Paso Finos - anyone have one?

[zillahkatz]

I have a half Paso Fino ( dad is Paso Fino - mom is a quater horse/ arab cross). Cheeky is great and will sometimes "gate" sometimes not. She walks out like a champ and her lope (canter) is super smooth. Then there's her trot... usually choppy - something you have to post to ride comfortably. I feel like she's sort of in between when she trots - like she want to gate. She's 6 1/2 and was only started when she was 4. She AWESOME but I wonder if I could get her to do that lovely paso gate she does at times (usually while running around the pasture). Or if I can't get her to gate - how can I help her trot be smoother. I'm not a horse imbecile but I live in ranch horse country where many people are like Paso what?

[pat]

sorry, I don't know anything about horses.
hopefully, there are other members here that can help.

do you have pictures of your horse?

my neighbor has horses. if no one here answers you, I will ask my neighbor is she knows..

[TamanduaGirl]

There are a bunch of horse owners here http://petoftheday.com/talk/ post it in general pets

Don't worry I refer people here for fox info all the time.

[zillahkatz]

Thanks you guys! (Gals!)
Pat - there are some pics of Cheeky on my myspace page - www.myspace.com/staceywyo
Most of them are a year or two old. I need to get some new ones!!
It's so cold here that both horses look like wooly mammoths right now!!!

[pat]

they are beautiful.

you know, I could never really understand why horses stand when they sleep or rest.. have they ever layed down for awhile?

heck, my legs get tired just thinking of those horses on their feet all day, but, at least they have good shoes

[zillahkatz]

Both Cheeky and Billy lay down from time to time - even in the snow. They have a stall with a nice soft dirt and straw floor but they don't do into it to sleep or even get out of the elements. There are lots of trees and plenty of wind breaks in the pasture but my non-horse friends and family think it's "so sad" they're outside in winter. Ha! Cheeky was born here and only knows cold, hard long winters. We just feed them more when it's 20 below!!

[McDonnellb]

Sorry Zilla. O_O; One of the few types of horses I have not covered in my training at the University is gated ones. Wish I could help. If I hear of a trainer who focuses on gated horses, I will sent him/her your way.

[zillahkatz]

McC -

Thanks - I think it's really a matter of time and her coming into her own. We've been riding bareback a lot this winter and just with the rope halters and the lead rope as "reigns". I have a lot of feel of her and she's working off my subtle leg and hand comands beautifully. If she's in the mood to "go", I just give a little break then gas, so to speak and she starts gaiting. A lovely thing to sit I tell you! I have pics of us goofing around in the snow, sticking the dogs up on with us when we're riding, having Billy pose with our friends dog sitting on him (he could care less). Good times!!
Do you use rope halters? I grew up back east and they weren't used but I would NEVER use a buckle halter again. Ray Hunt, Pat Parelli, etc etc all use them because they work on pressure points and have no weak spots wear they can break. We use them with a rope lead and no clip connection - the lead has a little loop in the end that you feed through the halter and then through itself (make sense???). Anyway - you can snub a horse to a tree and it can have a fall apart and the rope (which is parachute line - will never break.) Good stuff!
Good luck, keep helping people and always keep learning!

[Trefoil]

Horses and most large animals will sleep /rest while sanding . They are more vulnerable to predators while laying down and also if they lay down for too long it affects their breathing, ect.

[suki'smom]

To help smooth out his trot he needs to get in the proper frame. Rusty has a real rough trot too (think jamming your spine into your skull). What I did to help smooth him out is trot him over ground poles. Start with one and then gradually build up to five (never more than five). The poles should be placed about 6 1/2 feet apart though you can adjust them according to his personal stride also you can adjust them to shorten and lengthen his stride. This way Cheeky will build up the muscles to be able to lengthen his frame (and smooth out his trot) without the ground poles.
NOTE: theres a good chance that I'm a little mixed up with some of the words but all I know is that trotting over ground poles really helped Rusty's trot. Thanks for understanding