Kimberly,
I am not really an endurance rider. I've only done three LD's
in several years. I do own gaited horses, so here is my $0.02 worth.
My horses have always been difficult to ride by themselves at
any speed, at least going away from home/trailer. Although it may not
apply to all gaited horse, my horses have all been very herd bound. I
have had two Foxtrotters and one TWH. Only my first Foxtrotter was fun
to ride alone. Part of this may be the reason I have gaited horses - I
have a VERY bad back - degenerative arthritis and two crushed disks,
which has gotten much worse since I had to stop riding my first horse
due to an injury he suffered. Not only am I not always able to ride,
when I can, I don't have anyone to ride with, and I can't get or keep a
horse in competing condition riding alone. Gaited horses and trotting
horses are often incompatible when trying to condition horses. Gaited
horses usually walk (dog walk) at a speed that requires an Arab to jig.
Their gait is usually comparable to an Arabs slow trot. When an Arab is
at an extended trot, this speed is usually too fast for most gaited
horse to gait and they must either canter to keep up (do-able)or they go
into an indescribable, unsitable, unpostable, intolerable non-gait (not
do-able). My TWH is non-competitive, so the rough gaits are not usually
a problem. I just can't get him to go faster than a slow walk when he
is by himself. To properly condition my horses, I would require another
gaited horse and rider to ride with.
Another minor problem I found, both as a rider and when I was a
Vet secretary, is that most Vet's can't tell if a gaited horse is lame
or not. When you run the horse out at the Vet check, the runner has to
go much faster to get a gaited horse into a gait that to get a horse
into a trot. Then it is very hard to tell if a horse is lame. Most
gaited horse bob their heads when gaiting. If they don't, they aren't
gaiting properly. Some Vets will automatically pull a gaited horse when
they see the head bob. Even Vets that are experienced with gaited
horses will have trouble telling if they are lame and where. You have
to get in the saddle and feel it. It would probably be better to have
gaited horses circled in both directions and look for discrepancies.
Please understand that I am speaking mainly from my own
experience. I am physically compromised and don't help my horses one
whit. I know there are gaited horse riders on this list that could give
you a better perspective of an actual gaited endurance horse than
wanna-be endurance rider I can. These are simply some of the obstacles I
have run into.
Joyce Boeche
jboeche@usa.net