TRAINING THE PERUVIAN TRAIL HORSE

PART THREE OF A SERIES by Julie Suhr

Carolana' s first few rides were in the spring of 1982 on the trails of the Santa Cruz Mountains. These were uneventful to the eye of the casual observer, but to me they were filled with excitement. Our home is located at 1200 feet. The mountain ranges leading to the ocean and the forested trails make it an idyllic setting for a trail rider. But it is becoming less so as more homes are built. The paths are being bisected, paved, fenced off and built on. One trail, however, is fairly well protected for the near future. It is a seven mile loop that passes near our front gate. It descends to 600 feet in a little over a mile in one direction; in the other direction it has a more gradual descent, but there are some steep banks to clammer up and down.

We have almost no flat land on which to train a horse. I have a small ring, filled with sand, where I start the youngsters. But mostly we ride on the trails, and the animals are very quickly confronted with the earth as nature created it. There are logs to get over, creeks to cross, trees to dodge and brush to push through. I wish we had more rocky trails to teach our horses to move rapidly over rough ground and to toughen feet. I also would like hotter and more arid conditions to prepare a horse for the long stretches without water in summer heat, such as are prevalent on most endurance rides.

Carolana's first ventures into this new world were tremendously rewarding. She was eager, anxious to travel, alert and obvious.y delighted by the new worlds to explore. She hesitated at obstacles just long enough to give them a thorough once over. Basically, she went up, down, through and past everything. She held her gait well, especially on the downhill. She welcomed up hills with enthusiasm. I could not have been more pleased. All our rides were by ourselves in the beginning. I was not ready for another horse and rider to accompany us. I wanted the two of us to go at our own pace, and I wanted the freedom to make our rides ones of discovery, hard to do if you have to consider the pace and interests of another person and horse. I had her undivided attention which would not have been the case with another of her own kind present. I also did not want Carolana to rely on the comfort of having another horse around. I'd Rather have a horse look to me for guidance. It irritates me when horses become so dependent on a companion that they will not leave them in the open country without making a commotion and bellowing back and forth until the other horse is long out of sight and sound.

I made a real effort to make the rides enjoyable by not pushing Carolana harder or faster than I thought she was ready to go. There was to be no drudgery, as the mental attitude of the horse can be the greatest of assets or handicaps to a trail horse, just as it can be in the show ring. Carolana has never particularly cared for ring work. But she is also the horse on which I can put anyone, child or adult, bareback, and waltz them up and down the driveway to demonstrate the smooth Peruvian gait.

Several minor problems worth mentioning did arise, and we had one royal battle. Along the edge of a jeep trail there was water dripping about six inches on to maple leaves caught in some rocks. It made a strange sound and for the first time Carolana planted her feet and said "No, I am not going to go !". It was obvious we were about to have a real test of wills. My urging and the resultant spinning, rearing and backing off a bank certainly would have made a liar of me if witnessed by the many people I had told that my young horse would go past anything. Her uncharacteristic behavior took me by surprise, and without thinking I responded with force. When a total impasse was reached, I realized I had to win the battle or be sorry in the future.

I decided to try jumping off and leading her. I really did not think it would work, but it did. After passing back and forth several times, I mounted, and she walked by with little concern. In retrospect, knowing of her past willingness, I should have realized that she was seriously upset by a sound she did have not recognize and did not understand. She probably interpreted it as dangerous, although to me it seemed so insignificant. I learned a lesson. If you know your horse is honest and its behavior suddenly takes an uncharacteristic turn, think the situation through before you act. Carolana had been frightened to this situation, and I should have reassured her with gentleness rather than reacting with the physical punishment appropriate for a disobedient, balky horse. Because she trusted me, she was quite willing to follow me past the obstacle. All that unpleasantness could have been avoided so easily.

Another thing that bothered her was puddles. It is hard to understand why, after coming through a Santa Cruz Mountain winter in which her feet were not dry for months at a time,a horse feels she has to avoid water in the trail. However, this was the case. She jumped the smaller puddles, side-stepped the larger ones and scared me by walking the Thin line between a puddle and a canyon drop-off on several occasions. By the end of most rides she had tired of the game and would go through the center of a puddle without much thought. However, I had my second balking incident with her when we came to a puddle that stretched the entire width of the trail. She refused to enter it. Remembering my earlier experience, I tried leading her by wading through the puddle ahead of her. When I had muddied the waters, she entered willingly. I have to believe that the reflections of the sky and trees were visually deceptive to her. There have been no further problems in this regard.

I abandoned the snaffle bit I had originally used on her after the first couple of rides. At that point, I started using a mechanical hackamore with no mouth piece. I did not feel that I needed the mouth contact, and I thought it more important that the filly have the freedom of her head. Some people say the mechanical hackamore is not good for anything except "stop and go", but Carolana seems to rein nicely with it. In a sense I just reversed the traditional Peruvian method of going from bozal to bit.

I continued to use the light-weight English saddle and did not find it necessary to have Carolana shod. The short rides at a slow pace did not seem to hurt the feet that had been used to our mountain slopes since birth.

Carolana liked to climb hills from the beginning. She throws her weight forward, lowers her head and digs right in. She is not as powerful as *Marinera was when I started riding her as a five-year-old. But Carolana's temperament is better. She is not the frantic horse her mother is, so there is more conservation of energy. She prefers to jump small obstacles rather than walk over them. Several downed trees on our trails give her the opportunity to clear two feet, which she does with complete ease and fluidity. She is capable of going a lot higher, but we have not found anything more demanding in our mountain wanderings. I try very hard not to hassle a horse on the trail.

Many people will say they have to "teach" a horse how to jump or "teach" a horse how to go down or up a hill. They fool around with the head carriage and use their leg aids to get him to shift his weight hither and yon. It seems to me the horse should be given more credit. He is going to go up, down or over rough terrain in the way that is the most balanced, natural and easy for him. I feel that the most athletic animal, which flexes the easiest and understands balance the best, is the horse that learned by himself at play in rough country rather than the horse who was taught by man with artificial aids.

Man-dictated standards may enhance the horse's appearance in the show ring, but in the open country, the horse's own standards should prevail. This is never better illustrated than on a narrow, hazardous trail. Efforts to rein the horse invariably end up with the horse torn between obedience to the rider's command and his own common sense. If given a chance, he will find the best footing and the safest way to maintain his balance. This will result in a far safer trip for the rider. Of course this is not an unbendable rule, for on some trails, the horse determines the safest route for his own fourteen to fifteen hand height with no regard for the three feet of human perched above his top line. The low branch that he can get under may not clear the rider; thus the horse must be obedient to the rider' s command even though what he is asked to do is not his first choice. I do not belittle leg aids and head control. There are times when they are needed.

From the foregoing, the reader can assume that, except for a few minor incidents, all is going splendidly so far with Carolana' s training. I have some concerns, however. Carolana holds her gaits well in the hills, but at times when going from the paso to a canter, she gets a bit disunited and we have to slow down and approach the canter over again. She seems to have a tendency on the level or downhill to canter with the front legs, but continue the paso with the back legs. In a matter of seconds she gets herself reorganized, and I am sure that with time there will be no transition problems at all. Her gallop is the smoothest on a slight upgrade, and she breaks into this gait of her own accord when we come to a hill. I have to believe that she is telling me that it is easier to get to the top that way than in her paso gait.

I regret that I have never taken the time to become a real student of the paso gait. When I am riding a that Peruvian, I certainly recognize that at times the gait is the smoother than at other times. If it gets rough, I simply shift my weight in the saddle and work the reins a bit until the gait smooths out. Whether the horse is in the paso llano, the Sobreandando or what ever is of less interest to me than the ease and speed of the ride over rough country.

I think that most of my excitement with Carolana at this stage is prompted by her willingness to go by anything...motorcycles, construction equipment, wildlife, etc. are passed without undue concern. She has never whirled except as mentioned earlier, and the extend of any shying is an arching and twisting of the neck and a few snorts. Wooden bridges with the accompanying hollow sound effects have never fazed her nor do dogs snapping at her heels.

I have never had an Arabian that has not sooner or later managed to spin out from under me on the trail when something undetectable to the human eye spooked him. I thought the recent purchase of a six-year-old Arabian gelding might prove the exception, but I was wrong, and he had the good fun of depositing me unceremoniously upon the ground not long ago. He was a good enough fellow to let me catch him easily, and I was spared the final humiliation of having to walk home. I have never had a Peruvian unload me in the eighteen years I have been riding them with the exception of one experience with *Marinera. In a slippery sawdust arena following a heavy rain, all four feet slid sideways out from under her, and we went to the ground together. She left me behind when she arose . Carolana does have some mild crow hops in her, but they are more an indication of her enthusiasm and zest than an intentional display of ill humor. I have never so much as lost a stirrup.

People ask me why, with my enthusiasm for the Peruvians as a trail horse, I ride Arabians in endurance rides. First of all, *Marinera blessed me with five fillies in a row. With the exception of Danzarina, her first, who I have kept as a superior brood mare, they have all sold rather readily. The eight years it takes to produce a good endurance horse is a long time to wait. Secondly, endurance rides have changed from a decade ago. Then if you had a horse that could really trot or paso, you could finish in the Top Ten. Now you have to have one that can gallop for forty to fifty miles to finish in Top Ten. The Arabian is a better galloping horse than a Peruvian and by its very make-up, is a better long distance animal. It is not unusual for an Arabian to finish a flat fifty mile race in between two and a half and three hours and there was one recent race in which the horse was unofficially clocked at two hours and seven minutes for fifty miles. I do not believe the Peruvian is capable of this sort of an effort. Thirdly, you can go out and buy a proven endurance horse of eight or nine years of age for two to three thousand dollars. It is not possible to raise than a Peruvian or any other horse to that age for that amount of money.

BUT, I am convinced that the Peruvian, contrary to what some people may say about gaited horses, is the most sure footed, safest and best suited by temperament of all trail horses in the world. They simply do not stumble. They pick their front feet up high and plant them down again; they do not drag them forward. My best Arabian endurance horses have all fallen with me sooner or later. With the exception of the one incident with *Marinera as noted above, my Peruvians never fall, and I am far more daring in rough country on them.

To return to the story of Carolana, last year I had to make a decision which was a hard one. Our mountains are rugged and therefore demanding physically, Carolana was a coming three-year-old with a long period of growth to full maturity. I felt she needed more time to grow up before I let my hills take their toll on her young legs and body which could suffer if asked to do too much too early. I find it hard not to override a horse which gives me the kind of ride that this filly does. So I decided to breed her to our stallion and let her raise a foal. When it was weaned, I would start her conditioning in earnest with her age a full four years plus. I will pick up her story in the next issue. By then she will have weaned her foal and her training for long distance riding will have seriously begun. I will have begun to stress her physiologically, and only then will I know whether or not she can fulfill my wish of the successful completion of a fifty mile endurance ride. I will monitor her pulse and respiration recovery rates carefully and, in particular, I will watch her legs to be sure that the skeletal and muscular system is ready for this kind of an endeavor. I look forward to every moment needed on the trail with this good horse to reach my goal sometime in 1984 or 1985. There will be setbacks and discouragements, but they will increase my knowledge, and my determination.

Go to Part 4

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