03.07.2016

Ducado and me = our journey, short version :-)

How it all started......

Our Pura Raza Espanola Revised Black 2006 Stallion is a real dream horse. I found him as a baby in 2006 by a complete chance and once talking his breeder Gabi into sending me his DVD, I was in love and there was no turning back! Of course, it took me months and months of basically begging Gabi to consider selling him and to let me come visit. With a huge beginner's luck, Ducado picked me and it was so very obvious that he persuaded Gabi to let me have him. I will always be grateful to Ducado for giving me his love and Gabi for entrusting me with such a rare gem. I can only imagine how difficult that must have been...He has been bred by Yeguada Romerito in Michigan, USA, and so is not from Spain, as everybody thinks :-) I was living in California at the time when I found him. He was born only few months before my father suddenly passed away and he basically saved me. I was very real crisis in my life when I met him - my dad, starting Stanford Grad School, teaching at Stanford as a TA, moving up north because it from LA... many changes and always by myself and alone. It was difficult.

Ducado has been my soulmate ever since and we have been through a lot together. He followed me here and has been very brave and forgiving through our journey together. He is teaching me so very much every day that I never take a moment with him for granted. He is very effectionate and people oriented, has always prefered people over horses. He is gentle with people and careful with them, even when his mares in heat are calling him from their pasture - and they can be very persuasive. Ducado has such an amazing soul that he has been able to live with his girls as a family for a year with absolutely no issue whatsoever. He is a perfect gentleman. Always.

He is very respectful and we are very happy he could have a normal life and is not isolated. Ducado is a very sweet and gentle natured horse and impresses everybody who meets him. He is highly intelligent and moves like a dream with a hard working attitute towards work, you can read more about this in the next category. He just turned 10 years old and I can hardly believe we have already spent 10 years together. I could not imagine my life without him and I am grateful for every single second I get to spend with him.

He has matured into a stunning 172 cm impressive big black stallion and everybody who sees him falls in love with him. He has been with me in Germany and Spain and we even heard from a well known PRE presentor that he has the very best gates he has ever seen in a PRE horse. I am very proud of him to say the least. He is now back here with me in Czech and competing in dressage with my trainer. Just qualified for the European Dressage Championship Finals of the Iberian Horse in Italy, which takes place in October, in the medium level. He does not have much time on him in terms of dressage, and has only been to competitions once few years ago and then this year, which makes this even more imppressive. But the most important to me is that he is so very loyal and protective of me. I am not very brave and a terrible rider, honestly, not good at all. Total amateur and on top of them, I am afraid to ride. You would not get me onto a strange horse, ever. Ducado is the only horse I ride and I trust. Which is ironic, given he is this impressive and strong, huge, and active breeding stallion :-) But he has always taken care of me. We have been on milion trail rides together by now and even in situations when it was quite hectic like in Spain in the mountains in all that chaos, he would always put me as the priority over everything else, including his testosteron. I will always owe him, there is no doubt about that.

He is truly stunning and I am still in awe how gorgeous he is and how lucky I am and was when he chose me. The past 10 years have been so special thanks to him and I will always treasure him and all our memories. He is my life and soulmate and nothing will ever change that. Thank you Ducado and thank you Gabi :-)

Will keep you posted about our Italian adventure and the Championship :-)