The GBF Difference
#1.....Continued support with each horse purchased for as long as you own the horse...
I've always actually done this, since I sold the first horse I bred....because, having bred and raised these horses, from my point of view---a new buyer is now "family!"
I've always been supportive, being just a phone call or email away, and you are free to come for a day of help or "review" of how you and your new GBF horse are doing, whether its with riding issues or ground handling.
But now, since I am offering the "Trainer on Retainer" program of video consultation and lessons, please know that I also offer this program FREE, and unlimited(within reason, of course!) for the lifetime of each of my horses sold. This is especially valuable for new owners living too far away to make in-person consultations with the horse easily feasible.
While I certainly hope whichever of my horses you buy will be your "forever" horse, if, for some reason, you must sell your GBF raised horse, this service is transferred with the sale to the new owner, and may be a strong selling point(at least, I hope you choose someone that wishes to stay informed!).
**(however, this service, as provided free for horses purchased from me, may not be used on any other breeders' stock you may own, but you may purchase a lesson or lesson packages for other horses, with discounts possible)
Then I started my breeding program back in the late 70’s, I carefully considered certain factors:
- how does one, through breeding, preserve high quality and effortless, natural gait through not just the gene “to gait,” but “lock it in” and also enhance it by the mechanics of conformation, through which gait must be expressed, and
- insure that, whether the horse is ridden English, Western, or anywhere in the world, a rider, without necessarily knowing any special “paso” way to ride, but has - or, at least has access to - some knowledge of very basic principles of “balanced seat” riding, which is universal and scientifically correct. That way, the rider is easily able to communicate with the horse and have it be responsive in a positive way, including its ability to maintain its natural Paso Fino gait.
By choosing for very specific conformation characteristics and a natural, innate tendency to raise the head with a correctly rounded neck, ability to break at the poll; and ESPECIALLY, to round the back and lower the hindquarters –in other words, do a correct “bascule,” as dressage calls this frame that is ideally balanced for the horse to carry a rider’s weight in a way that doesn’t impede its movement. These characteristics therefore help ensure and enhance a horse’s ability to correctly perform the even 4 beat paso fino gait, to attain “self-carriage” in this manner, and to collect as well as extend, with minimal effort and easy transitions; and to do so very early in the horse’s training, in a simple and totally natural way.
In those days, over 30 years ago, people were mostly able to buy very young Paso Fino horses, not yet old enough to start to ride- and there were extremely few Paso Fino trainers in the US. Also, since this was before the “natural” movement, there were many more trainers of other gaited breeds that regularly used unnatural means to train gait. It was important to me-then and now- that my horses had –bred in- characteristics that would lend themselves to being easily and successfully trained simply by a knowledgeable horseperson, making life easier not just for humans, but especially for the horses.
If horses can to learn exceptionally easily & quickly: gait correctly, not have behavioral “issues,” they would be far less subject to unnatural, and sometimes inhumane ways of being trained, particularly because they were “gaited.” Of course, a happy, totally satisfied owner is far more apt to keep and care for his horse for its entire life. While breeders can’t control what happens to their animals once they are sold, we should at least provide these living, thinking, feeling beings that we create with attributes that will help them have the possibilities of a good, long positive life.
Because I’ve been breeding for so many years, I’ve managed to perfect my techniques in breeding decisions; in understanding bloodlines, past and present, for their timeless qualities in these respects of choosing strength of gait and conformation, not just for its contribution to “building” a very sound, and therefore generally healthier, longer-lasting horse, but also, one that naturally moves in proper gait correctly and with ease, including a “long thread” of gait (from tighter corto, to truly extended largo).
This last is what I feel is what the original Paso Fino horse was about-the horses that “Conquered the Americas” with the Conquistadors were obviously ground-covering, versatile tough horses that could sustain rugged terrain, so I don’t breed for strictly classic fino horses, nor the showring. I don’t view the showring as “the end,” but rather, an occasional testing ground along the way.
However, neither do I breed “largo horses,” horses that just have the speeds of “fast and faster,” as there are plenty of other naturally gaited breeds that do that.
To me, what “classically” sets the Paso Fino breed apart from other gaited breeds–in the TIMELESS sense of the word - IS its ability to work “under itself” in an even gait, be much tighter, giving them much greater agility than other gaited breeds(far more greatly vary its degree of impulsion). It’s exceptionally useful in very rough, mountainous, rocky, and also densely wooded terrains…work livestock….yet still have that versatility to perform extended speeds as necessary, all so smoothly…what more could one ask for in any horse?
