RC: Re: Fox Trotting Arab

["Jana Crewett" <jfcr@ceh.ac.uk>]

Maggue Fleming wrote (on how to teach a horse to foxtrot):
>If foxtrotting is anything like racking, sit back and deep in your
saddle
>with your feet a little forward, tighten your reins so that you are
in his
>mouth a little and hold your hands so that he raises his head and
hollows
>his back. This is supposed to encourage him to get his back end
under him
>and his front end up free to move.


Had a bit of a culture shock when reading this - if anyone within the
Icelandic Horse world told me to get my horse to hollow his back in
order to gait, I'd chase him off the yard! There are already too many
horses around who gait with their backs hollow and stiff and while
this might be desired in the American Show world, I doubt it is a good
thing for horses who are supposed to gait for hours on end out on the
trail and be sound at the end of it.

Jana and Gola - working hard on getting that back rounded and
swinging in rack/tolt