| Abrazos Adventure Portales New Mexico offering family and individual recreation to Portales, Clovis, Cannon AFB and the surrounding area with horseback riding and lessons Wendy Toombs owner/instructor 575.607.7344 MEET TIO |
Tio is a Latino. Actually the breed, Peruvian Paso is – he was born May 4, 1996, in Clovis.
He is registered but the papers were not transferred to us. His first owner thought he wanted
to show him but changed his mind, as Tio got older.
Tio was trained for 60-90 days when he was about 3 years old then turned out for several
years. He wound up with a family that had grandchildren and thought horses would be nice.
At this time he had pretty severe hoof problems due to feet not being taken care of while he
was turned out.
When I was approached about taking him for the school my farrier was taking care of the feet
and Tio was in special shoes. He thought he would completely recover and be sound. He has
and can run barefoot for our workload.
Tio is what we call a gaited horse. Normally horses (Quarter Horses, Paints, Thoroughbreds,
etc.) have three gaits – walk, trot, and lope or canter. A gaited horse may have an extra
natural gait such as a running walk between the usual walk and trot and even a pace
between the trot and lope. Tio has the running walk and he can build speed in it. Literature
states that the horse can travel 15-18 mph in the gait.
I had never been on a gaited horse before getting him. My instructor gave me some tips and
I researched on the Internet. I decided, since all this was new to me, to see if I could develop
the gait and leave the trot alone. When we started riding Tio we found that we basically had
a bronc (horse that is in the very beginning of handling and training) and he came to us as
an 8-year-old.
I found out these guys are bred to have attitude and he did. We had to learn about each
other and how to deal. A couple of student rides by very laid back personalities showed me
that we needed to keep 110% of our attention on him during the ride and we do this by
talking. When we do that he does what we want. If we let our attention wander he takes over.
In the early days he would shoot an energy charge up through his body to the rider that was
intimidating. I spent about a year with ‘do I keep him or do I sell him and get something more
suited’. Since he is still with us you know that we figured each other out.
One thing that is different is the amount of rein pressure. In his case we ride with a tighter
rein so he can use his head and neck properly to balance while he gaits. The ‘western way
of going with level neck’ is not what we need with him.
Students really like him because there is speed without bounce. He is very sensitive yet
(March 2009) to rider energy and by the time we leave the barn from tacking up I can tell
where he is with the student. If he feels stress he poops. No poop, things are off to a good
start.
This chestnut’s shape is different from the usual Quarter Horse or Paint. The way a horse is
built determines how it will travel and since they gait they are constructed differently. They
also carry their fat differently and my vet advised that he was too fat when I got him. He
showed me the points to evaluate so he looks a little different from the others. He is 14
hands 3 inches tall and should weigh no more than 950#.
Riders have to have some experience under their belt before riding Tio. I need to be sure
that they will follow the directions and take care of the ‘pull to the fence’ problem he will throw
their way. He is a good challenge for the rider. He is not a mean horse just one with more
energy than some of the others.
He is registered but the papers were not transferred to us. His first owner thought he wanted
to show him but changed his mind, as Tio got older.
Tio was trained for 60-90 days when he was about 3 years old then turned out for several
years. He wound up with a family that had grandchildren and thought horses would be nice.
At this time he had pretty severe hoof problems due to feet not being taken care of while he
was turned out.
When I was approached about taking him for the school my farrier was taking care of the feet
and Tio was in special shoes. He thought he would completely recover and be sound. He has
and can run barefoot for our workload.
Tio is what we call a gaited horse. Normally horses (Quarter Horses, Paints, Thoroughbreds,
etc.) have three gaits – walk, trot, and lope or canter. A gaited horse may have an extra
natural gait such as a running walk between the usual walk and trot and even a pace
between the trot and lope. Tio has the running walk and he can build speed in it. Literature
states that the horse can travel 15-18 mph in the gait.
I had never been on a gaited horse before getting him. My instructor gave me some tips and
I researched on the Internet. I decided, since all this was new to me, to see if I could develop
the gait and leave the trot alone. When we started riding Tio we found that we basically had
a bronc (horse that is in the very beginning of handling and training) and he came to us as
an 8-year-old.
I found out these guys are bred to have attitude and he did. We had to learn about each
other and how to deal. A couple of student rides by very laid back personalities showed me
that we needed to keep 110% of our attention on him during the ride and we do this by
talking. When we do that he does what we want. If we let our attention wander he takes over.
In the early days he would shoot an energy charge up through his body to the rider that was
intimidating. I spent about a year with ‘do I keep him or do I sell him and get something more
suited’. Since he is still with us you know that we figured each other out.
One thing that is different is the amount of rein pressure. In his case we ride with a tighter
rein so he can use his head and neck properly to balance while he gaits. The ‘western way
of going with level neck’ is not what we need with him.
Students really like him because there is speed without bounce. He is very sensitive yet
(March 2009) to rider energy and by the time we leave the barn from tacking up I can tell
where he is with the student. If he feels stress he poops. No poop, things are off to a good
start.
This chestnut’s shape is different from the usual Quarter Horse or Paint. The way a horse is
built determines how it will travel and since they gait they are constructed differently. They
also carry their fat differently and my vet advised that he was too fat when I got him. He
showed me the points to evaluate so he looks a little different from the others. He is 14
hands 3 inches tall and should weigh no more than 950#.
Riders have to have some experience under their belt before riding Tio. I need to be sure
that they will follow the directions and take care of the ‘pull to the fence’ problem he will throw
their way. He is a good challenge for the rider. He is not a mean horse just one with more
energy than some of the others.
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