10th Annual IALHA California Show Committee Clinic Held at Garrison Ranch

By: Jeanne Mattiussi

Early in the morning on April 8, 2008, mist over the mountains was the first thing you noticed on your way out to Pat Garrison’s ranch in Thousand Oaks, California. The attractive countryside, the horse ranches dotting the landscape, and the fresh air all contributed to the beginning of a great day.

 As you arrived at the ranch after a picturesque drive up a winding driveway covered by a canopy of trees, you were greeted by the sound of people coming together to chat about horses and current events in our breed. Many people attending the 10th Annual IALHA California Show Committee Clinic enjoyed getting out of the city for a day to learn more about Andalusian horses. The clinic couldn’t have been held in a more perfect setting. Greg Garrison, the man who built this magnificent ranch, is one of the original breeders responsible for introducing the Andalusian horse to the U.S. His daughter, Pat carries on her father’s tradition of producing top-quality Andalusians.

 We had the honor of having our national IALHA President, Kay Greenbury, attend the clinic along with board members Julie Alonzo, Carlos Gaviria, Ronnie Marroquin, Vicky McIntire and Rocky Rothrock. Among the more than 65 attendees were some from different parts of the country including Ben Johnson (who has had his work cut out for him redesigning our IALHA website) and Cara Rothrock, a member of the IALHA publications committee. Three of our California board members were also present, making this year unique in that we had the most board members attending the clinic in its history.

 The clinicians this year included Andalusian horse trainers Chuck O’Donnell, Warren Mather, Vaughan Smith and Sue Burkman, who is also a well-known judge. These trainers were accompanied by Moe Gutierrez, Dr. Richard Giacopuzzi, DVM, and farrier Red St. Cyr. 

The morning started with Dr. Giacopuzzi discussing basic breeding procedures for mares as well as the pros and cons of live cover versus artificial insemination. Discussion and information followed on choosing between fresh, frozen or chilled semen. The consensus was whatever works best for your mare in your situation. Many questions were asked about certain drugs and medicines that can and are being used to better control the cycling of broodmares. Dr. Giacopuzzi did an excellent job of explaining the uses and consequences of each of these, as well as sharing his insight into the easiest and best way to get your mare in foal and keep her that way.  Another highlight of this part of the seminar was how to choose your breeding mare. Dr. Giacopuzzi explained what to look for and what to stay away from when looking to purchase a broodmare or broodmare prospect.

The next clinician was Chuck O’Donnell who presented “What is an English Pleasure horse?”  He spoke about three “ingredients” he looks for in a horse that he takes in for training. The conformation of the horse, the horse’s attitude and heart were the deciding factors as to whether the horse was going to be suitable for the chosen discipline. In order to be able to be an English Pleasure (Saddle Seat) horse, the horse’s neck must be set on fairly high for it to be able to position itself more upright in the bridle than a hunt seat or western horse. The horse must also possess some natural knee action. The horse must have a good attitude and be willing to go forward. Mr. O’Donnell also spoke of heart, which is something you can’t see until you get to know the horse. Sometimes a horse that is not naturally physically disposed to the task at hand, but works better and harder than a horse with a poor attitude will make the better show horse. Chuck spoke on the ground and then rode the reigning Champion Country Pleasure gelding, Bello de Paraiso (owned by Haley Bowman) during the demonstration. By the end of his dialogue, everyone had a clear picture of what makes a Country English Pleasure horse successful.  

Trainer Sue Burkman shared valuable information from a judge’s point of view on what to look for in the breed, specifically for the Hunt Seat Division. She generously allowed her lovely four-year-old mare, Ana Maria to be commented on by clinic attendees. Posing to the audience a scenario where they were looking to purchase her mare, she asked audience members what they did and did not like about the mare’s conformation. Ana Maria was then tacked up and ridden to demonstrate the correct way of going for a Hunt Seat horse. Sue Burkman also shared with us that her mare could also work as a Western Pleasure horse and showed us the difference in the gaits. Everyone learned some tricks of the trade from this informative segment of the clinic.

 Having groomed horses for successful Andalusian trainers Bruce Howard and Warren Mather, Moe Gutierrez’s section about grooming the show horse was a real eye opener.  Not only did she cover everything that needs to be done at home to keep a horse in “horse show” condition, she also detailed the steps that need to be taken to get a horse ready for the show ring. Moe had many secrets to share when it came to different “tools of the trade” and gave information on where to get the most effective, but most inexpensive grooming items. She offered her knowledge about different shampoos, conditioners and topical potions to make your horse literally shine and was incredibly informative.  Particularly well received was her solution to dust on a dark show horse.  Whoever would have thought about ENDUST? Everyone learned something from Moe Gutierrez.

 Vaughan Smith spoke on the Dressage/Performance Horse.  Because he has experience with showing at both Andalusian shows and open dressage shows, Vaughn was able to make some interesting comparisons and parallels between both. Vaughn rode Pat Garrison’s IALHA National Champion Driving and Country English Pleasure mount Movado to show the audience that you can take a “rail” horse and transform it using the building blocks of dressage training. Seeing Vaughn work with this horse on impulsion, cadence, rhythm and collection, you could see the horse changing before your eyes. By the end of his session, Movado was relaxed, moving forward rhythmically, shortening and lengthening stride, and beginning to do a couple steps of shoulder and haunches in. Because of his previous training as a Driving and Country English Pleasure horse, it was easy to envision Movado performing a high scoring dressage test in the not so distant future.

 Red St. Cyr has been shoeing horses for over 40 years.  His mantra throughout his seminar was “don’t try to fix it if it isn’t fixable”.  The debate about pads was one hot topic of discussion.  Red described what a pad is and isn’t used for. He explained that a pad could be used in many situations to alleviate discomfort in horses, rather than to cause discomfort to the horse. In certain situations, it would be seen as abusive to not put a pad on a horse that was sore. Red stated simply “A sore horse won’t move forward.”  He explained that bedding, footing and general environment all have an effect on the poor condition of horses’ hooves today.  With all of the new products available for bedding and horses being confined in stalls, there is a much greater chance of foot problems. This was followed by discussion and questions about trimming foals’ feet. White Line Disease was also touched on and clubbed and dished feet were also talked about. Red’s advice on this boiled down to: if the horse is sound, what is the problem, besides cosmetically?

 Andalusian trainer Warren Mather completed the day with his “Selection and Training of a Halter Horse” seminar. He covered some key aspects of developing the halter horse including information about nutrition, conditioning and presentation. He began his session with choosing the right horse, and the amount of time it takes to condition and train a halter horse, which was of great interest to the group. Warren was very specific about the time it takes to get a horse or youngster in the right physical and mental shape to become a champion halter horse. Superficial versus manmade physical flaws was a question asked by one of the attendees. Warren explained that many judges will overlook a horse that has a scar, or maybe a low splint from an injury. However if you have a clean-legged contender in the barn, and all things are equal, it will always win over the horse with a flaw. Pamela Bies and Amber Lentz were in the ring helping to demonstrate the different stages of the training process with Agave, a six-year-old Andalusian gelding. Everything from type of halter, halter chain and length of lead line to correctly leading and standing your horse up in the show ring were demonstrated under Warren’s watchful guidance. 

A silent auction held to benefit IALHA’s Southern California Show Committee was a huge success. There were many great items donated by Californian IALHA members. One of the highlights was a numbered bone china plate “Scarlet and Her Suitors” from “Gone With The Wind” autographed by the late actor and Andalusian enthusiast, Rand Brooks who played cousin Charles Hamilton in the movie. Another popular collectors item, was a Breyer horse replica of the Garrison’s spectacular stallion, Legionario III.  Accompanying the Breyer horse in the original packaging was the booklet, written by Pat Garrison titled “The Andalusian, A Rare Breed.”  This is one of most collectable Breyer horses in the series.

 The silent auction proceeds brought in over $2400, the second highest amount in the decade-long history of the clinic. Bruce Howard (who organizes and oversees the silent auction at this function) was parading around the tables watching bids on the items get higher and higher throughout the afternoon and egging people on to incite bidding wars. With over 65 attendees, the clinic was a great success and a phenomenal day. Bravo to Pat Garrison and the clinicians who donated their time, demonstration horses and knowledge for making the 10th Annual IALHA California Show Committee Clinic such a great triumph.