>I guess my question would be, wouldn't we be better to address >stiffness >andinnate gaitedness separately? The way I see it, they >MAY be related >sometimes, but often they aren't.
I agree with you, Karen. My Stormur has always been a very pacey horse, but I don't consider him to be stiff. He certainly can be, when he hard paces, but he's very willing to soften when I ask, and can still be pretty pacey. He has a very comfortable stepping pace and is offering what I think is saddle rack, more and more. I've had him since he was 3 (now 15) and I've never seen him trot in the field, though I do believe he's done some trotting under saddle on some trail rides. I haven't had much luck getting him to trot in the ring, though I haven't really worked at it a lot. He does have a nice 3 beat canter, so I think trot is in there somewhere. I've done a lot of John Lyons "give to the bit" work with him to get him to soften through his body, and he knows it very well. Left to his own devices, he would pretty much pace, as his intermediate gait, all the time. What do you all do with your hard wired pacey guys? Mary Sand Lake, NY
