Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Karen Sullivan wrote:
> Keith, not to be contentious, but my earlier experiences with gaited 
> horses were not good at all. The foxtrotter i bought was extremely 
> unsurefooted, to the point that she fell on her face going up a steep 
> hill (the type the Arabs just skipped up), and ejected me over her 
> shoulder. We played with hoof angles, but never could get her to be 
> safe on her feet.....now, this was back in early 90's, so I wish then 
> we had pulled her shoes, trimmed her naturally, and then looked at how 
> she went......she had been a successful NATRC horse, but in an area 
> with gentler terrain.
> At the same time, friends were trying walkers, who seemed okay on 
> flat, groomed surfaces, but didn't do well at all on rough terrain. At 
> the time I also talked to people who did endurance on Walkers. One 
> lady tome me her horse moved like an express train, just kicking rocks 
> out of the way as he barrelled along. She did Tevis with that 
> horse..........another Tevis rider on walkers told me he found a 
> breeder who bred very athletic walkers, on a hilly terrain.....and 
> that you had to be careful which lines you bought......
> Is this genetic, or enviromment in that they aren't raised on anything 
> but flat....or shod or trimmed badly, or ridden too young, etc....>
I don't know - maybe it's genetic. My mare (TWH) was born in FL and we 
rode mostly in FL of course but in the Eastern mountains or Western 
mountains she was the most sure footed horse I have ever ridden. I had 
no problems flying downhill on rocky trails in the Colorado, Utah, 
Virginia, North Carolina, etc, or muddy downhills in Kentucky. She would 
handle it much better than most other horses of any breeds I have seen. 
I have galloped her down paved roads without worry of any slippage since 
she was so well balanced on her feet. She is a lot like a top NFL 
running back - always over her feet never slipping or tripping. I would 
do things on her I would think two or three times about or would just 
not do on another horse.

Her son is as sure footed and her daughter I am sure will be - although 
we he haven't gotten her to the mountains yet she has the same quick 
feet her mother has.

Could be a lot of reasons - good farrier, good rider or more likely good 
horse ;-) .

Truman


--

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a 
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also 
into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil


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