On 10/02/07, Karen Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>>> In the riding section, tolt has a weight factor of 15, pace: 9, trot: > 7.5, and gallop: 4.5. Walk is only given a 1.5, and slow tolt and canter are > given 0. > > I don't know of a single pleasure rider who shares the priorities > represented in that weighting.
But slow tolt (saddle rack) is the gait that's done naturally by most naturally gaited horses. If a horse is gaited....s/he is going to saddle rack (three foot support). It seems to me that the evaluation of the gait the horse does naturally...would be a vital indicator of how 'well-gaited' that horse is. If I was to do it all over again....I think I'd want to study an animal moving freely in the pasture. I would take tons of pics and videos and go home and study the range of gaits I'd seen. If I happened to see a clean trot in there too...I think that would hit the jackpot for me. I would want it all. I want a horse with all the range of gaits. ....if I was to buy a youngster. I'd have it shown to me in halter much like the video of me trotting beside Dagur the other day. If you see a youngster slip in and out of a form of soft gait, you know it won't be hard to find under saddle. As an owner of a gaited horse I am absolutely compelled to determine all the soft gaits I can. I want to identify them and recognize them when I see them. As I work through the pics and videos that are sent I begin to see a common head set with the various gaits....the videos are wonderful for determining the whole movement of the horse, but I still have to stop them to study where the feet are at any given moment. My eyes aren't quick enough to catch that yet. For some of you, noticing gait has become an inherent thing. I'm not quite there yet. Wanda
