Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2015 23:08:54 GMT -8
Kiss the Rain.
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The Basics
Registered Name: Kiss the Rain.
Barn Name: Smooch.
Age: 14 years.
Gender: Mare.
Breed: Warmblood x Percheron [2/3 Warmblood, 1/3 Percheron]
Breed Registry:
AWA [American Warmblood Association] && RDWA [Royal Dutch Warmblood Association].
The Appearance
Coat Color:
Dapple Grey.
Stable Color:
Silver.
Height:
18.2 HH
The Personality
Personality:
Kiss the Rain, or Smooch, is named aptly on both counts. She loves the rain, loves getting wet and muddy, and loves getting everyone else as wet and muddy as possible. She also loves attention, and is blessed with an extraordinarily sweet nature for a horse bred and geared up to be an eventer. Sunny and down to earth apply to this darling, and though she loves Joss best, she's so amiable that anyone can come up and give her a pet, provided they don't just march up into her space. She's still an eventing mare, after all, and that's a rather distinct lack of respect, and though she's had the tendency to bite worked out of her by Joss, she will still flatten her ears and give you a little nip and tug at the clothes if she's not impressed with what you're doing.
That being said, she is still that -- an eventer. Thus, while she's got a long, comfortable, sweeping gait and a good judge of scope [experience and natural inclination not pushing her beyond the height she needs to jump], she's not for the Beginners in jumping especially unless she's on a lead, and definitely not when there's a course laid before her. Dressage, she's somewhat easier to handle...in fact, she's a dream. She's responsive and calm and rests her weight on her back legs, and with that sweeping gait, she's a darling to handle through flying changes, extended trots and half passes. But again, it's Intermediate to Advanced if a lesson or a test is on the cards, as she's sensitive to aids in the body -- the other reason why she's not for Beginners off the lead, as she'll likely end up confused and thus, grumpy. Even the sweetest natured have their limits, after all, and for a horse grown used to people not clunking about on her back, it's something akin to torture to have someone pulling and tugging and shifting about.
Caution Around:
* Dogs.
The History
Basic History:
Smooch was originally bred in Denmark, and came to Italy as a three year old bought and brought over by Oriazo, Joss's father. She was rather the catalyst behind the mending of the relationship between father and son, as though she showed promise, she was too jumpy by that point for the ageing Oriazo to handle on his own. Thus, he gave Joss the benefit of the doubt, and allowed him to not only work the filly on the ground and later, in Dressage [jumping not being an option, as Joss was still somewhat disabled from his accident and not capable of handling a young horse over jumps], but to do so applying the principles of natural horsemanship that he'd learned in America.
The result was...a wonderful success, actually. Smooch retained her spirit whilst learning to respond calmly as well as eagerly, and though Joss couldn't ride her for the first few years of her life in competition, he was still foremost in her training regime...and in turn, she was foremost in the continuing saga that was his healing from his accident and the death of The Spell I'm Under at Badminton those couple of years back. However, her potential career as an Olympian [Oriazo liked to dream big, though he knew what he saw] was brought to a grinding halt when she was attacked by wild dogs during a week long stay in Hungary for competition -- the beautiful mare was left mauled and missing half the flesh in her chest and fore whither, and did in fact nearly die despite the devotion of her owners.
The end result sadly was that even after months of therapy, she wasn't likely to reach those dreams prescribed for her any time soon...and it's likely this which bonded Joss, so painfully aware of such a loss and how it felt, to her completely. He ended up buying the mare from his father in the end, and though battered, they perservered with her. It took a good four years, but between himself and one of his sisters, they got her back to something almost like her old self, and even went so far as to have a martingale designed for her that was not only comfortably padded, but hid the vast majority of the scarring...thus making it possible with a little tweaking to stick her in Dressage tests once more.
Suffice to say, Joss near sent himself broke and homeless in his determination to bring her over to America with him. But as it had become Smooch or no horse at all, brought over she was, becoming a fixture of the clinics Joss co-worked in [an example of the potential every horse had to come back in some way, and how the principles of natural horsemanship had worked to quell the worst of her post-trauma and re-establish her trust in strangers...if not strange dogs], and in time, going so far as to help Joss himself find some balance and peace again in that old passion for jumping. When she came to Blue Ridge with him, she was put forward as a suggestion [not his, Joss was shocked when it was brought up initially] for riding lessons rather than just natural horsemanship, and so she stands as such to this day -- guiding and scolding the Intermediate - Advanced riders in equal measure, and not only that, playing like a big, fun aunt to many of the younger equines about. Nothing could be better suited to a mare with a sunny, never say die disposition, after all.
The Technicalities
Discipline: Natural Horsemanship. Eventer, used in lessons for Dressage [Intermediate - Advanced] and Show-jumping [Advanced].
Owner: Giuseppe "Joss" Fiomenta.
Rider: Giuseppe "Joss" Fiomenta.