I am a hunter jumper trainer, and I'm new to the gaited world. I am breaking a beautiful Paso Fino stallion. His owner had a friend from Columbia come in and give me some training advice. His purpose is to be a show horse, the guy told me that I have to ALWAYS keep him in his gait. I'm not completely sold on his methods of training Paso Finos. I'd like some tips on training him to be a nice show pony . He is a great horse we mostly do ALOT of ground work since he was previously abused by a so called "trainer". He is doing great but now its time to start riding. Before this guy from columbia came I kind of had the impression that the training would be alot of the same work, teaching the horse to respond to my aids, then teaching collection, and with collection we'd master the gait. When this guy came my mind was blown. He didn't speak good english, and I don't speak great spanish so some of our messages were lost in translation, but basically what I took from the whole experience was ... "force him move and pull back really hard in order to get the gait".. Well I'm not very fond of training with force plus I'm a 5'2 and 120 Lbs I will not be able to force a horse to do anything no matter how hard I try lol. In the end the whole thing left me and my stallion very flustered. Again I know NOTHING about the bred and gaited horses so any tips would be appreciated:) 

This is why gaited horses get a bad rap and this is why there are so many of them abused.

 I have Tennessee Walkers, so I am no help whatsoever regarding Paso Fino gaits but the basic horse training principles remain the same, regardless of breed.

 The crossroads in training begin once the rider begins to move the horse into the various intermediate gaits that are specific to their breed.

Liz Graves is the "go to" in the gaited horse world.  http://www.lizgraves.com/

This is an old Lee Ziegler site that Liz has presented; it may be of some help.

http://www.lizgraves.com/lee_ziegler/front_end_conformation.pdf

You can also look for some YouTube videos that show how Paso Finos should move for the show ring.

My friend laid her 22 yo Paso Fino to rest in January with cushings/IR (they are on the predisposed list:(.  She just bought a five year old.  Her horses are strictly trail horses but I can assure you when she works with them on their gaits, it is nothing like what you describe that man told you to do.

Stick to your guns regarding your methods of basic training, read Liz Graves, then try to hunt down a fair-minded Paso Fino trainer in your area and at least observe how they keep these horses in the required gaits for the show ring.

They use some horrendous looking bits, by the way.  I grow weary of people thinking long shanks on Walking Horses are evil --- they've never seen the bit that goes in the mouth of a Paso Fino for the show ring.  If those bits with the "spoons" on them aren't required, I would use something else in this horse's mouth. 

Hope this helps some:)

thanks for the info. i will definitly look into those sites. i wish there was a trainer around here but we dont have any. i know. those bits are horrendous. the owner gave me one and said that it is good because there is no tongue pressure but you look at the spoon on it and inside the sound there is a roller of some sort and it is jagged. i have gotten very attached to this sweet boy. there is no way i will ride him in that. i just dont know what to do because the owner is very insistent onit. when he isnt there i work with him alot on his frame and beings supple since that what seems to be of so much importance. thanks a bunch for the info.

We have 20+ Pasos here and train professionally. Without knowing what level your client is hoping to show the stallion it's really difficult to provide tips, but in general you want them in a collected frame (think dressage) and will need to allow for the more 'upright' travel characteristics of the breed. I think what got lost in the translation with your Colombian visitor was the collection part. It would be helpful to know which division the stallion is competing in (fino, performance, pleasure) as the requirements in the show ring differ within divisions. You also don't say how old the stallion is. If he will be in a 3 year old schooling class, for example, he does not need a bit. Generally we don't bit the horses until they are working well on the bosal and we don't start to truly collect the horses until they are on the bit and working smoothly. Spoon bits are optional, not required, but despite how they may look to you (and believe me -- I had the same reaction coming from the English world the first time I saw a spoon bit up close) they are not as harsh as you might think. As noted above, they are finishing tools, NOT training tools the way many other breeds use them. There is an entire art and science to the Paso bits -- generally you start with a bit with short shanks and a small spoon. If you can post a picture of the bit you got I might be able to help you determine whether it is too much for a baby.  Professional Paso trainers usually also have a variety of nose and chin pieces that they use to help collect and set the horses before they bit them. Again, an art and science here, and you may have a different approach. You will be able to get the stallion a long way by just treating him like a horse and getting him into a proper frame. Certainly you will do no damage. :)

 i wonder why a person with a gaited horse would choose a hunter/jumper trainer? 

i was thinking too about the bit.  and going to say what barbaricyawp says; it is a finishing bit, not a training bit. 

good luck with your new experience training this horse.  i have been to one paso fino horse show and the classes were very, very different from anything i've seen, western or english.

Gailforce:

 i wonder why a person with a gaited horse would choose a hunter/jumper trainer? 

From my own experience with gaited horses, in the early years, my guess is there either isn't any gaited horse trainer close by or, what there is sucks - lol

There are still areas of the country that gaited horses are not very popular and/or rare (especially Paso Finos and Peruvian Pasos).  Quality trainers of these breeds can't make a living if they only have a few horses to work with.

Most likely, the hunter/jumper trainer is either known by the horse's owner to be a good and fair trainer, or was recommended as such.

I would rather see a fair-minded "apple" training an "orange" any day, over the some of the tactics I've seen used by so-called gaited horse trainers

I wonder if the trainer was trying to say to drive the horse onto the bit with your legs and then contain that energy with your hands, and he just didn't have good enough English.  That's what Dressage trainers do, use their legs to encourage the horse to create energy in the hindquarters, send it forward, and contain and control this energy with the hands and bit, no hauling back when done properly. 

If there are other trainers in the area, it might be worth while to take a lesson or two just to get a feel for the gaits and how to ask for them.  Even if the trainer isn't the best and you don't care for the methods used, you'll have a better understanding of the training methods used with this breed and will be able to modify them to suit the horse you are training and your own training style. 

Good luck.

Spotted Pony