Caballos del Corazón is owned and operated by Julie Alonzo, a long-time aficionado of the Andalusian horse. Although she grew up around horses (her family ran a small private horse rescue operation in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California), Julie did not meet her first Andalusian until she was in the sixth grade. While competing at the 4H Junior Grand Nationals with her dairy goats, she saw an exhibition performance of four Andalusian stallions: two bay, two dapple grey. It was love at first sight. Julie continued to admire the breed from afar as she made her way through college in Minnesota, where she trained horses for a farmer who had quite a herd of Quarter Horses and Appaloosas. Upon graduation, Julie returned to California where she continued to train horses for neighbors and taught riding lessons to children and adults new to the horse world. In 1996, Julie bought Snowden’s Bay Lady, a foundation Quarter Horse mare in foal to Hollín, a grey Andalusian, by Genil, Champion of Champions of Spain. That Half-Andalusian foal, Jefe, has been her primary riding horse and constant companion ever since. In 1998, Snowden’s Bay Lady produced another foal, this time a lovely rose-grey filly by Cielo, of Garrison Ranch breeding. Anteri, that foal, is now the light of her owners’ lives. She is a family companion and riding horse in Creswell, Oregon, and also successfully competes in halter, English, and Western in open breed and Andalusian shows. Also in 1998, after exhaustive research on bloodlines and United States breeders, Julie purchased her first purebred Andalusian, then four month old Odalisca GF, the fiery black daughter of Indiano XVIII from Lanys Kaye Eddies of Gremlan Farms. In 1999, Snowden’s Bay Lady was bred to Agente II, a tall grey dressage type Andalusian and gave birth to Hijo, who turned out to be a giant bay gelding, topping 16.3 hands as a two year old. Hijo now lives in California where he competes in dressage. In 2001, Odalisca GF, Anteri, and Jefe all qualified for the Andalusian Nationals, and Jefe earned several ribbons in NATRC long-distance riding competitions, not a bad accomplishment for a ‘one woman operation’! In 2002, Julie began her doctoral studies in education at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, a move which of necessity kept her ‘herd’ quite small. A student budget has a hard time stretching to cover horse expenses! She taught Odalisca GF to carry a pack and made several week-long journeys to the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area in Oregon and Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area, riding Jefe and packing gear on Odalisca. As her graduate studies drew to a close, Julie returned to the Andalusian breeding world with renewed vigor. She spent two weeks in Andalusia, Spain, in 2005 riding a variety of Andalusians, visiting breeding farms, and soaking up as much information as she could. Upon her return, she began serious preparation for Jefe and Odalisca GF’s return to the show ring. The work paid off, with Jefe earning five National Titles (including a National Championship) and Odalisca bringing home three (including a Reserve National Championship) in 2005, among numerous other honors—please visit our 'show history’ page for more details. In addition, Julie and Cyndy Stephens-Winchell decided to collaborate on the purchase of Armani LFA, a black pure Spanish Andalusian stallion. 2006 was a banner year as well, with the purchase of the Emerald Valley Equestrian Center in Eugene, Oregon, now the home-base for both Caballos del Corazon’s breeding operation and Cyndy Stephens-Winchell’s bustling training business, and the addition of Caprichosa (Mex), a classic old-style Baroque S/P mare, Odalisca's 2007 colt and Caprichosa's 2008 filly. If you are in the area, please stop by! In 2007, Julie was elected to serve on the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association Board of Directors, representing the Pacific Northwest. As part of her Board responsibilities, Julie chairs the Communications Committee, which creates, distributes, and analyzes IALHA Member Surveys and publishes bi-weekly News Briefs for the Association. More locally, that same year she was also elected President of the Northwest Andalusian Horse Association. She continues to serve in both those roles now. Needless to say, service to the breed is important to us! Of course, Jefe continues to be Julie’s first choice mount for back-country pack trips and wilderness explorations.