#zinzano l

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Ginny Holmes and Zinzano L on a snowy trail ride

EquialitySims' 2025 Holiday Bingo

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Ginny took a deep breath, willing herself to shut down the butterflies she felt building in her stomach. This was her first big trip with a horse of her own for a clinic such as this. Following a win in the CTJL circuit, Ginny was offered a sponsorship that brought Z into her life. Zinzano L was originally meant to be a dressage horse, but the gelding made it clear he was not super interested in showing off his fancy footwork. Now, Ginny has been working hard to convert him into a show jumper. Not only was this a big milestone for her professional riding career, but it held a little extra weight. She knew Z's breeder, Therese Lind, was in the crowd. Tess hadn't seen Z in person since his sale, and Ginny hoped that she could impress Tess with how far he had come. While they had kept in touch with texts on his progress, she couldn't wait for them to reunite in the stables after her ride. One thing Ginny continued to need to spend a lot of time with Z on was his enthusiasm for leaving the ground. Trot poles, raised cavalettis, a small crossrail. Often in his mind, they all were as exciting as a 3' oxer, and he was eager to show off his scope. By the end of the first day, Philippa's guidance had Z putting in a normal amount of effort into the poles. However, he still was eager about the cavalettis, and popped over them with a little more pizzazz than it necessarily called for—often treating them like little jumps.

Ginny Holmes and Zinzano L in The Education of the Young Horse Clinic on EquialitySims

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Ginny knew to build a strong partnership with Z, she was going to have to find new ways to keep the gelding entertained. He had soured towards his prior career as a dressage horse and could become grumpy and unwilling with too much time spent flatting in the confines of the arena. Hacking out on the trails, Z became engaged and attentive. He was even willing to school some of his dressage moves that would result in a meltdown if requested in the arena. In the woods surrounding the barn, Ginny and Z watched the seasons change and their trust in one another grow.

Ginny Holmes and Zinzano L in the 2025 Monochromatic Moments challenge on Equiality-Sims

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Ginny was ecstatic on the second day of the clinic. During her post-ride meeting with Therese, she had seemed thrilled with Z's development into a jumper. Ginny also knew from their schooling that Zinzano became even more impressive when the jumps got set up a little higher. Rather than having the grace of a gangly teenager, his level of eagerness fit the size of the question. Popping over the oxer felt like floating, and it was even sweeter to know this ease and partnership came at her own hard work. Z wasn't intended to be a star jumper, but after discussing their ride with Philippa, Ginny felt like this was the season. Z was ready to debut on the larger show circuit.

Ginny Holmes and Zinzano L in The Education of the Young Horse Clinic on EquialitySims

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All of Ginny's horses had always been projects. They came to her off the race track, and she restarted them for new careers.

Her sponsorship from @ihtl-co offered her a new opportunity - a search for her new upper level competition horse. However, Ginny couldn't entirely stay away from a little bit of a challenge.

Ginny found herself, at the recommendation of several trainers, arriving at @stall-lindens to look at Swedish Warmbloods for sale. There were several started show jumpers with competition records, but Ginny found herself drawn to a tall, dark gelding. Zinzano L was bred for dressage, and had the movement for it. Unfortunately, the riders at Stall Lindens recognized Zin's heart didn't seem to be in dressage. He was growing bored, and they recognized upper level dressage was not in the cards for him.

Out of curiosity, they had free jumped him and found he did have a cute, scopey jump. He didn't have the breeding for it, and he didn't have the show miles the other horses had, but Ginny was smitten with his big heart and puppy dog personality.

A giant welcome to Zinzano L, Zin, Zinny, Z!

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"Stay with him, stay with him, stay with him!" Ginny's trainer's voice echoed across the arena. Ginny grimaced realizing she probably caught her new mount's mouth more than she had intended as the dark bay gelding jumped in such a vertical fashion, she imagined that this was the closest she would come to experiencing a rocket taking off.

Zinzano L, "Zin", was Ginny's new mount, and they were having their first under-saddle jump session. Zin previously was a dressage horse, but he started to grow bored with that routine, and so Ginny hoped he would find more joy in the jumper ring. Zin was eager and interested in the jumps, but was still figuring out the whole jumping situation. Like many inexperienced jumpers, he currently had a tendency towards drama, overjumping, and launching himself over the smallest crossrails.

Ginny broke out into a large smile upon landing on the other side of the crossrail, her joy radiating. "Good boy, Z! What a good man." This particular jump had been their most cohesive jump yet, and while the crossrail certainly didn't need the amount of clearance Zin was giving it, it was clear he had a fair amount of scope that would serve the duo well down the road. Ginny Holmes and Zinzano L in Equiality Sims' 2023 Back To Schooling event