 |
Re: [RC] [RC] walker - Karen SullivanKeith, not to be contentious, but my earlier experiences with gaited horses were not good at all. The foxtrotter i bought was extremely unsurefooted, to the point that she fell on her face going up a steep hill (the type the Arabs just skipped up), and ejected me over her shoulder. We played with hoof angles, but never could get her to be safe on her feet.....now, this was back in early 90's, so I wish then we had pulled her shoes, trimmed her naturally, and then looked at how she went.....she had been a successful NATRC horse, but in an area with gentler terrain.
At the same time, friends were trying walkers, who seemed okay on flat, groomed surfaces, but didn't do well at all on rough terrain. At the time I also talked to people who did endurance on Walkers. One lady tome me her horse moved like an express train, just kicking rocks out of the way as he barrelled along. She did Tevis with that horse..........another Tevis rider on walkers told me he found a breeder who bred very athletic walkers, on a hilly terrain.....and that you had to be careful which lines you bought......
Is this genetic, or enviromment in that they aren't raised on anything but flat....or shod or trimmed badly, or ridden too young, etc....>
My experiences 15 yearss later are much better, but I still think a gaited horse needs to be raised on hills, taken out as a baby to run loose, etc, just like you would ideally do with an Arab endurance horse.
I also totally despair over all the gaited horses I see advertised in the south that seem to be ridden and SET in gait the winter before they come two.....(gaited up and down barn aisles)...often shod at age 2......ridden hard on trails at age 3. Coffin bones don't finish growing until age 4 or 5, right? They get pick up by dealers and hauled to California and resold for a lot of $$$$$$, and guess how many develop arthritis and break down at age 8 or so? I found a beautiful blue roan i was interested in, age 4, that had already been shod, padded and rejected as a show prospect by age 2.....once I found that out, it was a no no for me....pretty sad.
Gaited horses that are "daisy-cutters" or have low, gliding gaits also seem to trip or stumble more....
Took a quick look at your website, and congrats for doing endurance on gaited horses and promoting them....but I did notice that you are riding quite a few of them in "big honking curbs?" This is not a criticism, as my mustang mare goes best in a curb.....but I believe bit choice depends on the individual horse, not breed related....
Karen
On 6/28/08, Keith W. Kibler <kwkibler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Welcome to the dark side.
|