Specialty Act: Felix Santana & his Friesian Stallions

FELIX santana & his friesian stallions

This year’s specialty act at the Sanpete County Fair Rodeo will be Felix Santana and his famous Friesian Stallions. The rodeo will be held on Thursday and Saturday, Aug. 26 and 28, at the Sanpete County Fairgrounds, 500 N. State, Manti.

Felix Santana, manager of the Young Living Friesian Department, was born into a ranching and farming family. He grew up surrounded by hardy horses and skilled horsemen. It was this multi-generational background that fueled his passion to take the reins and make them his own.

As a teenager, Felix found his passion in “alta escuela” training, which is similar to what they train in at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. After years of work and study under several trainers, he developed his own training style, implementing preferred techniques while maintaining a strong family tradition and morale.

Felix’s style of training develops a “well-rounded horse,” meaning a horse that has a solid foundation with versatile skills and then translating those skills into a specific career tailored to each individual horse.

While working horses in Washington, Felix went into a partnership on a Friesian stallion named Bandido. One day, his partner received a phone call from Gary Young inquir-

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ing about their available horses. Within a week, Gary and his sons were visiting Felix with great interest. Three weeks later, Felix delivered Bandido to the Young Living Lavender Farm in Mona.

Felix stayed at the farm for two days to train Gary on how to care for his first Friesian horse. During his stay, they grew a friendship and bond. Conversations about Gary’s future plans for Friesians at the farm developed, and the idea of reaching out to a new demographic in the equine community formed. Gary found Felix to be an essential member of his farm, and Felix joined Gary in a shared vision and shared goals.

Felix refined his education on the Friesian horse breed while training in Holland and became certified in horse reproduction. Now, the Young Living Friesian Department has a fully functioning reproduction program. All of the achievements of the Friesian Department, pioneered by Felix Santana, have been in honor of Gary Young’s vision and will continue to carry on his name.

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