I bred my Arab Mare to a Foxtrotter stud and to
my TWH stallion. The FT kids both did a perfect foxtrot from birth to one month
old then never gaited again. However.....the fact that they had gait in them at
birth according to the Foxtrotter experts told me that once under saddle the
gait would come out.
I never put the filly now five and a mother
this year under saddle. The colt now a gelding of six yo I had a trainer out two
years ago to start him. He is a gaited horse trainer from Tennessee. He said he
could feel that Mojo has gait ready to come out in him, it would just take some
miles in the saddle to get it going.
The best way to get gait out of any gaited
horse starting out is LSD on hills. I have a strict rule of thumb with my
youngsters. We walk up our mountain trails and I mean steep for 100 miles.
Nothing but a walk, maybe after fifty miles I will push them into a flatwalk,
but I won't let them go faster than that.
This builds up the rear muscles. Gets them used
to balance with a rider on board. Sets them well into the preferred gait of each
breed. If you ask them for gait too quickly you will ruin them and confuse the
gait. All of my horses must canter, but the canter will really mess up a gait if
you ask for it too soon. The canter comes well after they are set in the
preferred gait. By this I mean if a foxtrotter set them in that foxtrot. A
Tennessee Walker set them in a nice running walk and so
on.
Once they are set well into gait then you can
continue on with the canter, rack and whatever gears that horse will do. But it
is so important to be patient with the fresh horse.
With the thinking you will get gait with the
mare over the stud, I have heard this but really it is a crap shoot. 50% chance
of the foal being gaited either way. But like Karen said no matter what the trot
will be one to die for. My two half breeds have the most lovely long extended
trot you can sit it. They move like ballet dancers.
It is a great cross for endurance. You get the
stamina of both breeds, the calm disposition of the gaited breed, the looks of
the Arabian, the smooth trot of the gaited and if you are really lucky you get
yet another gear to use in the sport. A win win situation really.
BTW, I have Mojo 14.2hh and just started up for
sale, contact me privately if anyone is interested. He is a fabulous horse and
lovely to the eye.
Karen, I have to chide you though on the pace
of the pure gaited. What you witnessed is strickly bad breeding. It is
unfortunate that the Big Lick of the South has ruined so many of those horses,
but trust me there are breeders like myself that do not breed in pace. I won't
have a horse that has one lick of pace. I would rather ride a trot than a pace.
At least you can post a trot. With pace you just have to sit and take it and it
is gawd awful.
People not knowing enough about gaited horses
and not doing their homework buy these pacing nags and then are stuck and think
every gaited horse is a pacer. I have talked to so many endurance riders that
have had Walkers and hated them because they think pace is the norm. It makes my
job so much harder.
I won't buy any TWH from the south, most of my
herd I imported from Canada because they outlaw the Big Lick up there and I buy
from ethical and reputable breeders. There are some fabulous horses in Montana
and Truman can attest to that fact. He bought his future ride there and oh boy
what a ride she will be for him.
If I am the queen, Truman is the King burrito.
He knows tons about TWH in endurance, far more than me. He rode all the big
races on his hell bitch, Misty. Now that he is gettin so old he needs a smooth
ride and his new girl is just the ticket.
Hopefully Amber Applegait will pop in here with
some comments; she is Northwest queen of doing endurance with gaited horses
and I would love to see her comments, as I am pretty new to all this...just
sharing my experiences...Generally, I see the gait several years out under
saddle....
