>>>> *i* have to talk to icelanders to talk about my horse. y'all are some very fine people, but you're not here to tell me your terms for his gaits, and neither is anybody else who has the least clue what they are doing. so it's me and the icelandic speakers here in my little world, and that's where i have to live and communicate.
As someone who worked on gaits virtually alone for years, I take issue with your use of the phrase "have to." I don't buy that anyone HAS to use any particular trainer these days, not that anyone ever did, but especially not with all the convenient multi-media resources we have today. We are so spoiled these days...if I'd stood in line last night, I could new and valid gait info this morning on an iPhone - a PHONE! I don't know what Icelander trainers you are using locally. Maybe they are fine - maybe they are wonderful even. If you have a really good trainer, who coincidentally happens to be Icelandic, that's great. But, no one HAS to use any genre or nationality of trainer, nor any particular trainers, no matter what breed of horse they have, or what discipline you are pursuing. No one HAS to use a dressage instructor who uses practices that they are comfortable with, nor use Big Lick trainers - we can be as picky as we choose to be, and we can choose the trainers that we DO find helpful - by taking lessons, clinics, via their websites, via their books, ... In fact, 20 years ago, I didn't HAVE to use any of the local "gaited horse trainers" that I was suspicious of - and I didn't. And gosh, 20 years ago, there weren't the wealth of books and videos that we have at our disposal now, there was no Internet, so certainly no yahoo groups. No digital cameras - heck, camcorders weren't even that common then - we didn't get one until we'd had horses a couple of years. And yet, even in my primitive pre-internet, pre-camcorder, pre-RFD-TV state, paranoid of inadvertently following a Big Lick trainer, I managed to learn something about gaits. And I often think how terribly much easier and faster it would be today. Oh, the possibilities we are fortunate to have now! There are multiple yahoo lists about gaited horses, including the two big ones that Judy owns - and there is TONS of info in the archives of those lists. Brenda Imus' book, "Gaits of Gold", isn't my favorite by a long shot (but I really can't stand her sales pitches) but it's been out, what? Maybe 10-12 years? I've never seen Larry Whitesell in person, but I have his videos - they certainly look like they have some good, solid info on them. David Lichman has a set of tapes, not so terribly in-depth for the pure study of gaits, but with some clues for integrating Natural Horsemanship into gaited horse breeds. And then there is the "bible" of gaits, the pure study of GAITS, Lee Ziegler's Easy-Gaited Horses, plus several wonderful videos from Liz Graves. There's a guy in Colorado that I can't think of his name right now, but he has some good articles on his website - and I'm sure there are other more local/regional trainers that are good, as well as some who aren't so good. Gaited horses may not be as common in all parts of the country as they are in my neck of the woods, but I know that they are all over the country now. Funny though, that some people still feel that Icelandic's gaits somehow aren't like those of other gaited horses... but GAITS ARE GAITS. There are plenty of resources for solid gait information today - available for people like us like to read it all, digest what feels right and throw away what doesn't make sense for us. Karen Thomas, NC
