Skip to main content

Hawaii Paso Fino

Another one of the fabulous activities we got to try on the Big Island was that we each got to take a riding lesson at Rancho Vitorino on Paso Fino horses.

Kerry particuarly enjoyed this. He's definitely our horse man.


Paso Fino horses are known for their evenly spaced four beat lateral ambling gait. This means they have a very smooth gait which doesn't bounce you up and down while you are riding.


While riding the Paso Fino you have to hold the reigns in both hands with your thumbs up. You have to keep your hands even with each other as if you were shifting gears with both hands in order to direct your horse.


First we would ride in a small ring to get the hang of how to hold the reigns and practice for a bit. We were right on the ocean and had this gorgeous backdrop behind us.

Kerry began to covet.


Katie was not happy that she didn't get to ride all by herself without someone leading her. But these horses are big, and she is small, and we just had to assure her that she would one day get to ride a horse on her own.

I have no idea why my sentences are being underlined now and I can't make it stop.

Please deal.


After we had trained in the small ring, we got to move into the larger ring and ride the horses around and through orange cones and in different directions. I was worried the whole time about holding the reigns correctly.


I handed the camera to Emily while I was riding and came back with a hundred photos of this Jack Russell puppy. The kids were enthralled with him.

This was a really fun thing to do and it made me wish I had started riding horses when I was young!

Comments

  1. thanks for sharing your life and adventures with us. It is always nice to see the things I may never see but also to partake in your whit.....I mean your entire famlies whit. haha
    Trina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi – Will you please post a link to your Blog at The Paso Fino Community? Our members will love it.
    Members include: Paso Fino Owners, Breeders, Trainers and Lovers
    It's easy to do, just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website… it’s a win win. You can also add Photos, Videos and Foal Classifieds if you like. It’s free and easy.
    Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.
    The Paso Fino Community: http://www.vorts.com/paso_fino_horses/
    Thanks,
    James Kaufman, Editor

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mammogram

I'm having my annual mammogram today. I always hear about how painful they are, but honestly, I've never thought they are that bad. Not the most comfortable, but not painful either. Every time I have a mammogram, I'm reminded of this story. It won the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition and I still get a kick out of it every time I read it. So I'm posting it here today for your reading pleasure: Erma Bombeck Writing Competition 1st place in Humor Category Winner Leigh Anne Jasheway of Eugene, Oregon "The First Time's Always the Worst" The first mammogram is the worst. Especially when the machine catches on fire. That's what happened to me. The technician, Gail, positioned me exactly as she wanted me (think a really complicated game of Twister - right hand on the blue, left shoulder on the yellow, right breast as far away as humanly possible from the rest of your body). Then she clamped the machine down so tight, I think my breast actually turned inside o...

Cookie Map of Egypt

Katie is studying ancient Egyptian history right now and in the interest of making it more "hands-on" for her, we've joined a co-op at our church. We've been part of the co-op for a long time, but we've not done history with them until now. I was in charge of this week's craft project so I had all the kids make maps of ancient Egypt out of cookie dough. Katie and I made one at home for practice, then we made one again at co-op so the pictures look different as I used some photographs from each session. Each child started out with one full tube of sugar cookie dough. They pressed each one out into a 10x6 inch rectangle as if it were clay or play dough. We used toothpicks to outline where we wanted land formations to be. Then we outlined the Mediterranean Sea with a blue gel. And filled it in with blue icing. We used Twizzlers to outline the Red Sea. Although the Red Sea isn't actually red, there is a seasonal algae there which is red in color. I thought the...

Queen Emma's Summer Palace

We recently visited Queen Emma's Summer Palace in Honolulu. If you are expecting a "palace", you will be disappointed. It's a nice house but not particularly palatial . If you think of it as Queen Emma's Summer Cottage, you'll enjoy it more because it will meet your expectations. Queen Emma was the wife of King Kamehameha IV. Their only child, Prince Albert, died at age four, and King Kamehameha IV died a year later. It's a sad story. The home was used by the royal family in the mid-1800's. Today it holds artifacts from that time period. Some of the furnishings and memorabilia actually belonged to Queen Emma. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside, so I didn't take any pictures. I did, however, find some images on the internet which I am copying here. Don't sue me, please. I did try to buy postcards in the gift shop, but they didn't have any. This photo is of the parlor. Queen Emma acquired this baby grand piano later ...