>> (It was my post you quoted, not Karen's, incidently). ... broader experience >> background for natural > soft gait beyond tolt (rack) doing the critiquing of just what a horse has > under > the hood. I am not sure too many Icelanders, simply by virtue no other > gaited breeds available to them to learn from, would have a good eye for, and > appreciation of a naturally fox-trotting Icelandic, for example. Or an > Icelandic with a phenomenal running walk or saddle rack naturally. > > But of course, this would be a moot concern if only tolt was to be considered > in > this new competition category. >Renee<<
Renee, I see where you're coming from there and I really hadn't thought about it from the angle of incorporating more gaits...on that you probably are correct. To incorporate more gaits as "acceptable" may be confusing/overwhelming to the majority involved with Icelandics...especially how that then trickles down to training and breeding. If that is an area you are interested in promoting a lot of thought needs to go into how to do so in a beneficial way for the breed. Let me ask: does the TWH, whose signature gait is the running walk, also compete and get ribbons/fame for other gaits? Is it in classes sponsored by the TWH association or in classes sponsored by other breeds or open breed shows? How are TWH that don't do the running walk, but do another soft gait viewed by the industry, by breeders, by buyers? Are horses with the running walk consistenly in more demand? Ashley
