Hi Maria, >>>There was one who would work himself up into a sweat just being saddled. But the owner (ignorant in my opinion) would hurl paper bags at the horse, shake plastic bags at him and just generally terrorize the poor animal thinking he was making him bomb proof
And in my experience that type of 'bomb proofing' may work with some horses but often just teaches horses to go into freeze and they don't really learn to accept things and can end up quite reactive in a new situation. I have had a fair bit of exposure to Paso Finos and have been in the type of barn you described - keeping the horses at the back of the stalls by making noise on the bars - not untypical of some Arab show barns either. About 25 years ago I gave a demo in Louisiana and a farm brought a Paso Fino gelding who the trainer (I think he had been a QH trainer??) felt was too nervous, couldn't learn well and one of the things the horse could not do, was walk. He was a bundle of nerves on the ground and in the saddle. I did some bodywork and learning exercises with him and then rode him - yes he was tense so I just focused on my breathing and in a few minutes the horse just relaxed and did a flat walk. The trainer asked me what I had done and when I told him I just became aware of changing my own breathing he looked at me like I was either crazy or just wouldn't tell him. On the other hand there is a large breeding farm Starwind Ranch in Montana. They primarily train their horses as pleasure horses - but they are often shown successfully. Many of these horses are very calm, sensible and such easy going characters. Interestingly they don't handle their young horses - really at all and they run in pastures that are 100's of acres. Some of them are even much more reactive to start with than the most reactive unhandled Icelandic I have ever met and others are more inherently easy-going. I quite like both Peruvian and Paso Finos - IME if you are quiet with them they are very responsive. IME the Paso Finos I have known of have been sounder and had a longer useable life span but that may just be my own personal experience. We have a fun gaited show with Peruvians, TWH, MFT, Icelandic and we suggested a class for horses over 20 years - none of the Peruvian people involved with the show (and they are mostly pleasure riders) had sound horses over 12 - but again that is hopefully and probably not the norm. Icelandic Horse Farm Robyn Hood & Phil Pretty Vernon BC Canada www.icefarm.com
