Local rider Julia Mann began showing her Peruvian Paso 2 years
ago, and has since earned the No. 1 ranking
HOLLISTER
Up until two years ago, Julia Mann didn’t show horses, didn’t compete in horse shows, and was even slightly scared of her family’s Peruvian Paso gelding, Huaquero.
“Julia was scared for the first year,” said her mother, Vanita. “But once it was trained, she wanted to show it.”
Purchased three years ago in Arizona, Huaquero was mainly used for trail riding in and around Henry Coe State Park. But under the training Jorge Valenzuela, Huaquero has turned into the No. 1 horse in the North American Peruvian Horse Association, and Mann the No. 1 junior rider in the 12-and-under age category.
And it’s been that way for two years now.
“I was surprised,” Mann said. “I did not expect that at all. I just wanted to get experience.”
Both ranked in the top spot at the end of last season, Mann and Huaquero have finished first in all five shows this season with three shows remaining, including one this weekend in Santa Maria.
“They started the journey together,” Vanita said.
Following Santa Maria, the two will then head to Texas to compete in the U.S. National Show in October, where Mann finished runner-up last year by just two points.
“Last year was a learning experience,” Vanita said. “This year, she’s more confident because she knows what to expect, knows what the judges expect.”
And both Huaquero and Mann demonstrate to near perfection what the judges are looking for, even during training.
The Peruvian Paso was bred for its plantation riding, Vanita said, where owners sought a smooth ride to check on their crops. During shows, judges look specifically at the horse’s gait, and even at the rider’s shoulders, searching for smoothness and confirmation.
The gait of a Peruvian Paso is almost the exact opposite of what one would expect of a normal horse trot, and any movement the Peruvian makes is absorbed into the rider’s legs.
“I just steer,” Mann said. “He has to do all the moving. But I know his little quirks.”
With judges even eyeing the amount of effort the rider puts on the horse and its rein, Mann may not be the one doing “the moving,” but she’s certainly the one who’s in control of it.
“She had to work with him and learn his quirks and he had to respond to her commands,” Vanita said.
Mann takes full responsibility of Huaquero, from feeding him to cleaning his hooves, from grooming and exercise to even bathing. And that relationship may just be the reason for Mann’s success.
The two have a noticeable bond while in the arena, despite neither of them being involved with horse shows two years ago. Huaquero, 6, and Mann, 12, began the circuit together, began learning the process together, and are now the two to beat going into nationals in October.
“I try not to get stressed out,” Mann said. “I just try to have as much fun as I can and make my horse look good.
“It’s pretty competitive … But if I’m stressed out, then he’ll be stressed out. He can sense it.”
