Alfredo is possibly the best horseman I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Certainly he is in the dressage land. the key word here is “horseman”. He’s not just a rider, not just a trainer, he’s a horseman. the welfare of the horse comes first and foremost with him, always.
WYSIWYG with Alfredo. There is not a bone of pretentiousness in his body. He is a large personality with a good opinion of himself and his ability- without being a prancing egotistical braggart show off know it all. What I dearly love about him is that he has so many little tools in his toolbox, and he’s not afraid to experiment, or admit that he was wrong. Find that in another BNT these days- humility is rare and getting rarer.
Is he effective?
My horse came to the clinic with a long history of crappy pirouettes and no passage. In two days, he left with beautiful pirouettes and presentable passage. And, he is NINETEEN. And I am no slouch of a rider- but I simply gave it up after trying to get both for 10 years with no or limited success. Just figured it was beyond his ability. With NO lash marks on him, or any other horse in the clinic.
Were some horses difficult? For a few moments, a couple were. Many horses when faced with new experiences will first try to flee before engaging their brains. This is the nature of horses. Alfredo is such a master that these instances are rare and fleeting, and the outcomes are lovely, with the horse accepting the new experience and calming down and working quietly. He does his very best to keep the horses thinking.
He works with any horse, any rider. At the barn where I was, most of the riders were professional eventing trainers. The horses were nice, not international level dressage quality. There were many breeds, not just big moving warmbloods:) Alfredo doesn’t care at all, he treats every rider, every horse the same. I love that about him.
I find it implausible that anyone could believe that him abusive. That person must be extremely ignorant or have some other agenda. I have certainly cliniced with BNT’s who had the highest credentials who were complete asshats, and were abusive as hell. I’ve been riding and training horses for over 55 years, and training dressage horses for over 30, and been around the world and back. IMHO anyone who really wants to progress and learn a better, more softer and effective way to teach their horse dressage would benefit greatly from working with Alfredo. If he can improve, dramatically improve, a horse at the end of his career just think what he can do with a younger more able horse!
