"Zarzuela Fina Vista

This week I'd like to introduce a very special Horse of the Week. There is a new addition to the "MyHorse.ca" family! My sister Janet, and my other sister Joanne (after months of pestering from her daughter, my niece) have co-purchased a 2 year old bay Paso Fino filly from Fina Vista Farm. So in addition to assembling the web page this Sunday, Janet is also writing the article.

"I have been watching this pretty filly since she was born, wishing she was mine, but didn't think I could manage board for two horses. She was born in April 2007, and will soon be 2. I was afraid that she would be sold to someone else, so I talked my sister Joanne, into going halves with me on this horse (Jo's head is still spinning). I agreed that if it didn't work out for her, I would buy her portion of Zarzuela back. My husband and I plan on purchasing a small farm or property of our own in the next year in the Barrie/Orillia area, and we will bring both horses, Alberto and Zarzuela, to live with us. We will try to find something close to Jo and Leslie, so they can visit us and the horses whenever they want.

Zarzuela's mother was a very laid back, sweet horse and her daughter is similar in personality. She is curious and friendly and is always the first to run over and investigate newcomers to the field. She especially seems to be attracted to children.

Zarzuela fits my 'Horse Wish List' perfectly.

1. She's pretty! Well, after all, we are artists and photographers and she will earn part of her keep as a model.

2. Zarzuela is quiet and calm (for a 2 year old).

3. She won't be too tall, maybe 14.1 hh at the most. (We are all short!)

4. She has a nice smooth gait.

5. She has a decent pedigree. Her sire is a Columbian Stallion, Macondo and her mother had good bloodlines.

Zarzuela was vet checked before we purchased her, and was only 1 of 2 horses the vet has ever passed! The Equine Veterinarian told us that many horses have eye problems, and most older horses fail the exam for various reasons. I would highly recommend horse shoppers have a pre-purchase exam before you buy any horse. You can use the seller's vet to do the exam and have access to the horse's most recent medical history as well.

I don't have her future entirely laid out, but would like to have her trained with natural horsemanship or some similar gentle method. She will also be clicker trained - I have used this technique on Alberto this past year and have been really impressed with how quickly he learns new tasks and how hard he tries to do the right thing. He is way smarter than a seal!

Zarzuela's two future careers will be trail horse and photographer's model. Leslie and I will feature Zarzuela in 6 months or so and give you an update on how she is doing. Hopefully we will have good things to report!

You can see a photo slide show of Zarzuela and her mom, Castanuela from 2007. Zarzuela had her mane, forelock and tail shaved to encourage it to grow back in long and thick. I think it worked!"

http://www.myhorse.ca/Zarzuela_2007/index.html

Congratulations to Zarzuela for being our March 2nd, 2009 Horse of the Week!