I really had back issues
on my young TWH until I knew what to do. An older better trained one may not
have been a problem. Here is the “not a flame”: you are right,
you probably knew how to ride a gait on a marginally smooth horse as well as I
can post a trot J. The gaited horse did not know what you wanted or
he had a tendency to pace.
There is nothing like a
smooth one if you ever get a chance to ride one and my guy will rack at 23mph +
so speed is not an issue. Mine has never been tested on big miles though, he
is young and I am new.
Lots pace b/c they were
bred for that then corrected artificially in the show ring (I am not a TWH show
person and won’t be, but won’t start that string!). If they have
no show horse in them it is often said they will be smoother and the real good
ones will gait for anyone. Generally after about 6 y.o. with training you can
make them all pretty smooth. There exceptions to every rule of course.
On Aug 22, 2005, at 11:40
AM, Sky Ranch wrote:
I know I will get major flames
from this, but I just have to say something here -- people who ride gaited
horses say that it's such a smooth ride, but observing them going down the trail,
I can see a lot of movement in the riders - no, it's not like riding
a trot or a canter, but when I watch your bodies, you are moving quite a
bit. I rode a gaited horse one time, a TWH, and quite honestly,
for me -- I did not like the movement. I felt like I was
sitting on a washing machine that had an unbalanced load... it didn't
feel 'right' to me. Probably I was doing something wrong(!), I'll
certainly admit that! But, I prefer the "feel" of
the gaits of a QH or Arabian or TB. A good horse is going to
have smooth gaits, no matter the breed, I believe.
OK -- now, I am NOT slamming gaited horses
here, believe it or not! The more I see of them, the more I truly do like
them. But, saying they're a smoother ride is a stretch for me. Ok,
I'm now putting on my fireproof suit...
