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TIME TO RIDEWhen you tack up your horse use one set of reins to the side rings(bosal) and the other to the bottom rings(barbada). The tope rein is primarily for turning and the bottom rein is mainly for stopping. Saddle at the barn and then lunge the horse. Make sure that the horse has worked some and his attention is totally on you. Mount the horse and ride as if lunging him at a walk. Work up to a regulare corto. You must work in unity to ensure you teach the horse the proper commands from its back and it associates those with the commands it is used to from the ground. Be patient and do not expect it all in the first day. Your job from day one will be to start teaching the horse to stop. To stop sit back and down on the saddle ans use the least contact possible on the reins. When you get ready to move forward again, use your body by leaning forward and gently squeezing your legs, at the saem time that you or your help enocurage the horse to move. This will teach the horse the difference in your movements. This will facilitate things for the rest of the training. The idea is for the horse to stop without taking any extra steps. Do this at a walk then start asking for stops from the corto. Do not try to guide the horse, let them be on a loose rein. Work in both directions. Do this until you feel that if the horse where to try to run of, you could stop him regarldess of the speed. Remember that you must try to achieve a perfect stop every time. This developes the horse's respect for the stop command and the discipline that the horse must stop immediately every time, which comes in handy if the horse spooks on the trail and may be prone to flight. Once you have the stop mastered, start asking your help to give you more rope. This will free up the horse. Now start trying to guide the horse, the goal being to use a light pull and a quick release. When you pull on the reins, the horses first natural instinct is to pull back. This will then allow the horse to feel a quick "reward", the faster you release. Ask your horse to change directions once you feel the horse is giving to your pulls and releases as you guide the horse. If you have help have them ride ahead of you on a calm horse all over where you think you'll ride. Have your horse follow closely. Getting your horse used to the surroundings will be a big help. If I have no help I will lead the horse around an area I may be riding before lunging. Then mount and ride out starting at a walk then working up to a corto. If you have problems controlling or maintaining the horse's attention, dismount immediately and lunge the horse short and as hard as you can. Make the horse work at full speen in a small circle, both directions. This should get his attention and is more efficient than a whip or a fight. This methodgoes for any horse at any stage in training. Consistency and repetition will show the horse what you are trying to accomplish. You are better off having a short session that is positive, than trying to ask too much at once and having a battle. IT takes twice as long to undo negative behavior or a bad habit as it does to teach that bad behavior. |
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Keep the following in mind when working outside of the ring:
a-You are only trying to teach the horse guidance and control.
b-Do not worry about gait, head position, collection, or flexing.
c- Be patient and make sure that the horse is worked on the daily basis. They need to develop a routine of work and of discipline.
d-The basics you are working on will determine the future of your horse. Stay relaxed and realistic in your expectations. If your horse has a bad experience at this stage, it will stay with him forever.
Problems throughout the training of a Paso Fino horse are a sure obstacle that every trainer will face in this line of work. It is impossible to determine and cover all different kinds of problems you will encounter. Ther solutions for these problems are just as broad.
Problems start from the moment the foal is born. You must maintain this horse in its best health and soundness possible. His conformation is going to be the determining factor to his potential. Since it is a natural gaited horse, you must maintain his build the same, especially with regard to the hooves.
For ex. you should not use the horse's hooves to improve the natural aiblity that you world not otherwise reach through training. The horse will depend on the health of his hooves to provide you with riding satisfaction. Once you reach your horses maximum, recognize it and do not alter his feet tomake the horse something it is not.
Any type of work a horse performs is going to have the influence of the human hand. You must understand that your hands are your main tool of communication with that horse. Once again, learn all about your horse and adjust your way of handling the horse to his needs. You must adjust to each horse individually
LACK OF COMMUNICATION with your horse is the number one problem as it is among humans. IN this case, it is more delicate because the horse can not speak, but you must recognize the signs.
Your ability to feel what makes that horse uncomfortable, as you train it, will determine the future outcome of the horse. It will also give you a different time frame in which you will reach each goal in the different stages.
Your success as a trainer is not your ability to solve a problem. It is the ability to predict the problem so that you can move on to the next task smoothly.
During training, some of your most ordinary problems are: the lack of consistency in stopping, flexing, backing, discipline and during the bitting stages, the head set.
* Every time you ask your horse to stop try to make sure that you use your body as well. The horse is not to take any extra steps. If you are not accomplishing this you can: change the headgear, stop the horse by pulling more on one side than the other (do it to both sides, equally, first stop to one side, then to the other). Use a down hill so that the horse gets under when you stop.
*If a horse is not willing to back up gently by the rocking back on your seat-bone and light tugs, that is a sign that your horse is still stiff to the front, and you need to work more on stopping, flexing, and suppling. Do not force a horse to back up. Start with one step at a time and work up. When a horse will not back, this may also be a sign that the horse has still not given you his full trust. Backing is not a natural instinct for a horse, so he must trust his rider before he will back. Continue working with your horse, and asking him to back one step at a time, and as his trust increases he will beging to back for you.
*The head set of the horse when bitted should be no different than its natural headset when not being ridden, if you are doing your work properly. The use of different bits are enhancing the collection & improving the foot fall. Bitting a horse is putting the icing on the cake. Do not try to force the horses nose down with a bit. Work further on suppling exercises through circles, figure eigths ad serpentines to enhance the horses natural collection.
* When you have a horse that goes into pace there are 2 things that can contribute to this: the horse is being ridden on the bit too much or being pushed over its maximum ability too much. You must go back to the basics to solve it. A horse that paces naturally as your break and train it is still uncomfortable carrying its rider. Go slowly and work a lot at the walk up and down hills and on circles of varying sizes. This will teach the horse to find each leg individually. When asking the horse to move out into a corto, do so by transitioning the horse through a fast walk, since the footfall of the walis the same sucession as the corto.
*Hopping-the horse may still be more stiff to that side or uncomfortable moving forward and carrying the rider. More bosal work and lunging is ahead. Also, over collecting before the horse is ready can cause this as well as using a stronger it than needed.
Hopping is an expression of impatience on the horse's part which could be a diret result of the riders impatience and pushing the horse too soon.
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