Registered and certified 5 year old Rocky Mountain gelding. Rio is the Cadillac of horses!
-Super smooth gait and canter. NO pace.
-Soft mouth and perfect headset. Beautiful arched neck and tail. Does not brace his neck or bulge from underneath.
-Excellent body control in hand or in saddle: moves easily off of your leg, side passes, turns on forehand, yields hindquarters, backs, lateral flexion, vertical flexion, parks for mounting, moves off finger tap or leg, stands quietly and loves to be groomed, good for farrier, picks up all feet well, can open gates on him, driving with long lines.
-Will walk over anything you put in front of him: blanket, tarp, log, culvert pipe, bridges, ditches, creeks, tires, plywood. Would do well at obstacles.
-Trailers well alone or with other horses.
-Good in groups or alone. Will lead or follow. Great trail horse!
-Desensitized to tarps, wand with plastic strips, pool noodles hanging off saddle, Clinton Anderson wand.
-Not reactive or spooky. Curious. No buck or rear.
-Lunges well and changes direction easily on a loose line. Trots out willingly in hand.
-Smart and learns new things quickly. Very willing to learn.
-Super friendly. Will meet you at the gate. Great personality.
-Head down when haltering/bridling.
-Good with dogs and around Gator side by side.
-Good ground manners. Respectful of your space. If putting another horse away and he is at the gate you can ask him to back up to make room and he does.
-Does not get upset when herd mates are taken out of the pasture.
-Excellent feet. Barefoot with Renegade hoof boots (Classic size 135x125) on the fronts when riding. No need for shoes!
-Trailered to: Boggs Mountain (good around helicopter taking off), Cache Creek Wilderness, Highland Springs, Trailside Park in Middletown, trails next to Safari West-good around zebras, Skyline Park-Napa.

Started slowly and correctly. Positive reinforcement only. NOT fear based. Saddle breaking at 3 years old. Clinton Anderson groundwork series and riding in round pen/short distances for a year. Finished training at 4 years old. Light trail riding from 4 to 5 years old typically 9 miles or less. Price reflects the amount of training Rio has had. Shop around. This is truly a good value for a young, completely finished gaited horse with all of the buttons! At 5 years old he is continuing training since 8/12 until sold AND PRICE WILL INCREASE ($1500/mo) the longer he is trained.

If you've been waiting for a nice, tall, well built, smooth traveling horse with a great personality then come meet Rio!

More video/photos on request.
Clean radiographs (10 views) of front feet evaluated by UC Davis Radiologist