Regarding "trippy" gaited horses, this caught my
eye as I had the "trippiest" foxtrotter (the one that fell totally down going up
a steep narrow trail the Arabs just skipped up; ejecting me over her shoulder
and leaving an interesting scar on my face)....
I agree saddle fit and hoof angles can play a huge
part in surefootedness....however, I watched my horse quite a bit, and we did
try different hoof angles....the horse just was NOT surefooted enough for our
terrain (up and down, and any kind of rocks)...and I came this conclusion by
watching the horse move when nobody was RIDING her, out in my pasture, or being
ponied. Maybe I would have ridden her on a very smooth, level road, would
have been a blast...but take her onto trail, no way.
I talked quite extensively to a fellow who did
Tevis on TWH, and he even admitted there were lines that were surefooted and
lines that did better on smooth footing. He had found a breeder who raised
them on hills pastures, and seemed to produce very surefooted
horses.
If I had time and inclination again to raise a
baby..I might be tempted with a gaited horse, but would sure spend their first 3
years ponying them on a lot of rough terrain to try to develop that
surefootedness....
The mare I had who was a TWH, Arab cross was a
great mix of a very strong, good boned, excellent endurance, SMOOTH
and surefooted. I think it's a terrific cross and makes more sense to me
than the NSH.....
Karen
----- Original Message -----
...Walkers, Foxtrotters, a Walkaloosa and a Kentucky Mountain
Saddle Horse. Several of them were "trippy"...
When I had
that problem, it turned out to be saddle fit at the whithers/shoulder area. A
wider "gaited" saddle fixed the problem
completely
