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Re: [RC] [RC] walker - Keith KiblerHi Karen,Contentious? On ridecamp? :-) Seriously, I argue for a living and wont do it over these horses that I love so much. So, We currently have 9 twhs and mfts under saddle. They all move differently and have different degrees of "sure footedness" if that is a word. But, I would say generally that any that we have had that were trippy were changed by training, and to far less degree, hoof angles. Many twhs that come out of the show world, are like buying a used car that needs a whole lot of attention. I have never personally bought such a horse. Most of those horses have too long of toes and wrong hoof shapes to start with. Many of them, certainly not all, have pace issues if they have previously been shown on pads. We have absolutely nothing to do with that world except to go to a few shows and watch. Everything we do is flat shod. These horses, if not played with through pads or trying to obtain artificial "big lick" gait (which makes me queasy btw to even watch) are naturally extremely sure footed. No suspension. In either the flat foot walk, running walk or amble (what is sometimes also called a saddle rack) the horse has 2-3 feet on the ground at the same time. In the rack the horse also has one foot on the ground. As far as propensity to "run" too fast, that is absolutely entirely an individual horse issue, (as well as a training issue). That being said, the bloodlines do make a difference of course. Here is what I generally do about starting horses. At 2 1/2 they are introduced gently to a ground work in the round pen and eventually to a saddle. They are then allowed to be a horse until 3 or 3 1/2 at which time outside the farm riding begins. We keep track of each ride on each horse, with gps and often with heart rate monitors. That way I know what is going on with each horse. The "thirty day training" thing is weird to me. As far as bits are concerned, I usually start in a snaffle. My next progression is usually a pelham, which can be used like a snaffle but has a solid mouth piece. Sometimes I go to a wonder bit or argentine or even a curb grazing bit. Basically, I try to watch the horse closely and use what works on the horse. It is not my experience that a snaffle bit is a good bit to stay with because of your need to train the gait or different gaits. Many or even most gaited horses need to have their gait "set" or worked with. This is very often if not almost always having to do with collection. I suppose that you could use a second set of reigns but that is not comfortable for me. Sometimes, a horse needs more shank. I am not talking about an old school twh huge shank. I am talking about a small shank. The issue is soft hands. I never want to wrestle with a horse or see one of my horses wrestled with. I will not sell a horse to someone like that. On our site, you will see 2 or 3 horses that have a shank that would be a bit longer than what I would normally progress with out of a snaffle. Each of those horses are horses that we obtained as older horses (8 plus years) and that already had issues to be corrected or worked with. As far as the "glide ride" you mentioned, that of course is the twh running walk. It is wonderful. Most horses like that will also perform an easy rack and a speed rack if trained for them. This whole stumble issue is training related. We live by the Shawnee National Forest and train frequently there. It is hilly and rocky. The horses then do well in any terrain. Thank you for your kind words about our competing. For us this comes down to: 1. Proving what these horses are capable of. 2. Encouraging others to step outside of their comfort zone dare to dream of doing something new. We have had a wonderful year so far. 12 starts on 6 different horses. 10 completions, 2 times of jr sponsorship and one grandma ( :-) ) sponsorship. Want to see how to make a jr smile? Take her to her first event: http://www.shawneesunrisefarm.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=105 We then took her to the ky horse park and it was her dream to compete there someday. I would say the aerc will have a member for life. Keith Kibler http://www.shawneesunrisefarm.net/ Karen Sullivan wrote: Keith, 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. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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