Meet the Trainer
Tony Botello
Jose Antonio Botello, our trainer was born and
raised around horses in Jalisco, Mexico.
Tony's family had
always kept horses, and as expected, he began to ride when he was
very young.
In
the mid 80's Tony immigrated to the U.S. to pursue working with
his beloved horses. In the early times Tony worked with many other breeds including
Arabians and Thorobreds in such locales as race tracks, numerous
breeding ranches in the Santa Maria Valley and of course right
here in "horse country", the Santa Ynez Valley.
Tony has found his chosen breed - The Peruvian
Paso horse. Since beginning his association with Peruvian
horses, Tony has proved that his gentle style and manner make for
the most able and well trained mounts. One of Tony's pastimes is reading about the old time Peruvian horse trainers who
painstakingly took each and every step to properly condition and
finish saddle horses for work or show.
Not only does
Tony use the valued traditional training methods, but has adopted
modern techniques such as the use of dressage movements, surcingles, long-reining and the occasional use of a snaffle bit to
enhance his finished product. This mix of old and new are
certainly apparent when watching a "Botello" trained horse in the
show ring or out on the trail.
If Tony has a
signature to his training style, it is that he imparts "perfect
headsets" on his finished horses. In fact, at a recent show
it was said that you could tell a "Botello" trained horse every
time just by the way it carried its head in the show ring.
Tony is currently preparing many of our best young
Peruvian Paso stock for
proud careers in the show arena and as trusted riding partners.
