Someone SLAP him upside his head PLEASE!UPDATE

[Moniece Dickerson]

Aparently there are two paint mares a mother and daughter that need a new home.The people got the unbroke big pet but never worked with mare for their eight or 10 y/o daughter.Never had horses or knew anything about them but she wanted one :shock: !They never had any idea the mare was pregnant when they bought her till one day she foaled.Randy desporately wants one of them :shock: !While they ARE BEAUTIFUL and SUPER friendly and loving they've never had any work.The filly,3 y/o,"has had a halter on once before" and NEVER had her feet done.I DO NOT need this!!But then again this is the second horse he's wanted VERY badly and I can not keep shooting him down or he might begin to resent my horses.I have tried to let this thing just blow over but he won't let it die.He plans to go talk to the people this weekend.I fear we will have a pain(HA!that was supposed to be paint,the fact that i'm afraid that this is gonna be a pain must be coming through lol) filly soon and that Clinton Anderson foal,weanling,and yearling DVD i'm getting for Christmas will get used more than it would have had to
:-? .DRAT!!Moniece

[Monty]

:lol: Let him get it and train HIM to train it ! ;-)

[CarolU]

No. Green on green = black and blue. Send the 3-year-old to a GOOD trainer. Then send Randy for lessons. Then do the Clinton Anderson set for learning. I am a big advocate of training yourself, and self education, but training a horse from scratch requires experience and some horse sense. It's very frustrating for both horse and human to learn together. A young horse needs to learn from someone who is confident.

[Terry Wallace]

KEEP shooting him down if that is what you have to do...

For one thing...even if you pay a LOT to get the one trained...it will NEVER keep up with your Paso...he will be forced to TROT most of the time, and I guarantee you he will "fall out of love" with having to trot to keep up.

One bad episode with either horse and a guy who has no clue of what he is doing or how to train.... can cost him time off work, possible job loss, not to mention hospital bills....

There is not one dime to be "saved" by taking a horse that is wild as a BLM mustang, and attempting to train it with a guy who has NO IDEA of what to do.

Its a recipe for disaster...it *could* be far worse than just "black & blue"...and once he has a bad episode with the horse, he will likely NOT want it anymore...not to mention it will teach your other horses to run from you and keep them from being caught...

You asked! ;-)

[Barbwire]

Moniece, I think you are trying to hoodwink us. I think that it is YOU that wants the horse and are afraid to say so, for fear we will all get on your case when you get her. Right? Come on, fess up!

[Mellifluous]

Can I come smack you both upside the head?

:Jerry

[Carol Nelson]

Terry's right...this is not a "project" for a novice. Now if Randy wants a good horse, I have a 16 year old bombproof trail gelding tall and built stout enough for a man for sale on my website. ;-) :smile:
You can't afford to buy a horse, you say, well, it's a lot cheaper than a trip to the ER. ;-)

[Bonnie M]

Has Randy ever ridden a trotting horse?

You need to take him on a good trail ride with him riding one, keep the pace at a trot and get him real sore....he won't want the paint after that!

[Moniece Dickerson]

NOPE,NOT QUITE!!If it was a paso I might KINDA want it but she's not even a paso.I truely have NO desire to take a 3 y/o troting horse I would have to start from scratch with then send to a trainer after learning the basic basics.no,this time it is ALL him.Your friend,Moniece

[appyday]

Personally I say let the man have his horse...go from there...good luck

[britzlove]

What's up with all this trot bashing???? LOL, seriously though the only thing I can chime in on is maybe don't be afraid to take them, get help if you need it with the young one, but, don't pay much at all. I can help you buy a truck load of broke QHs and Paints, for less than 500 each, any Saturday night you can probably get two or three for less than 200 each.

I have trotters and pasos. I won't do other gaited breeds, but I do love them, but mainly for the heart, the mind, the brio and the strength, not just the gait. The gait is my least concern.

Britz

[motorgypsy]

Do you have a good rental stables near you???

Once a year or so Kyle and I go to a place called Cataloochie Ranch, rent horses with a wrangler (no it's not cheap but cheaper than a hospital bill) and ride them in the Smoky Mountains for a couple of hours. We then come home and hug our guys and take lots of pain medication.

I would definitely suggest you get him on a trail ride with good Western paint or QH's so at least he knows what it's supposed to be like. A great Christmas gift by the way.

One other thing we did was to lease our first paso fino for two months. This way we really knew what we were in for. Perhaps the owners would do this because that way they wouldn't have to pay board. Or you can get a buyback clause for 30 days.

IF you get a really good Western trained QH or paint, they will lope while your paso gaits and you won't have any problem riding together but if you don't, the horse will be miserable. We do trail ride quite often with QH's and have no problem.

[cowboy ed]

yeah, what's with the trot bashing? all you have to do is ride right and you can ride a trotting horse and really enjoy it! ;-) i do it a lot!

but no to the idea of training a horse if you dont know what you are doing. oh, you might get lucky, but you might not. i know of some people who have trained and ridden horses, just kind of learned their way through it, and did just fine. he might surprise you moniece.

[Terry Wallace]

Every trail ride I have hosted or been on that had trotting horses....we had to pull up and wait for them.... about every mile or so...

Monice... I sure hope you don't get the horse...not because its a paint...I used to raise paints! Not because its a trotter.... I grew up on trotters, personally I LIKE trotters.... BUT..because Randy is not ready to be a trainer.....does he even know how to ride? I mean REALLY ride...not just sit on a horse?

A broke, preferably aged gelding would be so much wiser for him, a horse that would BUILD his confidence and not destroy it.....a horse like the paint could turn him off of horses for good....once he realizes how much danger he can put himself into with a wild horse.

[Polly Aulton]

All I can say Moniece is that ever since I met Randy he's wanted a paint horse. Right about now the one we had would be ready to ride. LOL
Does he plan on taking both horses or just the three year old?
I can give you the name of a trainer of QHs in Westville. He charges $450 a month and rides them every day (he has an indoor arena).
Hopefully this urge will dissipate. The good news is that everyone around here says QHs are eager to please so maybe she'll be easier to train than you expect. She will be easier than a paso--I can guarantee that.
Good luck and post photos when she arrives home. :twisted:
Sorry couldn't resist that one.
Polly
www.pojoranch.net

[Barbwire]

ed, grow yourself a set of d-cups, ride a trotter, then report back here, and tell us how swell trotting horses are. :roll:

[Moniece Dickerson]

I love all horses and i'm not bashing trotters but I prefer gait and i'm just saying if she was a paso I would be more likely to have come around by now.Before he agrees to take her I will make sure he understands that she will HAVE to go to a trainer,thanks Polly,then he'll have to take riding lessons with her.If he is willing to go through that and buy the tack she will need i've decided not to shoot him down.Randy doesn't fall for just any horse,this is only the second one,but when he falls he really falls.If he's willing do do all that i'll know he has fallen and help him with what I can and be happy for him.Your friend,Moniece

[motorgypsy]

One good thing - if you have her trained and he doesn't like her she will be a lot easier to sell and find something he does want.

[Minouri]

Ok, first I have a couple of quick questions for you to think about. Do you think you're capable of training horses that have gone so long with no training? And are you honest with your husband about the level of ability you have?

If you tell your husband you could work with any horse....just not the ones he likes....then yes it will seem like you're shooting him down. If you choose horses for yourself - only well trained, well broke, family type horses then I think he would understand better. I don't think Tony would doubt me if I said I'm not qualified to start a 3 year old that hasn't been touched. I might also find a local man who owns horses who could talk to my husband about the expense and effort that goes into a green horse like that.

But I doubt I'd tell him no to a horse he loved. I don't know about your husband, but mine has restructured his life and finances around my love of horses. Our house, our free time and our extra cash all get tied up in our barn.......which is there only because I love having the horses home.

I know that Tony learned a lot more from riding Scooter on fruity days than riding Snowy. Snowy's perfect. You can ride a perfect horse for years and they don't challenge you to learn more. I still make him ride Scooter because there is a lot more communication going on with him.

The first horse I ever leased was a perfect, dead broke Foxtrotter. Never did a single thing wrong. I thought I was a great rider. Man, was I shocked when I rode a horse after that who said, "NO." to me. I had no skills to deal with it. Riding that crazy horse on a regular basis taught me a lot about how to calm a horse down and work things through. It also taught me to move fast when a bite or a kick was headed my way. I'm not saying I enjoyed that horse......or that I ever won with that horse....but by working with trainers and working with that horse I grew. And I learned my own limitations and preferences.

I vote with Appy. Let the man have his horse.....but be honest with him and yourself. Tell him that it's beyond your present abilities to do for him. If he wants to take on a green horse.......well, I've seen dumber things done. Who knows, owning one of those horses might be what he learns the most from.

[Brigitte]

He needs lessons, let him take at least 2-3 months of lessons and on different horses before buying, if you decide to buy.

There's a woman at the ranch who bought a mare, she's an ok mare, on the easy side but can be difficult. The woman has never ridden before. I've seen her ride twice, she only walks. Her friends have to help her take out the horse, brush the horse, tack the horse up, she's not too comfortable with the horse. And she wears flip flops to the ranch :roll: They went trailriding and she didn't want to ride her own horse. You don't want that happening, he needs to learn alot before buying an unbroke horse

[britzlove]

I just reread my post, and I have to note that what I said about loving the heart, mind, brio and strength was about the paso fino, not other gaited horses, kind of wrote that stupid. When it comes to the pasos the characteristics I look for are 1 heart, 2 mind, then gait, way of going, then brio and strength.

Now, the paints. Qhs and Paints have been good to me, and I studied them for the majority of my life, still do. I spend a lot more time on the pasos right now, but my flame for the QH/Paint/Apps has not dwindled. OK, I'm only almost 30, but when I was 9 I started judging them in 4-H and that's where it started. What I'm trying to say is, that any help I am able to give is offered. If you want to PM me like the bloodlines, or post them here if Lori doesn't mind, maybe I can give you some advice about what you may run into. Not that breeding makes the horse alone, have hubby take pictures and I can also identify any serious faults.

Trainers, alot of people are discouraging you to let him work on it himself. Here's my opinion. There are a blue-million trainers out there willing to take your money to train a horse they can ride, but you'll continue to bump into problems there too, believe me. Especially concerning western stock horse trainers. My advice would be to encourage your husband to learn to work with the horse himself and get help from a trainer in the form of lessons with focus on training. Not how to ride a western stock horse, but how to ride them and how to help them ride right.

OK, preparing for a slap here, but not caring really. The horse industry is changing. Some is bad, but there is a lot of really good changes happening. The main one of these is the available resources for learning about horses, their training, their breeding, everything. Rfdtv, HorseTV (if you're lucky enough to be able to get it) , horse city.......and APF!!!!!!
All of these things are positively impacting the horse world. That said, the amount of people preffering to learn to work with their own horses is increasing and will continue. The need for trainers to make every day fun horses is decreasing. You can find a trainer willing to help with lessons, and sessions, rather than send your horse out to be brought back "trained". I certainly feel your husband should get help from a trainer, but don't discourage him from working with the horse himself and here's why:

An older horse untouched can only be handled slowly to be fair. Sure there are trainers that will tell you they can do it quick, but it's not fair, and its not kind. And the path will be fraught with future problems. I have a 6 yr old and an 8 yr old in training now (not for profit) and I am very honest with them and they are returning it in kind. One mare the 6 yr old has taken very well to everything and has come along pretty quickly because of her temperment. The other, well, I'm just now getting to where I can consistantly catch her, and I can touch her feet now, but not lift them yet. Both of them are pretty good about yielding to pressure and focused movement, although the 8 yr old is more responsive to these excercises, the 6 yr old can be quite pushy so needs a little more work on that route.

I'm telling you this because in 15 mins a day, your husband can bond with his horse and train it. It really is that easy. He needs to be sure he knows safety rules, but I'm guessing if he interacts with your horses, he probably knows some of this already. He'll need help. It is work, and most people don't want to do it, and you'll be able to see pretty quickly if he's got the drive or not.

I'm just trying to give him encouragement.

Brittany

[Monty]

My husband had ridden maybe 6 times in his life ( he has had lessons on daughter's App now),when our daughter bought him a BLM Mustang - 4yrs old and NO training ! Didn't even want to be handled!
This is sort of cute - she trained Cody during the day - when Roy went to the barn to "train" Cody - he was amazed how fast Cody caught on - it was nearly a year into the training when Roy found out what the score was :lol:
Turned out Cody is too small for my husband to ride - though he has been under saddle .But Cody and Roy have a "thing" going on - he will never leave . Cody is only 14 hands and I won't say hubby's weight ;-)
Remember ,the night we got him he was presenting butt in the stall - that was cured quick .
A Parelli trainer said at the start of a 2 day clinic that Mustangs couldn't be trained that way - by Sunday night she was "using" Cody to show how to do things correctly :roll:
Here is our WILD Mustang and Roy - :lol:

http://groups.msn.com/RanchRiders/olerockingchairranch.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=367

[britzlove]

I've totally been just waiting for something interesting to pop up, and I guess I just kinda poured it all out :-? Sorry for the lengthy novel.

[Moniece Dickerson]

Being completely honest with him and myself I can and am willing to teach her some things from the ground,basics but I have no desire to go any further with her and that is the thing.Chica had her basics when I got her,she was a long yearling.I did ground work with her,got her used to head gear,the saddle pad and saddle(a used one I got cheap specifically for saddle breaking incase she broke it,cinch,everything.I got on her back first and could ride her before she even went to the trainers.I sent Chica to the trainer because I don't want to be a trainer and I wanted her gaiting and consistantly wich after four months of training she didn't do anyway and with the guidance of you all I have had to fix and now finally I can enjoy riding.I did it for Chica,i've asked questions here and gone with what felt right and i'm teaching Rosa and she's not messed up and when she's old enough i'll do for her what I did for Chica BUT I knew what I was signing up for when I bought a mare in foal and when she is old enough to ride i'll enjoy the ride.It's not that I can't do alot of this horses training before sending it to a trainer it's that I don't want to.I hate the teaching part of training.I want another horse here that I have to teach about as much as I want a hole in the head but he has seen me work with my horses and he knows I can,DRAT,and I can't very well say or act like my horses are important enough to me to go through it but yours is not.He'll probably get this horse and i'll probably teach it all I can before she goes to the trainer :roll: so training won't take as long and cost as much so he can use would be training money for lessons and tack money.DRAT DRAT DRAT after that one though i'm setting my foot down,no more untrained horses.Drat drat double drat mumble grumble grouse.Your friend,Moniece

[Jasfino]

I agree with you Britz.

Time and patience are the biggest factors that play into training one... besides the knowledge you gain from different horse trainers such as the one on RfD-TV. I think it was John Lyons who said some of the best horses he has seen were trained by their owners who took their time ..and didnt push the horse.

[DebbieS]

Moniece, if your hubby is like mine, he needs a horse that is experienced. John gets on a horse maybe 2-3 times a year. He needs a horse that can sit for 6 months and know what the heck it's supposed to do.

We bought Cruiser (great-great-grandson of KING) in August for $700 because he had an eye injury that you don't even notice and it seems to not bother him at all. I put my son on him for the first time, and he rode him in a night-time parade last weekend. He walked through like he'd seen this stuff every day (did much better than Listo, I hate to say). He's only 13, so he has lots of years left, but old enough to not be stupid.

If you can find one, this is what you need for your hubby.

Yes, he's a trotter. But it's hard to hold that against him when he's such a good horse. I do ride him to keep him (and me) in shape. Makes me appreciate Listo even more!

[Moniece Dickerson]

Debbie,the stallion KING,would he happen to have been a big palomino?And owned by a lady with the last name of Burrows?I know it's a long shot but I had to ask.When I was a little girl I would get to go to my cousins' grandma's house.She had a beautiful liver chestnut mare by the name of Fancy and an awesome palomino stallion by the name King.Fancy had a paddock and the garage for her barn and she would open the top half of the kitchen door and Fancy would stand there with her head over the door looking right into the kitchen and King had a huge paddock with a shelter and the most beautiful SUPER nice SUPER tall chainlink fence.The two of them were her life and they were treated and cared for acordingly.Your friend,Moniece

[DebbieS]

Moniece, not the same King, but probably related. Here's an article about him. It sounds like he was quite a horse - for a trotter ;-)

http://www.horsesonly.com/pedpower/legends/king.htm

[CarolU]

Mine is a lot like Debbie's. He's a good rider and loves to GO-GO when he rides, but he only rides a few times a year and hasn't the patience to train at all.

I think you know your husband the best. How is with the dogs? Does he train them? Spend a lot of time with them? Teach them tricks and things? Although horse training and dog training are very different, you will have some insight into the amount of time he's willing to spend with an animal.

[motorgypsy]

The difference between an amateur and a good professional trainer??? time, money and stomped on feet ;-) ;-) ;-)

I agree that an amateur with today's help can train a horse well - but it is slow going unless you're a natural. We've taken Arwen, our very first baby, from birth to tying, loading, doing feet, leading just from the chin and halter. moving from pressure, saddling, blanketing, and responding correctly to ground cues in an arena and being very easily caught (too easily probably but she's number 2 and really nosy) This took us 4 years and was very difficult for us. Starting from scratch is NOT the same as removing bad habits and gaining trust from an already well trained horse. A pro could probably have done it in a couple of months without getting slammed into the edge of a horse trailer and having multiple halters broken. BUT since we're the ones who trained her, we're the ones she trusts and her training is permanent, not a one day thing. But it's definitely slow and the amateur makes mistakes - a LOT of mistakes. Now all we have to do is eliminate the shot phobia somehow!!

Good luck Moniece and keep us posted on what's happening!!

[CarolU]

Well there are AMATUERs and there are PROFESSIONALS and I don't think you can generalize about either. Anyone can charge money and be a "professional." There is no test to take and no qualifying criteria. There are people who train and sell their own horses and are every bit as good as professionals - Jamie Drizin, before he went 'professional' and Ed Smith in Marshall, TX are good examples in the PF world. I finally went professional, only because I was doing it anyway, so I may as well get paid for it.

There are professionals I would never take a horse to. There are professionals who routinely abuse horses and have ruined and even killed horses. There are professionals who should be barred from ever being near a horse. So, just as with horse-shopping, trainer-shopping is "Buyer Beware." Do your homework, get references, watch the trainer and even after you place your horse, check on it regularly.

There is one other thing too. Owning a horse is a lot different then owning a car. You can drive a car and not be a mechanic. You can RIDE a horse and not be good horseman. But if you are going to own a horse and ride and do things with it on a regular basis, then you owe to that animal to educate yourself and become a good horseman. Learn about health and farriery (even if you don't do your horses, you never know when you are trail riding and have to pull a shoe or trim off a rip), feeding, and enough about training at LEAST to keep from ruining the horse you bought.

[motorgypsy]

AMEN Carol - that's why I said GOOD trainer and probably should have said GOOD amateur - or at least careful, caring and thorough amateur. There are people who call themselves trainers who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a horse.

That said I'm in awe of a good pro and good pro amateur (could be pro - just prefer not to be). They are soo amazing. I spent a year watching a Puerto Rican guy train nearly every day. He read a horse like I read a newspaper. I never got tired of watching him.

[cowboy ed]

roy is not too big for that mustang.........

[Moniece Dickerson]

You all are so right,I agree with everything you said!And after Chica's training experience I would go a couple of steps further.1)If I knew the horse was going to need more work in a specific area I would find a trainer that has worked with that particular problem alot and had a good success rate in a reasonable amount of time and 2)I would have to believe that if the trainer was not happy with the amount of improvement in a reasonable amount of time that they would discuss this with me so I could decide if I wanted them to keep working on it or try different trainer.I learned those things because I had checked Chica's trainer out and drove 500 miles every other week to see her.He was a great trainer,natural horsemanship,I watched him work,every horse looked good and I had no worry there would be any abuse going on and no worry she would not be being trained when she was supposed to be.He was not speciffically a paso trainer but had trained at a very nice paso farm.What I believe happened in Chica's case is that he had never encountered a paso that would require so much work in the gait department then although her progress was as slow as a turtle he was seeing progress.By the very end of the four months he could get her in gait and right back in when she came out but I could not get her back in once she came out.I had one or two short lessons of me trying then her training time ended and I could not keep her in training another month to work on me being able to do what he could do..That is why I say that before Randy decides to take this horse he'll have to agree not only to send her to a trainer but then also take lessons on his horse.In my case I had no paso trainer close to take lessons from.
Debbie is right,what he really needs is a good seasoned horse just like what I really needed was a good seasoned trail paso but instead I got a long yearling and while there is still hope for him to change his mind it's looking like he is going to go with his heart instead of his head too :( .Your friend,Moniece

[Jasfino]

Dont despair Moniece. At least he likes horses and you have that in common with him.

I hope it works out well. Do you get rfd-tv?

[GeorgeGuns]

I gotta stick up for the hubby.

It sounds to me like he isn't so interested in being a horse trainer as having a relationship with a horse, a special horse, one that he feels is IT. Sure there may be heartbreak along the way, that is independant of lvel of knowledge about horses. Charley was no horse trainer when he got Copper years ago, but he dedicated himself to that horse. She was a fruity, spooky, spoiled, poorly trained, uppity, can't sit still dingbat of a mare. But that was HIS horse, and HE loved her, and over a few years, he turned her into one of the best darned trail horses this butt of mine will ever have the opportunity to ride. He still does not know what to call a brown horse with black legs, or a red horse, or a yellow horse with a white mane and tail. And he sure doesn't get along with every horse, but he and Copper were a pair.

I think a lot of guys are like that. One horse. One special horse that is IT.

I'll bet a LOT of knowledge has rubbed off from Moniece, too. He'd have to be blind deaf and plain stupid to live with a gal that does so much, and not pick up on at least the basics.

I agree lessons are a good thing, they always are. But ultimately he needs to learn to ride HIS horse, not every horse is the barn. Mare may turn out to be a lovely steady sensible gal, and if that nature is what has attracted him to her, then that is what he gets to learn to ride. If she turns out to be a nervy needy plucky broad, then that is what he gets to learn to ride! If he lucks out and she has a real nice low bump jog, thats what he gets to learn to ride. If she has a monster trot from hades, well he'll have to learn to ride that.

Moniece you make the best points yourself - if he is ready to really take on all that is required finacially and time-wise to get this horse at least ridable and safe, and he feels this is the horse for him, well go for it!!!

[Moniece Dickerson]

Well it looks like he's not going to get her afterall at least right now it does.Aparently inbetween the time I talked to them and last Fri. someone told them they were going to have a terrible time if they sold one of their girls without the other and that they can get $1,100. for them.I did not have the heart or want to tell them that in todays market thats pretty unlikely for two never been worked with unregistered horses.I told them I would talk to Randy and let him know what they said.When I told him what they had decided he was very disapointed but said no that is not what he wanted to do.When they said they wanted to sell both together I knew that would be his reaction before I even heard how much they want.One day the right horse,hopefully a seasoned gelding,will come along for him,things will be right and we'll get it for him.Can't say i'm happy he didn't get his horse cause I do feel for him but I am VERY happy I don't have to go through everything I was going to have to with her.Thank you all so much for being here!Your friend,Moniece

[motorgypsy]

If it's really HIS horse he'll find a way. If not, he'll find something that suits him better.

One thing we did that helped was give the sellers criteria before we ever went to see the horses so we didn't have the chance to look at anything that wasn't suitable for us. Of course then we bought Chinook AKA Rodeo Queen, but - she was fully trained and five years old - just a total wired spookhead. And we did lease her for two months before we bought her so we knew exactly what we were getting.

[diswick]

Monice, just buy him a trained pinto PasoFino. :) That way he has his spotted and gaited horse. :) You could surely find a nice spotted PasoFino that is broke to death. I love a broke to death horse; Cocoa is rock solid, and at my age that is what I need.

I did my years of training older and younger horses, and a green horse is no fun for me any more. It hurts too much when I hit the ground. I bred, broke and trained many horses, but now I know that is a job for the young--the ground doesn't seem so hard to them. :D And, tho I have done horses for over 30 years, I still don't consider myself a trainer. Too many people fancy themselves trainers and just simply are not. (the stories I could tell....)

I have no issue with a trotting horse, I bred Arabians for a long, long time. But a trotting horse and a gaited horse cannot easily ride together unless you are going to do a flat walk only. And some QHs have the slowest walk in the world and still have to trot to catch up!

Your hubby needs lessons first and foremost, riding trotting horses AND gaiting horses. He still needs to learn how to do things right, and what to do if something happens. Then when he is ready and has many hours riding under his belt, he can think about buying a horse.

All of this, of course is JMHO...

[Moniece Dickerson]

You are right,he needs to take lessons on both.I'm glad he's not in any hurry because I do not have Chica locked in consistant gait yet and I don't want to put him on her untill she is.I don't want my work ruined or set back and all she would probably do for him right now would be gait a few steps then go to a trot anyway.For the other there is a place the next town over he can take lessons if I can get him to ignore the i'm God and you're not so worship me snooty attitude of the lady.The things i'll have to cross to get him to entertain the thought of getting a paso will be that he feels they look prissy when they move so they are not manly horses in his eyes and if I get passed that he is going to want one marked like Pegasus Estabon or Pegasus Dos De Estabon and that will cost a pretty penny and i'll have to work hard to convince him that we need to spend that much on a horse for him.Hopefully the ride will go a long way in helping with that.I'm glad he wants his own special horse but i'm glad he's in no hurry.Your friend,Moniece

[Brigitte]

You should show him some big, well muscled Pasos, maybe he'd consider it then. But I'm sure he'll find the right one, everyone does eventually

[Polly Aulton]

Moniece - Have you thought about actually taking him on a trail ride to see if he even likes riding? We have a "just about anyone can ride" TW gelding we use for visitors. We ride out most Sundays around noon and we could put Randy on him for the 3 hour ride. He might decide he doesn't like to ride at all.
Polly
www.pojoranch.net

[motorgypsy]

Nobody thinks Arwen or her mom are "sissy horses". You need to take him to dinner in the dirt at a paso fino show. Nobody is going to think those stallions are sissy horses. They're like riding a controlled tornado!!

[CarolU]

I think Polly has a great idea Moniece. Many men feel Pasos are too small for them. There are some big boned stocky ones around (like Zar) but you have to shop for them. But, face it, many men are too big for Paso Finos. You can get him another gaited breed and ride together very happily. I know many couples like this.

See if he likes riding enough to go through the expense of buying and keeping another horse. If he likes Polly's gelding, then you can go shopping for a TWH or FoxTrotter that is more his size. But, if he's happy riding a few times a year, just go down and ride with Polly now and then.

Good luck.

[Polly Aulton]

There you go Moniece. You know you all are welcome here any time.
Polly
www.pojoranch.net