found a rider for my mare!

[kteufel]

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to the board and paso finos in general, and some of you may recall my post a few weeks back about hurting my back after falling from my horse.

The good news is that my back feels much better after solid week of anti-inflammatories and some physical therapy. I was getting a bit nervous for awhile back there because the pain stayed pretty constant for about two weeks, until I finally saw a back specialist. She prescribed Celebrex for a week, and it did wonders!

Throughout all that, I was trying to get someone to come ride my mare a few times a week while I was recuperating. Today was her first ride on Nena, and it went well overall. My new leather jaquima from Casa Dosa came in the mail the day before and we tried it out on her. The reins are WAY short... Nena is large for a Paso, and the curb was let out the last hole and it was still rather snug. My hope is that it'll loosen up some as the leather breaks in, otherwise I'll have to punch some extra holes. Does anyone know where to get longer reins? In the meantime, I decided to just attached the noseband and curb to a different bridle with normal length reins.

It was interesting to watch someone else ride her. She did a nice job, though it was obvious Nena is rusty and tested her from time to time. When she was done, I even hopped up there on her and rode around at a walk for a few minutes. I felt briefly silly that I am having someone else ride my horse when my back is pretty much healed, but then I got realistic--I don't ride often enough right now, and it'll be good for her to get ridden at least once a week. The more, the better!

The OTHER good news is that I'll be sending Nena to Vickie McQuinn for training right before the summertime! I am really looking forward to it, I think the concentrated work will be good for her and my own confidence, and they'll teach me how to ride her best, too (I am not a gaited horse expert, I was taught to ride hunter/jumper. Very different.) When I bought Nena for the second time, I made a promise to myself that barring incredible financial difficulty, I was going to try to keep this horse till the end. I have had some bad luck with horses over the years (bad matches, one broke her neck, another had DSLD) that I am sick and tired of constantly switching. So, I am going to do what it takes to make the most of it. Until she goes in for training, I'm going to do my best to start getting her back in shape after her long hiatus. Lots of hand walking!

Anyway, I am excited about the future!

:D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/kteufel/nena/DSC01840.jpg

[Tiffer]

Hello T,
Glad to hear you're healing so well and that things are looking up for both you and your lovely mare. It's nice to hear that you have arranged for some training for both of you....it will really help you enjoy her to the fullest. She's real purdy :smile: :smile: :smile:

Welcome and do let us know how you are doing from time to time. The hand walking is a wonderful way to "be with" her and get some exercise for both of you.

[pnalley]

Congratulations!

I think you are right. Your mare will be much better off being ridden by a capable rider several times a week, then she would be standing around doing nothing.

I think you'll really like have her at the trainers, they can really help you understand her!

Progress, one day at a time...........

[Abejita]

I am pretty sure someone posted on here that Kuda Tack makes ..or will specially make?.. a 9' rein...their website looks to be under construction last time I was there but it is www.kudastore.com You can email them about it too..

[motorgypsy]

the halter lady makes a nice clipon rein and you can get different lengths and colors. I got a fairly long one and tied two knots in it so I know where my hands are when I can't look down to see them. She's also very reasonable in price. I think it's thehalterlady.com or maybe halterlady.com Just do a Google and you'll find her. I've bought a lot of rope halters and reins from her. She ships very quickly too.

Kyle likes the real heavy weight extra thick braided rein that Casa Dosa sells. They have the buckle on leather type and the clip on type. We buy the buckle leather and put our own scissor clips on them. Then we can use them for show if we want to. You can now use clipons in shows but the buckle do look nicer.

Glad to hear you're doing well. Little by little. Just stay safe.

We have lots of ways to stay safe so you can concentrate on enjoying the ride and communicating with the horse rather than staying on and not falling. We wear the protective vests, helmets and now have padded skater's pants. We've been saved many times by our safety gear and we're still riding. Cage stirrups, good boots and full seat breeches or chaps also make a big difference in security as well as a grab strap on the saddle. Roughout saddle seat fabric is much more secure also and I still use my barrel saddle for speed events. It's just more secure. But don't use one with a horse that bucks to any degree at all. The horn can kill you if the horse bucks and the horn catches your clothing.

Sounds like you have a great plan! I've always joked that you really have to prove your "worthiness" to a paso fino. Once they've decided you are worthy they are the best - but until then they can be a challenge!! But they're so much fun!

[kteufel]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, one step at a time. I don't mean to come across as a rank beginner--I did quite a lot of jumping when I was a teenager (not that long ago, I'm only 23 ;-) ) and used to be a pretty capable, confident rider. Somehow I've lost the confidence over the years; I think I am just a bit too realistic. When I was younger, I didn't think too hard about the *dangers* of riding. Or the unpredictability of it. But now I've just sort of reached a point where I don't have a lot of tolerance for discomfort or worry, and it makes me very cautious. It also creates a bit of a vicious cycle--I haven't ridden my horse for a while due to various circumstance, which makes me reticent about those first few rides after the long lay-off, which makes me decide not to ride. And if the horse is the *least* bit complicated, then it doubles the worry. My mare isn't a very difficult horse to ride, but she is not a dead-broke plow horse, either.

And since I am no gaited horse training expert, I am not experienced in the best ways to influence gait. I understand that I should ride more in a dressage seat than a hunt seat, and you gotta keep the head up, but that's about it, and I know there's more to it than that!

So, I think by having someone competent ride her once a week, I'll help take away my concern that she hasn't been ridden recently. And by putting her into training with an experienced paso fino trainer, it'll help improve her manners and abilities and they can help me learn the finer points of riding gaited horses and paso finos in particular, and my horse in particular. I look forward to learning more about finding the best headgear/bit combination for Nena, too.

Nena needs some finishing, but for the most part I think it's all in my head, and the only way I'm going to get over it is if we get some lessons. ;-)


What amuses me about all this is that I train dogs for a living, and I am very confident in my abilities as a dog trainer and understanding how to teach fairly and obtain respect, responsibility and reliability in a dog. I also understand that knowing WHAT you want from the animal is as important as knowing HOW to get what you want. I know dogs and I can "read" dogs pretty darn well--but I am not as fluent with horses (even though I was horse-crazy before I was a dog-lover). I think if I didn't know what was possible in terms of communication and training with dogs, I wouldn't be as bugged by the little hiccups with my communication with my horse. But I can SEE the training holes and feel the moments where she is telling me she is (mentally) uncomfortable, and it bugs me that I don't always know what to do about it the way I do with dogs. I'm sure it bugs her, too. It's like being able to understand a foreign language pretty well but not being able to speak it yourself.

But, I am *doing something* about it, by god! :D

[Edurne]

Good for you. Sounds like you have a very well thought out plan to help you and Nena get on the road to a strong partnership. I had to have lessons with a trainer to get to know how to communicate better with Primero. After a bad fall and breaking multiple ribs it took me three years to restart riding regularly. I too did a lot of hand walking with Primero in the woods to regain confidence in our relationship.

[CarolU]

Kali...GREAT news all round! You'll love what Vickie does with her and she'll also help you get more confident with her. Vickie is excellent. I agree with the others about your mare being riden more..and by a confident rider. It makes all the difference in the world. It sounds to me like very soon, just a few months, and you'll have your mare where the two of you are team.

It was me that had Mauricio (Kuda Tack) make 9' reins for me. You have a horse with Vickie, you'll appreciate them. She teaches a relax cue so the horse needs to be able to drop its head. Much easier on you if you don't have to hang over their neck.

I'm very happy for you! This is wonderful!

[Pasogirlz]

How exciting! Glad to hear you got in w/a good trainer. Sometimes it can be difficult b/c their barn is always full. :-?

Yes, Kuda should be able to help you out.
Kestler Tack also has a good selection of longer reins and will also make them special.

[LynnG]

Congrats! Glad it is working out with a well thought out plan for what will be best for you and your mare for future riding. There are several books available on overcoming nervousness in riders (and horses). Sometimes a nervous rider can translate into the horse being nervous.

You can make your own longer nylon reins if you wish. Hardware stores carry the round nylon rope in different colors, the metal end rope clamps (be sure they are large enough to get two diameters of the rope in, and snaps for the reins. I have made reins this way for pleasure riding.

Keep us posted and with pics.

[motorgypsy]

Here's the link for the Halterlady. Great stuff!

http://www.halterlady.com/

I love her halters. We use the 1/8 inch because they are so thin they fit under the bridle for trail riding and with clipon reins its' so easy to just unclip the rein from the bridle and put it on the halter for leading or tying. I also like the 1/8 inch because if the horse seriously panics or the halter gets caught the halter will break and that's a good thing because it prevents injury.

A dog trainer!! WOW!! I've always wanted to study dog training. A fascinating job!!

The reason I mentioned all the safety gear is because we've found that if we wear all the gear and use really safe tack we can concentrate on enjoying the horse because if we do end up on the ground it's very unlikely we would be seriously injured. It's the confidence factor that it helps most, not the riding ability. And we do ride better when we're relaxed.