I began riding horses at an early age back in my native country, Cuba. My grandfather owned a farm in the country side and I would spend every weekend and days off school riding his horses, mostly Caballo Cubano de Paso, which is a descent of horses from Spain. I immigrated to the states in 1985 with my parents and my sister. During the early years I had to concentrate on learning the language, learning the nuances of a new culture and getting an education. Horses were always a part of my life, even when I was not able to own one. I would always find a place to rent one for the day or lease on a monthly basis.
An old wise horse trainer and teacher who is now deceased, Eric Gendernalik, told me awhile back that if I wanted to understand horses, I would have to spend lots of time learning from the best trainers around this country. Then I would need to develop several critical skills: my timing, feel and balance through experience by working many different kinds of horses. I spent lots of time reading, watching professional training videos, attending clinics, networking with knowledgeable horse people, and training full time.
I have always been a fan of the outdoors, and now I have found an occupation where I can be outside enjoying nature from the back of a horse. For me there is nothing better than riding among beautiful sceneries on a horse I have developed enough that I can trust.
I will share with you some of the steps I take when working with a new horse.
First, I spend some time on the ground (round pen work). My goal at this point is to develop a leadership role, gain their respect and trust. My approach is simple; I want the horse to respect me, but not to be afraid. I’m looking to build a partnership. While gaining respect I also mix it up with sensitizing and desensitizing exercises, which will get the horse using the thinking side of the brain and he should start to be less reactive to movement and sounds around him.
Once I have his attention, i can prompt or stop the movement in his feet. Then I saddle the horse and progress to start working on a number of exercises to gain his attention and respect from while on his back.
Once I have spent time in an arena and I know I have his respect and the ability to move his feet, then I add new skills by taking him on the trails, going over obstacles, getting in the water and putting miles on his feet. A well trained horse needs to have lots of concentrated training and long hours in the saddle.
My ultimate goal is to help people develop a trusting relationship with their horses.
