Can't find the original poster on this but I'll
chime in. My old endurance horse of the 70's was an Anglo-Arab and after a
couple of years of conditioning, developed what we called a "rack" because
that's what we were told it was. But having no experience in that field we
weren't sure if that was the right thing to call it or not. Irregardless of it's
name, the horse could MOVE at this pecular gait for a good 15 minutes and cover
ground like nobody's business. I likened to what it must be like to ride a Paso
with a glass of wine on your head (although I've never done that. You just kind
of sat down, stuck your legs out straight and your seat wiggled back and forth
from side to side. Talk about a comfortable, fast way to travel. We never
clocked him so I don't know how fast he was going but it was way faster than any
trot I've ever done on any horse.
A year and a half ago when he was in his 34
(and could still do it, by the way) I happened to be feeling around on his hips
(can't remember why) and discovered his right hip bone was "not there". I know
it was there but it wasn't where it was suppose to be. You couldn't feel any
bone when you pushed into the flesh which looked identical to the other side
where you could feel bone. But if you kept pushing in and moving down about 4
inches from where you thought it should be, there it was. I asked my Dad about
it and had he ever noticed that and of course he had not because on the outside
the horse looked identical on both sides. I don't think I ever got around to
showing it to the vet but it really perplexed me that no matter how hard I
pushed in, I couldn't feel any bone up there where there was definite bone on
the other side. He never acted like he was in pain his entire life and never
"walked" anywhere. Well, he did, when he was tired. He was just a mover and a
shaker. Went fast everywhere he went. He almost ran me over at a full gallop for
dinner, making a spin before taking off and a slide into home, the week before
he passed away. I'm sure the hip thing must have been there all his
life.
Anyway, I get off the subject! Just wanted to pass
along another Anglo-Arab that could do "the move." The one-year anniversary of
his death is coming up on the 20th of this month and I miss him very much.
Don't forget that many Arabs used to be
trained for 5-gaited classes. I've ridden several that amble, and while
I've personally not ridden any that rack, history certainly tells us that many
were quite capable of learning to rack. Some lines are more proficient
at learning different gaits than others as well.
I have ridden an arab mare
that racked! (pure arab, kemosabi grandaughter) She
wouldn't hold it for long, but I knew I was feeling a rack. She
belonged to a friend that I was riding with, so I mentioned it.. she said
"Yes, she racks. I used to ride her with a walking horse and she
picked it up." Personally, I didn't think it possible, but she
definately was racking.
