Look! Gracewood Farm Open House & Bridleless Photos

[LynnG]

Here's a link with all the Open House photos:
http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/gwfOpenHouse2006.html

here's some pics of Paso Fino test-riders who braved the cold, wet and wind Nov. 12th
riding mostly Insignia de Gracia (16 yrs old) and Beech Tree Majatisa:

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider2.jpg
Fred -- he's been taking riding lessons huntseat style for about
6 months, otherwise advanced beginner rider I'd say

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider8_kw.jpg
the infamous Kerry W

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider9.jpg
Walking Horse owner

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider10_jb.jpg
Joann, owner of 6 Paso Finos...last year same time she only had 2!

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider13.jpg
Casey, young gal... pretty new rider...rode 2 horses Maja & Insignia,
& then wanted to ride more!

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider17.jpg
Casey's mom Ann, last to ride ...took her watching everyone else ride
and then after mostly everyone had left before she did ride ...
with some urging.

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_rider14.jpg
Anna, young gal who enjoyed riding!

And then there was my Bridleless & Bareback Riding demo on Ladybug:

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/100_7079_11_06_bridleless_7.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/100_7080_11_06_bridleless_8.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/100_7067_11_06_bridleless_4.jpghttp://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/100_7067_11_06_bridleless_5.jpg

And last but not least...one of the official greeters towards the end all tuckered out.... the baby of the farm: Mariposa de Gracia

http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/openhouse06/GWFOpenhouse_mariposa.jpg

Mariposa's mom Sombra gave the initial gait demonstrations. Being so
wet though (rained the whole night before into the mid-morn), the mud
limited what could be shown.

Raindate though is set for December 3rd. Hope it dries up from how it is
now ....raining for 2 days by then!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone from Lynn and Gracewood Paso Finos!

Thanks Kerry for helping out and taking pics! Take a look: http://www.geocities.com/lynngallup/gracewoodfarm/events/gwfOpenHouse2006.html

you can see more of Kerry W ;-) Notice everyone is dressed for cold weather... :-?

[GeorgeGuns]

All those Paso Smiles!!! Thanks for posting the pics, looks like a grand time had by all.

[PasoJoy]

Love the pics!! Bareback and no bridle, VERY cool!! 8-) :D :D :D

[Lois York]

Congrat's on the open house! Your pictures are terrific!! Rain sure can play on an outside ring! "X"ing fingers for your rain date if your gonna take another kick at the can.

[Mellifluous]

What a great time!

I love that you have these events and give people a chance to meet pasos!

Ladybug is looking good!

[LynnG]

Well to get people to ride a Paso Fino is to get them to want one is to buy one is to love one.

Seriously the Paso Fino is about the smooth ride. You just have to get folks interested in riding or wanting a horse to try a Paso Fino for a test-ride! That is the second step. First step is to get them where Paso Fino horses are! It is not that much trouble to host a "Test-ride" Open House! Nothing too fancy. Be sure to have PF literature available for them to take home to read. Also PF owners like to try out other Paso Finos for a test-ride. Each can ride a little different.... I know mine do. Aso get photos & email/address of each rider and then email/send their pics riding as a souvineir.

One 60 yr old guy who attended last year though he never did ride has since bought 2 Paso Finos .... though not from me .... I didn't have exacty what he needed....I didn't feel he needed a horse or one of mine until he had had gained riding experience. I would have suggested he take lessons for awhile for riding skills as he was a novice. He still keeps talking about lessons, but yet to get over for any...and has says he hadn't ridden his new horses. oh well!

[PASOFAN]

So cool! Love the holiday looking bridless reins!! Looks great, loved the pics..

[swaite]

Great shots! Looks like a good day.

[Brigitte]

Great pics, love the bridleless bareback demo

[LynnG]

HI!

So how many Paso Fino farms (or regions) here have hosted an Open House, and how then often?

[Laura S]

Beautiful pics! That sounds like a great way to promote the breed!

[CarolU]

Very nice Lynn!!! Great job promoting the breed.

I have been to a few Open Houses, all hosted by individual farms. I offered to host one, but no one with sale horses said they would support it, so why do it?

[Kerry W]

Nice pics Lynn! It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to see all of those who are new to Pasos enjoying the horses. They were sweethearts, and showed her guests how great these horses can be! :D

[Carol Nelson]

Don't feel bad, Carol...I hosted a Grand Opening open house type thing and NOBODY came...in this predominantly cowboy-oriented, QH mentality-laden area. (Time has dulled the pain so now I can suck up my pride and admit it.... :roll: )
(I guess I should've put REFRESHMENTS SERVED on the ads... :roll: )

Lynn, you always have such interesting open-houses and you demonstrate the true versatility of the breed!

[JennLM]

I think you did a heck of a job there, wow!

I only wish something like that would go over well here. We also are in QH, Paint, mustang territory. Heck at the Feedstore anniv. I had the only horse for sale that wasn't one. I felt like such a loner lol

[Laura S]

So Lynn, How do you make your open house successful? What do you do to advertise to the public? About how many people come to the open houses? How many do you have a year? Do you have sale horses too, or is it strictly educational?

I do think allowing people to ride is important so they get to feel the smooth ride.

[LynnG]

You do an Open House for promotion of the breed and a chance to test-ride its Cadillac Smooth Ride. You don't do sale pitches or promote it so much as a business-pitch Open House.

This area is close to many growing suburban towns outside of Raleigh, the NC state capital. Last year I had 30+. I promote it in local newspapers, feed stores, hardware stores that sell feed and even the health food store bulletin board. Invite your vet, farrier, feed store personel.... those folks can give good word of mouth breed publicity later on. People in this area look for weekend activities to do. For the most part brand new riders are basicly done a lead line; people with some riding experience can go faster. Its also alot easier on the farm to host this event one Sunday afternoon and all come then. Anyone more interested can come back with an appointment. Of course, getting the word out on different horse forums is a good idea.

You have to hit on something that will catch their attention .... smooth bounce-free ride for people with back problems, easy size to mount, gentle nature.

A necessity is to have some good gentle horses novice people can ride.

I have literature available for pick-up on the breed, regional PFHA directory, and the farm services and saleslisting. They sign in a Farm guestbook. I also ask where they heard about it, so I know what works best! I invite folks that camethe year before with a postcard or email notice.

For refreshments, I serve softdrinks (2 liter bottles) and or punch, and cookies, hard candy, and Open House cake (this next one).... all on a table for help yourself! Don't make it like a meal. Just some goodies to make your guests feel welcome!

The November Rainy Open house, one set of guests made it into the house (1800's farmhouse),and told me how much they loved it inside... afterwards... so that can take Open House to a new meaning for a farm ;-) . I'm sure they were looking for the restroom.... I kinda knew them from last year. Yep you got clean your house too. unless you have an restroom in the barn. I usually have someone show guests to the bathroom in that case.

So in the end, its a great way to promote the Paso Fino, and let foks know you are there and about what type of "special" horses you have.

[Carol Nelson]

Actually, what we've taken to doing is putting on a mini "show" when new lookers come to the farm...doesn't matter if they ever intend on purchasing a horse or not, they all get the same show...Doug demo's on Sora to the Latin music...and he cortoes her across the sounding boards...she's a Performance-type Capuchino daughter and really dances to the music. That gets them interested and then they have the option of riding my 21 year old gelding (for the greenhorns) or my Destiny (who is for sale). Unfortunately, both horses are not large and that leaves me to only having demo horses available for the smaller clients.
And yes, we do start them out either on a lunge line, or in the round pen WITH HELMETS or they sign a refusal, if they are novice, and even the more experienced I still walk beside them and give them instructions on how to ride a Paso...because many of them haven't a clue as to how to do so. They of course, get the farm tour to see everything that's for sale, because even though THEY might not be interested in a particular horse, they might know someone who IS. And they get a little informative packet before they leave. It takes a whole afternoon...is a tremendous amount of work for us...but they get a real education...and hopefully someday it will pay off for us! ;-)

[LynnG]

I made mine for this year less about a show and most about getting people onto a horse to gain that experience of riding a Paso fino! The ride is what it is really about ..one on one time with the horse!

Time wise...5% explanation of gaits with demo, 5% Bridleless demo, and 80% about test rides...10% time to talk to guests and find out about them, answer questions, tacking horses, etc. You can talk to guests when walking beside them too. Last year, the test rides took longer than I planned. Its promoted as "Ride A Cadillac!" test-ride a Paso Fino! So this year much more time for that is planned. While some folks are riding, others walk around and check out the other horses.

Insignia is 15 hands and solid built, and gentle... my main beginner testride mount. Anyone can ride her. Someone with more experience riding can just ask more from her!

[Carol Nelson]

Yes, that's what I need....a larger, bigger-boned, easy-to-ride demo horse!

[LynnG]

Carol N...why don't you use Red as a riding demo horse for pleasure? If you're in a stock horse type pleasure market, you may just want to emphasize just your pleasure riding horses for the demo. Fino or performance could come later if they express more interest. What is your tallest horse? Do things that people can relate to... I have a trail obstacle course set up in my ring. That shows the suitability for trail and versatility.

I have all size people ride Insignia; she just is ideal for disposition and easy natural gait. Its good to have sevreal like that in a variety of sizes. The kids don't want to be on a real tall horse if they are a novice. Some folks will just choose to watch and not ride.... the first visit.

[Carol Nelson]

Oh, Lynn...while Red is a good boy and relatively easy to handle...he is still a stallion and would not be for the average rider. We have not kept up his riding, but even if he were under saddle, he wouldn't be for just anyone.
Just like our Cappy mare, while she is good as gold and perfect under saddle, she is a mover and would scare the average person's pants off so we don't let the general public ride her either. She is strictly to show off the gait. She provides the "flash" that so many people expect of the Paso Fino! :smile:
Nevare and Destiny are both very nicely Pleasure gaited and well-behaved and have a easy corto that doesn't scare the folks! They get off and say..."I want that!" ;-)

[Cindy]

That suprises me, Carol. My stallions have always been my absolute BEST demo horses.

[TrueStepPaso]

Lynn...you rock! Keep up the great work!

[LynnG]

Today I had the raindate scheduled for Gracewood Farm's Open House. 13 folks showed up and 10 did test-rides on Insignia and Maja. It was in the 50's and overcast..still a major improvement then before weather wise. everyone had fun and a good time.... this one was mostly folks I already knew..so like a big merry "horse" family of sorts. One lady came that had a Racking Horse that was new. She was impressed with Insignia's ride; she had also experience riding Walkers...so we made gait comparisons. Well the last hour or so, it did start to drizzle rain.... but the only thing it stopped was going down the sounding board which became slippery. Blameitonbrio came and rode her favorite horse mom Maja! She's the only one who escaped getting her pic taken. Thanks to all who came and shared their horse experiences today.

Well I am calling it a day and putting my feet up! 8-)