08/29/2026
**Long Post** Introduction to the herd series: Sundance
This is , he came from a very sweet, gentle, and kind, woman. He was a lot for her. He moved too fast, uncomfortable in most situations, spooky on the trail, would work himself into a nervous lather, wouldn’t respond to softly to literally anything she asked him even after sending him to a trainer for some refresher work. This is all I know of his history really. (The former and current owners could probably comment more or correct me if I’m saying something wrong here!) The lovely woman had two other horses that met her needs a little better so she decided to sell him.
I just so happened to have a client looking for a horse and I was sent his sale ad to send to her. My client was definitely interested and insisted on seeing him right away! We went over to see him, she fell in love and she bought him right then with zero input from me other than he had good feet and was a nice enough mover on the ground. She didn’t ride him, didn’t care he was nervous Nelly, nor did she care he wasn’t the “prettiest horse.”
Side note: There is a book that I recommend everyone involved with horses read or listen to; it is called “A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color” written by Mark Rashid. In it he tells a story of an ugly horse that one man was quite literally paid to take with him because the other man could not even sell the ugly thing. That ugly horse turned out to be the best dang horse on the ranch because he was given a chance. Emphasizing that you cannot judge a good horse by its looks. A good horse is made in to one but just as easily so can a bad one be made.
Back to Sundance now. Sundance is a Paso Fino. Most people know Paso’s as spooky, hot, flighty, nervous, and hard-headed creatures, which for the most part is true. If you’ve never owned one they have a reputation much like Arabians or Appaloosas. Naturally, I was hesitant that my “getting back in to horses after so many years” client was about to bite off more than she could chew with this horse. The seller was completely honest about his quirks which made me even more hesitant. I had to remind myself that 1. It’s not my horse. And 2. It’s not my money. What sort of friend and coach would I be if I just let her buy a horse that was going to turn out to be more than she could handle? Well, a good one apparently because I did let her buy that horse (obviously) because you can’t judge a good horse by his looks. He has turned out to be a pretty good partner for her and getting better every day.
Sundance is more than likely crossed with something a bit calmer and not pure Paso. He (most of the time) stands fairly calmly for the farrier. He is super easy to catch. He’s definitely the shy one in the pasture and gets bullied a lot by the lead mare and geldings. He is willing to learn and tries as best he can to understand. Although, sometimes the Paso side of his brain takes over and he reacts without thinking. We are slowly working on that. With some patience and understanding how his brain works we’ve been able to figure out his communication style.
I have been working with him and his owner on and off since we brought him home. I taught him to load calmly into a trailer and work in the round pen correctly. His owner has been learning to ride less with her hands and more with her seat. We’ve been out on trails where we’ve gotten more comfortable bushwhacking through vines and climbing steep hills. He’s learned to walk the trail instead of race to the end. He has also learned to stand still and rest when given the chance to do so on the trail.
Yesterday, we decided to try some obstacle work. When riding on a trail you never know what you’ll run into in that environment. It is an “uncontrolled” environment, wide open space, no fences, you get bucked out there your horse may be gone for good. I’ve been on plenty of searches for fully tacked horses who dumped their riders and were gone for days. Obstacle work in a controlled environment prepares your horse for things they MAY encounter on the trail.
I wish I would’ve got his first reaction to these step overs on video and everything we did in between to get here. It wasn’t pretty at first. He was reactive, fearful, it wasn’t calm and easy. But he tried. I reward the try. I do have to start setting up my camera during these training sessions to show you guys what I do since some people like to point out I’m not a professional, I’m always learning and trying new things myself, but I do seem to get s**t done with these horses and I haven’t had a client complaint yet. 🤷♀️
Anyway, I don’t always start out at the easiest level when introducing a new obstacle to the horses like most trainers do. I have found that some of the horses do the hardest ones easily without any introduction to it while others need small incremental introductions. So, I like to start right at the hardest level and then go back if needed. This may not be the “proper” way to do it but it’s what I do.
He at first approached them fine, stepped over, but his back foot caught on the board and knocked it off, it spooked him so he jumped forward and knocked the board in front of him off, spooked him again so he freaked out and threw himself backwards as fast as he could go. Then he didn’t want to try them again. So we went and worked on some lunging for respect. Then over the trot poles which he didn’t like at first but realized they weren’t scary. Then finally one step over: first on the ground between the risers, then on the flat side of the riser, then on the raised side of the riser like in the video. He was calm and willing on this last part.
He has not had any consistent type of training so it has taken quite some time for him to do these types of things without trying to run me over or bolt away. He is getting it. He is learning still. He is willing to try. He is a sweetheart of a horse. He may be the ugly duckling of the herd but at least he has a heart of gold.
