Sigaf: A New 'Star' at 'Horse of the Sun' Equestrian Facility

Sigaf, an award-winning Andalusian stallion purchased in the fall of 2007 by Stephanie Parisi, founder of 'Horse of the Sun', will now highlight the Spanish Classical training there for which his breed is known. The ranch is an exclusive equestrian training and boarding facility forty five minutes east of San Diego in Pine Valley, CA.

"I first saw him at a show in Del Mar and was quite taken with his performance and his temperament. He is unique in being the combination of such a powerful yet gentle horse," says Stephanie Parisi. "We feel fortunate to have found locally a horse with such a blend of excellent conformation, attitude and training...he truly seems to enjoy his work!"

He was purchased for a very special reason other than his impressive show record. He will be the primary ambassador for the many projects for which the ranch is known including a unique children's equine care program currently underway for the Phoenix House, a nationally known organization which treats kids for chemical dependency. A portion of his breeding contract fees will be donated to support these various Horse of the Sun community programs especially those for kids.

This extraordinary stallion has close ties to Hollywood. Most recently, he was part of the equine training team on the movie set of "Troy" helping prepare the actors, including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom, for their riding parts and was the mount of Orlando Bloom in that movie.

The Andalusian horse (Pure Spanish Horse) has historical roots dating to the pre-Roman era in what is today known as the Andalucia region of Spain and has long been associated with royalty. It is said that this magnificent breed is one of the outstanding gifts to the world from the Spanish monarchy. In the United States, all purebred Andalusians are directly traceable to their original European line. As the Americas were settled, the Spanish horse was brought here and therefore has ties to the current Mustang breed in the Southwest region as well.

Since arriving at Horse of the Sun ranch, Sigaf has represented his Spanish heritage magnificently. He has garnered many awards. At a recent Regional Championship Show in Los Angeles, he brought home several championships and reserve championships which qualified him to compete in the National competition in Fort Worth, Texas this past October where he was equally impressive. There he won several top five awards, two Reserve Championships and a National Championship. He was also invited by the show committee to demonstrate to the audience the classic Spanish High School style of riding. He was ridden by his prior owner and trainer, Martin Juarez.

Now home again, Sigaf will continue to be shown in competition and exhibition and will also continue his impressive career as a breeding stallion. Comfortably settled into his unique two stall horse condo creek side at the Horse of the Sun facility, he is truly the new 'star' at the ranch!

(More information about Sigaf and Stephanie Parisi is available at www.horseofthesun.com).