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Briefly, gait is a blending gene, or actally, a group of genes on a
continum from weak, the walk we see in the average horse, to strong, the
gaited breeds, with everything in the middle. Many horses not thought of as
gaited are weakly gaited in the sense that they have a very fast walk
before breaking to a trot. If you breed non gaited to gaited, you will
usually get a horse about in the middle of the parents, partially gaited.
Usually the horse will have a fast walk or even a gait at slow and moderate
speeds, but will be very variable in the consistency of its gait,
especially over rough ground, distance and time. When pushed to speed it
will drift to a foxtrot or hard trot at a slow speed, and break to a canter
at a relatively slow speed compared to a fully gaited horse. This is why I
do not encourage breedings of non gaited mares to my gaited stallions.
There are gaited stallions out there that are so strongly gaited that they
will put decent gait on the foal out of non gaited mares, but even then the
gait of the foal will not be as strong as it would starting with a gaited
mare. If the people want gait, they are money and time ahead to just buy a
foal out of gaited parents rather than breed a non gaited horse to a gaited
horse. However, there are times when people want to do such breedings after
I explain this to them, because they want the temperament, or like my
stallion's conformation. That's fine, I've done my job as a breeder to tell
them what they are likley to get in terms of gait, or rather, lack of it.
Arabs tend to have very strong trot genes, and are notoriously difficult to
get gaited foals from, although it is not unheard of, especially if the
Arab has a strong walk or is from one of the rare gaited lines of Arabs.
I have been told that not only are there gaited lines of Arabs, but that
until the 1920's there were classes for gaited Arabs in the shows in the
U.S. I think Victoria Varley who is now breeding Tiger Horses, appaloosa
patterned gaited horses, told me that, and I think she said she had some
gaited Arab mares that she had used in her breeding program in developing
the Tiger Horses. If indeed Arabs are the best endurance horses, as so many
in this group seem to think, then a gaited Arab would really be the
ultimate!
If you wish further information on the genetics of gait and the production
of gait in a breeding program, please give me your address in private
email, gerhardt@theriver.com, and I will send you a series of articles
published by Eldon Eadie and myself on gait genetics.
Annette
----------
> From: Sullys Maze <Sully@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: RE: gaited horses
> Date: Monday, March 10, 1997 7:03 PM
>
>
> From: Lauren Horn <fourhorn@mail.fia.net>
>
> gerhardt wrote:
>
> I have
> > really wondered why more people are not flocking to the gaited horses
> > generally and Mountain Horses specifically, rather than keep on riding
> > horses that they have to stand in the saddle to get away from a body
> > pounding trot, instead of a horse that they can sit on in comfort for
both
> > themselves and the horse.
>
> > ----------
>
> A few people, including John DiPietra (noted endurance rider) have gone
> from arabs to the gaited breeds. John rides Missouri Fox Trotters and
> races them at a walk and canter. If I'm not mistaken he did very well at
> the 20 Mule Team.
> Has anyone crossed a gaited horse to an Arab? What are your chances to
> inherit the gait?
>
> Lauren
>
> --------
> I'll throw in my two cents worth (when did I ever fail to do that!)
>
> I currently have an Arab that does a pretty darn good imitation of a
> running walk, and also an Arab/Walker cross. The Arab is more
> surefooted, but is also a smaller horse. I do like aspects of my
> Arab/TWH, mainly nice big bone, and a larger horse, since I am
> about 6 ft. Her biggest drawback is her disposition, as she is one
> of those mares with a perpetual scowl on her face, but she is quite
> willing under saddle, though a bit unpredictable. One WALKER person
> suggested perhaps she has inherited some walker bullheadedness.
> She has a fast trot, and a very smooth slow canter. She WILL do
> some sort of running walk, but it is very hard to keep her in it, so
> I don't do it much! Personally, I am glad she trots! She is tough,
> has never been sick or unsound. But, her recoveries are every bit
> as low as my Arab.
>
> Having owned a Foxtrotter, that I bought sight unseen based on her
> age, size, and NATRC record, I must say it was one of my big horse
> purchase mistakes. She was also the most I ever paid for a horse.
> I came to discover that I really hated the fox trot! It was a lot
> of work to keep her in it properly, and I disliked the motion
> anyway. I realized then, that I really DO like the trot-it is a very
> surefooted gait-something this mare definately wasn't!! AFter
> struggling with some shoeing angles, she was sold back to the former
> owner. This mare tripped on every rock on the trail and every place
> that wasn't level. She fell completely down with me, throwing me
> over her shoulder. I had also talked to a lot of gaited horse folks
> (one who competes on a TWH-not Truman here), and he said that you
> have to be really careful selecting a prospect, because HE had seen
> a lot of stumblebums, and went through quite a few walkers before he
> ended up with the one he has. BUT, if there had been any way to keep
> this mare from stumbling, I probably would have kept her and ridden
> her at the
> walk and canter, since she had the most comfortable canter I have
> ever ridden!
>
> I found the orignal posters message to be quite condescending-and
> have to agree with Tina that you won't get converts by slamming
> another breed. Everyone likes something different! Perhaps some
> day, I WILL run into a really nice gaited horse. While I like my
> bargain Arab/TWH, I cannot say that the cross is really exceptional!
> I have seen some Arab/Appy crosses that are every bit as tough!
> I also agree with another poster who mentioned seeing Rocky Mountain
> Horses that greatly differed in conformation and size. I have also
> noticed this in Walkers and Foxtrotters, and have seen some apalling
> conformation in these breeds.
>
> Karen
>
> To: fourhorn@mail.fia.net
>
> To: RIDECAMP@ENDURANCE.NET
>
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