Riding the Ibero Horse in Costa Rica

Welcome back to Costa Rica. In the last episode, we visited a local breeder to learn about the Costa del Sensei de Paso, and now it's time to meet our second Costa Rican breed, the Ibero. In 1991, a group of breeders in Costa Rica had a dream of creating a new breed, and the Central American Association of Ibero-American Horse Breeders was founded. The breeds accepted by the association to create the Ibero are the Costa Rican Paso Horse, the PRE, the Lusitano, and the Peruvian. Here we have what is a Ibero horse. Okay. So she is Costa del Sensei de Paso with the PRE, so she has 37.5% of PRE. So you're going to see like the difference, the gait is different, she has more elevation, less faster. Okay. So it's kind of like, yeah, so Costa del Sensei de Paso, they create the breed basically to have a horse that works for the job. So they are really soft on the on the seat, and then they create the Ibero, so it can be like a fancy horse with the same characteristic of the Paso de Costa del Sensei. I love from the Ibero, like the beauty. They are so beautiful, like the size, and the morphology, everything, you know, they're so different. Today there are more than 3,000 registered horses, and they have been exported to eight different countries. The goal for the breed was to create a beautiful, powerful, and multifunctional modern saddle horse. The breed association states that the horses should be athletic, with great strength and energy, but a noble temperament. So how, how did this get started for you guys? So I'm, like I said, I'm from Canada, originally Francesca. Her cousin is one of the, I would say, most successful horse trainers and sellers in Costa Rica. About two years ago we got our first two horses, and then we started the school here about a year ago. Oh my gosh. We didn't have any plan of starting an equestrian center, and it was just, you know, we have this place, and we're going to keep my horse and her horse for personal use, and then just with all the international schools and families in the area. People started coming, like just like walking in, and they were like, hey are you going to do like lessons or something? So we saw like, you know, like an opportunity here, and we started like offering, and now we're cool. My name is Taylor Frost, and I'm the trainer and riding instructor here at the Flamingo Equestrian Club. For somebody that is here and wants to come and learn to ride, whether they have no experience or lots of experience, can they come here and see you guys? Absolutely. We have horses for every level. I'll even, if you're advanced enough, I'll let you ride this one. I am not, not jealous when it comes to those kinds of things. We have horses for every single level. Awesome. Jumping, dressage, eventing. What's your philosophy? What do you try to teach the students? The philosophy that I want to teach is that it's never the horse's fault, that horses are not ATVs. They're allowed to have emotions and thoughts and issues with things, and to take it slow. It's not a race to the top slash bottom, because a race to the top tends to be a race to the bottom. Take your time. Learn your dressage. Outside rein and side leg.