used her to train and pony young horses and get them used to trail riding.
http://pasobaby.tripod.com/PasoFinos/thumbnails/400x300/ZarStateFairSizedPlea.jpg
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115ZarSpiritLakeSml.jpg
Zar’s funniest trait is that she very much enjoys being a Prima Donna, *snorting* at us when things don’t meet her standards, or we’re late with dinner. She has stepped back and *snorted* when an instructor touched her without asking first. She has thrown her feed bag out of her stall when she didn’t care for the contents (grass hay), and she will only allow us to put ‘her’ saddle on her back. She *snorts* and dances if you try another. All this, and yet she stood with her head bowed and allowed a class of special needs children, with all their crutches, chairs, and braces, pet her from one end to the other, without a snort or flinch.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115Zar_Test_sz.jpg
Zar is a beautiful mare. I am very proud to call her mine. But the credit really belongs with Stella, who studied and spent years with Paso Finos to breed such beautiful horses. The fact that they are also very smooth is almost secondary to their conformation and beauty.
I will probably be taking Zar out of the public eye this year, breeding her this spring to Contratista. I look forward to another Bella Forma grand champion in a few years.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115HDB11Sml.jpg
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115Zar04BridgeSmall.jpg
Zar was bred by Stella Manberg-Wise in 1993. Stella’s original intent was to use her as a broodmare, so Zar had minimal training. One of the last available offspring of Favorito que tal, Stephanie Blanc convinced Stella to sell her Zar, so she could own her very own Fav daughter.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/231151ZarHeadOnly.jpg
Stephanie sent Zar to a trainer who apparently was unaware that Zar at age five, was barely green broke. He climbed on Zar and tried to work her as if she were trained. Zar had no idea what he wanted of her, so she bucked him off, breaking his arm. Stephanie came and took Zar home, deciding to train her herself.
Stephanie lived outside Washington, D.C., and had to keep Zar in a series of boarding barns. These were not working out for Zar because she is a very sensitive horse that needed a steady environment. She was teased, harassed and chased, and became very hard to catch.
http://pasobaby.tripod.com/PasoFinos/thumbnails/400x300/DSCF0037.JPG
I bought Zar, sight unseen, in 2000, because I also wanted my very own Favorito daughter. Here Zar is loved 24/7 and allowed to be the Prima Donna she thinks she should be. She still has her hard to catch moments, but is today a very different horse then stepped off the transport 5 years ago.
I started doing Parelli Natural Horsemanship with Zar in 2003. Her Paso Fino brio and sensitivity make her a quick learner and the partnership formed between us has replaced the fear and uncertainty she got from her boarding days. Today we are working on Level III and Zar does both ground work and saddle work at liberty (without tack).
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/2311526_sized.jpg
Besides Bella Forma, Zar competes and wins in Pleasure Mares, Country Pleasure, Versatility, and Trail Class, where she currently is No. 1. Zar is a great Trail horse and we’ve ridden in the Great Basin deserts, the Colorado Rockies, the Uintahs of northern Utah, and through the beautiful red rock country of Zion’s National Park. Zar has brought new owners to the Paso Fino breed when shown at all breed shows and at the Utah Horse Expo. I’ve used her to train and pony young horses and get them used to trail riding.
http://pasobaby.tripod.com/PasoFinos/thumbnails/400x300/ZarStateFairSizedPlea.jpg
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115ZarSpiritLakeSml.jpg
Zar’s funniest trait is that she very much enjoys being a Prima Donna, *snorting* at us when things don’t meet her standards, or we’re late with dinner. She has stepped back and *snorted* when an instructor touched her without asking first. She has thrown her feed bag out of her stall when she didn’t care for the contents (grass hay), and she will only allow us to put ‘her’ saddle on her back. She *snorts* and dances if you try another. All this, and yet she stood with her head bowed and allowed a class of special needs children, with all their crutches, chairs, and braces, pet her from one end to the other, without a snort or flinch.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115Zar_Test_sz.jpg
Zar is a beautiful mare. I am very proud to call her mine. But the credit really belongs with Stella, who studied and spent years with Paso Finos to breed such beautiful horses. The fact that they are also very smooth is almost secondary to their conformation and beauty.
I will probably be taking Zar out of the public eye this year, breeding her this spring to Contratista. I look forward to another Bella Forma grand champion in a few years.
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/23115HDB11Sml.jpg