Horses

From a raw, unhandled horse to one finished in the bit:

that ladder tells you more than the breed about what a Panamanian horse can do. A raw horse has barely been handled. A started horse has been brought on the way cattlemen here do it, in a bosal, a rawhide noseband with no metal in the mouth, and turns off a light touch of rein on the neck. Only once that is solid does the horse move on to a shank bit, and a horse described as finished should neck-rein, stop and back up in the bit without gaping or throwing its head. Ask which stage the horse has reached and who did the work.

Ranch horses, Quarter Horses and gaited horses:

most working horses on the cattle farms of Veraguas and Los Santos are ranch-bred crosses of no defined breed, not a registered native line. They are hardy, sure-footed on hill tracks and used to working cows, and the best first horse for someone who wants to ride out rather than compete. The Quarter Horse is the competition horse, for the barrel clubs, the roping arenas, reining and the women-only riding clubs of Los Santos and the capital. A barrel horse is fast and wound up, exactly wrong for a nervous beginner. Peruvian Paso and Paso Fino horses are gaited: they carry a rider smoothly in a four-beat amble instead of a trot, which makes them the horse for long rides.

A horse’s mouth, legs and manners on the day you try it:

ride it yourself, in its own gear and then in yours. Mount from both sides: it should stand. Ask for a one-handed turn each way, a stop and a back-up; a horse that fights the bit has usually been hurried out of the bosal. Run a hand down the forelegs before and after the ride: heat or soft swelling around the tendons after work is a warning, and a barrel or roping horse that has turned hard for years can be sore in the hocks, so watch it trot away from you on firm ground. Check the teeth against the age you were given. Ask whether it has carried a rider calmly through a town fiesta, brass band and fireworks included. Ask for the vaccination record and a recent Coggins test for equine infectious anaemia, since a horse carrying the virus can look perfectly well.

Western saddles, bosals and silver-trimmed show tack:

the working saddle here is a western one, with a horn to take a turn of rope and a heavy wooden tree to absorb the jolt when a steer hits the end of it. Show tack goes the other way: bridles, bits and saddles worked with silver, made to be seen in a parade or the show ring. On a used saddle, check that it clears the withers without a pad, then check the rigging where the cinch hangs, because that leather takes all the strain and cracks once it dries out, and on silver work look for plating worn through to the base metal and silver medallions that have been reattached.

A barrel horse, a ranch horse or an old schoolmaster looking for a rider:

give its age, sex, height and breed or cross, the stage of training it has reached and in what gear, and who has ridden it, because a horse a child rides alone is a different animal from one only the trainer gets on. Be straight about any lameness, colic or time off work. Film it ridden at every pace and walking into a horse trailer, since that is the clip someone in Las Tablas or Volcán watches before setting off. Say plainly which tack goes with the horse, as silver show gear is often kept back. Let the new rider try it more than once, and send the bosal or bit it was finished in: a horse that goes sweetly in its own gear can turn sour in a stranger’s.