watching Scooter

[Minouri]

One of the guys who came yesterday to work on the fence is a fantastic rider. He's confident and used to be pretty active in the dressage circuit. I think he also did some western for fun. As a reward for helping out I offered him a ride. I put him on Snowy (our appy) first. I don't let many people ride Scooter and usually never outside of a ring. He looked a little bored on our husband horse.

I'm so glad I let him ride Scooter. It reminded me of when I found my dressage trainer. I let her try him and when she rode him I could see the best of him come out.

I wish I had a video camera. I'll have to invite him out again and take a camera with me. Scooter gave him a run for his money for a few minutes. He didn't buck but he was all about getting him off for a few minutes. The guy sat deep and relaxed and it was a joy to watch. Scooter calmed right down.

The two of them looked like poetry in motion to me going around our property. I had the bit on Scooter. He was nicely collected.....high stepping.....full of energy. I never get to see him like that since I'm always on him when he's gaiting. Most of my friends have no idea how to ride him......and when he gets all excited they are afraid of him. But I could see how smooth he was and can say it was almost as much fun watching as it was riding.

BTW, we converted another person into loving Pasos! When he first got on Scooter all he could say was how little he is. He stopped saying that as they went around the property and the smile on his face kept getting bigger. He asked me if he could let the horse open up and see what he has. By then I knew he'd be fine. You should have seen Scooter go! His mane flying. He was having a blast.

The rest of the afternoon all the guy could talk about was how surprised he'd been that he had enjoyed a gaited horse. He'd always thought gaited horses were for old people who didn't want to bounce! HA. Imagine that. Scooter sure changed his mind.

Is there anything more fun than watching a person discover the joy of riding a Paso?

[Moniece Dickerson]

Oh how EXCITING!!Betcha that guy will be asking for more rides then decide he needs his own paso :D !Good work!!Your friend,Moniece

[Boyd R]

I beleive for most men that loved sports and motorcycles as kids, Getting on a paso is like turning back the hands of time. There is that rush that we were allways chasing.

And I know how you feel about getting to see someone ride your horse to its potential. Su likes it slow and relaxed and rarely rides in the areana. So I don't get to see Dos perform often.

[PattiB]

We took a dressage lady on a trailride on a Paso. She was use to her 17 h warmblood so we put her on our biggest, a 14.3 gelding. We had to have her not wear her spurs! She was amazed that they could move so lightly off your leg and didn't need spurs to go. Plus no bounce!!! She wouldn't give up her warmblood but she did say when she wants a smooth horse for old age, gaited is the way to go.

[CarolU]

Boyd, what you say is very true. I bought Santiago for Arthur - who skies the double black diamond slopes, rides dirt bikes, and has a radar detector in every car for a reason. He loves to go FAST...which is Santiago's speed too. He loves riding that horse, it is such a rush and so smooth and the touch controls (I trained Santiago to neck rein so 'cowboys' can ride too) and it's pretty awesome.

Patti, good job! I think your dressage friend might be more inclined to switch when/if gaited dressage really takes off. Pasos are such a trip..,so light and responsive so easily. I have to be careful not to train all of them to slight weight-shift control so other people can ride them.

Good for Scooter! Making converts already! You'll have another Paso owner there to ride with before long! LOL

[Pasogirlz]

Is there anything more fun than watching a person discover the joy of riding a Paso?

Not that I have found! 8-)
Congrats on one more convert. ;-)

[baileyholc]

I was just wondering, if boyd is right then maybe I can convence Jim that he will enjoy riding as much as I do, if he would just try it one time. I might can convert my NASCAR fan into a Paso fan.

Might get me Paso a lot quicker :question

[Minouri]

Got a phonecall from the guy who rode Scooter yesterday. He asked if we needed help securing the posts and putting up the tape. I said, "Sure." and waited.....lol

He asked if it would be possible to ride Scooter again and I laughed because I thought of what all of you said. He probably thought I was a little nutty. Next time he comes I'm going to head out there with my video camera and see if I can get a good tape of Scooter gaiting.

I know people on here upload there video. How do you do that? Is there a free website for that?

[Brigitte]

You can upload them on putfile.com and then paste the link here. There are more sites but I cant remember their names

[Boyd R]

Baily You get him here and I will get him on Two. We will take him through the trails at Tribble Mill at full largo. If he don't get converted I would divorce him.