Dressage in the Rockies Profile
Joan Bolton and Mazarin - Page 2
By Diana Hunt for HorsesDaily.com

Bolton feels his best feature is his extended canter, he has an easy time with it. He also has a super extended trot. His long, elastic gaits take him across the arena in what seems only a few strides.

"One of the things I was pleasantly surprised with at this show is he is getting more and more expression in his tempi changes. I'm getting across that diagonal with bigger and bigger changes--I'm going to have to start them earlier because I almost ended up in the corner," Bolton laughed. "He's got more in him of everything. He's just getting to the point where he's really listening to me and I really love that because I've been able to communicate with him in a much lighter way."

When Wanda Hage first came to show the horse to Bolton, it was one of those "deep breathing moments," as Bolton calls it. "They unloaded him and this fire- breathing thing, just big and red, who and hadn't been ridden in four years, came lunging out of the trailer. So I thought, 'OK, I'd better just get on fast'. I remember it was like a moving target just to get on him and then away we went. Within two minutes he calmed down and was fine."