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RE: [RC] gaitin' and trottin' - Mike SherrellNot to pick
nits, but it's really the poll you want up -- the head should be in as well as
up. The idea is to shift the center of gravity backwards and get the hind legs
to reach under. "Stargazing" is not what you want. As far as dropping the head
when the horse gets tired, if you're trying to get a gaited horse to gait you
have to build up the muscles that get the poll up as gradually as you build up
any other aspect of the horse's condition, like starting with 5 min/day if
they're totally out of it and adding 10, then add 20 min then add 30 min per day
every couple or few days until he can do it all day long. Actually it
can take a couple of weeks of fighting with it to get it to go with its poll up
at all. Use a bozall or sidepull, not bit -- don't bit until he's happy going
with head up as many hours/day as you are ever going to get
him.
Mike Sherrell -----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Ed Kilpatrick Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 10:26 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] gaitin' and trottin' sorry for firing that blank, i hit the enter key instead of the shift
key.
amen, brother bruce! if they got four legs, they will find
several different ways to move them!
even some fo those paso finos will trot occasionally, usually if they are a
bit tired, and the head starts to droop. i have actually seen a few paso finos
that couldnt gait a bit, (sorry for the blasphemy), sad but true.
my experience (and i am a gaited horse expert, heehee) is the best way to
keep your gaited horse gaiting, is to encourage him to keep his head up. i
have done this with paso finos, twh, racking horses, etc. they often
trot if the head is carried low, top of the head about level with the
withers. keep the head higher than that, and i think it frees up the
shoulders a bit so that the horse moves better. it helps to get them
working balanced (using the hind end properly) too. if the
horse gaits naturally, this is usually all you have to do to encourage it.
my best distance riding paso fino gelding, starbuck, would only trot
rarely if he was kinda pooped out. once he took a little breather, his
head would come up, and his little feet would fly!
cowboy ed
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