The amazing Andalusian horse! We are celebrating them as our February Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Dressage riders who choose Andalusians as their mounts are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the International Andalusian & Lusitano Horse Association is a participating organization.
Here, a Region 6 adult amateur shares the story of how a horseless summer led her to bond with an Andalusian mare, and subsequently purchase her first ever “hairy” horse.
By Kimberly Ransdell
My Andalusian story starts with a very “special” warmblood (as many do). My warmblood mare at the time was experimenting with a discipline change and was leased out for the summer, leaving me horseless. Horseless in the summer in the Pacific Northwest – when the weather is finally nice – is the worst, especially if you spent all winter in the dark, pummeled by cold rain, slopping through mud, and fending off rain rot just to keep riding.
One evening, while having dinner with some horse friends, the topic of conversation was…wait for it…horses! It was mentioned that I was horseless for the summer. My friend Carla Shown, a small Andalusian breeder (Moonstruck Meadows), offered to let me bring her open broodmare, Dora AK, to our mutual friend Nancy Connolly’s barn to ride.
Dora and I got along marvelously right from the get-go! Some horses just “speak” to you, and Dora and I were having an all-out jabber fest. I spent hours with her, braiding her hair and grooming her. The time I was spending with her reminded me of when I was a kid and would hang out just to hang out with a horse; somewhere between work and perhaps the on-guard preparedness with my own horse, I had forgotten about just enjoying the moment. We spent the summer playing dressage horse in the sandbox and going for strolls through the neighbor’s hay field. It had been a long time since I had a horse to ride that was eager to just go for a walk about on the buckle without a care at all, and it was nice.
Fall came too soon, and it was time for Dora to go back home to Moonstruck Meadows so that she could get ready to resume her intended career. Carla was very excited to breed her to a stallion named Faralay II, who competed through Grand Prix. This breeding was special for Carla, as she was hoping to keep the baby for her next dressage horse.
In spring 2015, I got a call from Carla saying that Dora had foaled, and it was a filly named Jazmin MSM! As soon as I had a chance, I drove out to the barn and called for Dora, and the cutest little head popped over the rather tall stall door. I took one look at her and said out loud, “If there were ever one of these hairy horses I was going to own, it would be you.” (Just to put the hairy comment in perspective, I owned warmbloods, and I was the person who clipped bridle paths, pulled manes, and was a button braid queen. The hair is a “thing,” and for many Andalusian owners, it is a “BIG thing…” At this time, I am still failing at mastering it).
Jazmin grew up and up and up and… well, you get the picture. Her shoer says that she was the only horse in which he could see a height difference every time he went to trim her. Soon, Jazmin was towering over her old “aunties” (but they were still boss; 14 hands can still pack a punch), and she watched everything from her view in the sky.
When Jazmin turned three, it was off to our friend Cassi Soule to get started in Southern Oregon. The wildfires in the summer had Cassi bringing her horses up north to escape the smoke, so Jazmin ended up back at my friend Nancy’s barn. At that time, I think Jazmin had been under saddle for only 30 or 60 days, not long at all. Cassi asked if I wanted to get on her, and I was already climbing up before the rest of the words came out of her mouth. I was instantly comfortable aboard Jazmin, and it felt like we had been together forever.
At 17 hands, Jazmin ended up being just too tall for my friend Carla. After a year of training with Debbie Spence (whom I had ridden with for many years), Carla called to let me know that Jazmin was coming home and asked if I wanted to come ride her. I took an array of saddles out to find something that fit her and started to go out to ride a few times a week. It was very similar to the time I spent with Dora, just hanging out and having a full-on conversation with one another. Carla and I finally worked out the details, and for Christmas in 2020, I bought myself a Jazmin.
With the help of our trainer and good friend Regina Agren, we finished at the top of our classes for the USDF All Breeds United States PRE Association (USPRE) Awards in 2021 and 2022. I didn’t read the rules closely enough for the 2023 year end awards and finished a test short, but Regionals were the highlight of my show season. We competed at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 6 Championships and won our Adult Amateur First Level Freestyle Championship with a personal best high score of 75.542% (from both views) and a score of a “9” for one of our leg yields. It will be one of my most memorable tests (for good reasons, unlike the one that used the whole scoring system on one test sheet) and made even more special by the thoughtful comments from the judges.
Dora AK now lives in Paso Robles, California, with her person Mary Ann Paul, where they do dressage, quadrilles, and trail rides. Carla still shares updates with me when she gets them. Jazmin and I will compete at Second Level this year and plan to re-work our freestyle music. My goal is to achieve my USDF Bronze Medal with Distinction on Jazmin in the next couple of years, and then we will see where we go. No matter how far we go, I know it will be fun!
