Re: RC: FT guy's opinion:what KIND of TWH for endurance

[Truman Prevatt <tprevatt@mindspring.com>]

I remember talking with a vet many years ago when I was checking my walking
horse in. He asked if she was on the trotty or pacy side. I said trotty - she
did develop a nice smooth long trot at speeds between the gait and the canter.
He said that walking horses that would trot tended to do better in distance
riding than gaited horses that were pacy.

There are several reasons but one of the biggest is that the pace and all its
various incarnations tend to be a hollow back gait while the trot and its
various incarnations done by a gaited horse tend to be a flat to rounded back
gait. That's why pacey horses are heavy on the forehand.  In the long run any
horse going with a rounded back tends to do better.

So if you are trying to train a walking horse for distance, then spend a lot
of time getting the horse rounded. Dressage and jumping lessons will help.  If
on the other hand the horse has too many "pace genes" you might want to
consider a different horse.

Truman

guest@endurance.net wrote:

> Ray O. rno2m@virginia.edu
> Non-endurance guy here:my firm opinionis that you want to avoid like the
> plague any TWH that is racky,pacey or single-footy.