RE: Gaited Horses
lahayward (haywardl@shentel.net)
Fri, 28 Nov 1997 14:44:57 -0500
I can't keep quiet on this one.......
We breed and raise TWH's but I also have arabians that I do endurance on.
About the only thing I train with is TWH's as that is all my partner will
ride. I have not had any trouble riding my arabs with TWH's. One thing it
has forced me to pay attention to is my arabs speed and gaits.....It has
been great for training. My mare can now walk fast or slow(she can keep up
with a TWH's walk easily if I ask her to). When the TWH's do their slow
gate my arab now has a very nice western jog(no jig....head down round
back...etc.). When the TWH's fast gate we either do a working trot or
controlled canter...no problem. And when the TWH's canter we hand gallop.
I have also had 3 geldings that learned to ride with them with no problem
as well. I do almost all my endurance training with them in the mountains
and almost all of the organized pleasure rides that I use to train on are
attended primarily by TWH riders(I do get quit a bit of ribbing...but it's
all in fun). TWH's make great trail horses and there are some individuals
that would really excel in endurance. We have competed one of our
stallions in competative trail and his recoveries were unbelivable(32 at
the end of the Sherman Gap ride carrying 250 lbs. put on by the Old Domion
in earlier years). The one thing I do belive about the vetting is that
most(not all) vets do have a hard time evaluating their gait for lameness
and that just means they need more practice. Roy(my partner) has been
trying to convert me for sometime but I think that the closest I'll get is
the 2yr old colt I have out of my arab mare and his TWH stallion.....my
next endurance horse. The reason I can't totally convert.....I need some
air under my butt once in a while!
Lori Hayward and 4 arabs and 7 TWH's
LIV2RYD in VA