I take full credit for that. :-) Crazy mare can
canter at 3mph and walk at 5. Back in the day when i first started trail riding
, her brain only would work at a walk, and green rider that i was, that's all we
would do for a while. she prefers to go everywhere fast, so she developed that
little walk on her own, long before i knew how valuable it would be. now
she can outwalk both my TWHs (each being more than a hand taller than her), how
awesome is that?
I've "clocked" my short-backed little 14.2h CMK gelding at 5.1
mph with my GPS at a walk going down a road, and he's not been under
saddle all that long. I haven't really worked on his walk at all
yet...I'm excited to see what he can do with some work. My 15.1 1/2h
gelding walks around 4 mph, 4.5 when he's really motivated. I've been
working with him some, not as much as I should. Of course, he can really
"dog it" too, when he's not really in the mood to go somewhere.
<G> I rode a friend's 14.1h, 1/2 Arab 1/2 QH mare at a ride a few
weeks ago, and that little mare could WALK!!! I wasn't wearing my GPS
that day, but I bet she was easily hitting 5mph. We have a 31 yr old
gelding, heavy Raffles breeding, who can really fly at a walk...he can outwalk
my CMK gelding, although I've never clocked him. I love a fast-walking
horse.
Dawn in East Texas
-----Original Message----- From:
heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: K. P. Ross
<kpross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: cherylrandyw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx;
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; 'Sharon Levasseur' <sharon1359@xxxxxxxxxxx>;
rdcarrie@xxxxxxx Sent: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 07:26:01 -0700 Subject: RE: RE:
[RC] Faster walk
Well, certainly! You can help the more gifted horse to develop
further as well, and end up with a really super walk. One of my most
stellar ride experiences was finishing the last 12 mile leg of the old
Santiam 100 that came up over Cash Mountain (steep mountainous trail for three
miles, steep down jeep road for three miles, and then six miles of rolling
USFS road) on Junior, in the dark all at a walk, and doing it in 2 hours and 5
minutes. That's a walk of 5.75 mph, and at the end of a 100-miler, to
boot! I can tell you from sitting and waiting at finish lines for horses
to come in that the average walking speed at that time of night on 100s is 2
to 3 mph.
I never did clock Junior on the flat at a walk when he was fresh,
but he started off with a very good walk "right out of the box" and work just
made it fabulous.
Personally, I think that the walk is the most overlooked gait on most
endurance horses--I want one with a good walk to start with, and I firmly
believe that helping the horse to develop that walk is one of the most
important parts of his preparation for the sport, particularly if you ever
desire to do 100s.
Heidi
Don't
you think that some horses just have the forward reach and are
more driven to walk faster from the get go. AND even though you can
get a horse to speed up, the ones that are faster to begin with can
always out walk the ones with the slower beginning . . . .? Any
thoughts . . . kim from lakeport
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