Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
On 1/29/08, Bia [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I would say canter...I'm almost always wrong on these pictures though... Bia Not this time. She was indeed cantering. Hey! I think I'm getting a tiny bit better at the What Gait? Game Bia haha good for you!! I get better at some but still, i dont know why the heck I cant tell a rw!! What should I be looking for exactly! With nanna, I kinda thought RW, but I studied it hard and thought I saw just a barely perceptive swing of the nose from side to side so i said stepping pace Janice -- courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway--John Wayne
Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
With nanna, I kinda thought RW, but I studied it hard and thought I saw just a barely perceptive swing of the nose from side to side so i said stepping pace I noticed that too, Janice! But, you know what I saw recently in Lee's book that surprised me? Lee (who certainly stared at more gaited horses than I have!) pointed out that a foxtrot can also sometimes have a slightly side-to-side motion with the head nod. I'd always seen the nod with foxtrot as up-and-down, but not as pronounced as with a r/w. There's something else I'm going to have to pay attention to - assuming my doctor says I can ride again someday. These other body language traits are, I guess, merely CLUES about what gait the horse is doing, but I guess none of them are 100% definitive without considering the footfalls. The main thing to me with Nanna (#3) was that the rider was not jostling at all in the saddle, and the horse's feet were touching down pretty darned close to evenly spaced. At that point, I know I can tell some difference if I'm riding the horse, but frankly, when the gait is that close to center range, and the horse is doing it on his/her own with no external mechanical gimmicks, I'd say just enjoy it and count your lucky stars. :) Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
I would say canter...I'm almost always wrong on these pictures though... Bia Not this time. She was indeed cantering. Hey! I think I'm getting a tiny bit better at the What Gait? Game Bia
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
Another possibility - I'm a firm believer that horses mirror our bodies. Maybe YOU'VE started anticipating trot a little more after riding Tivar so long, so maybe you subconsciously are expecting - and thus asking for - a trot? Karen Thomas, NC -- this is interesting to consider... because before, any time he did anything that wasn't smooth I would bring him up, (or down as the case may be) into his stepping pace. But I havent ridden him on a real trail ride in so long, months, and then yesterday we were with trotting breeds and his dogwalk was way faster than there's (way slower than most gaited horses), and when one of them trotted past us he went into a canter, which I allowed, a slow one, then after only four or five strides of it dropped back into a sorta extremely smooth bouncey gait and i thought hmmm, what the heck is that. I started analyzing it, noting there was no side to side movement whatsoever, some natural up and down head swing, not sure if it was a nod, certainly not a deep nod, and it was too jouncy to be a rw or foxtrot i think. I have never ridden a real foxtrot that I know of. In our shadows he had his tail real perked and seemed to have a collected headset on a very loose rein, no contact at all. It felt exactly like tivar's jog, and he stayed in it on his own, willingly, for quite some time, until the others quit trotting. he is not one that mimics others gaits and on rides he likes to keep to himself so we were pretty far away from the others most of the time... Janice courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway--John Wayne
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
On 1/27/08, Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I was wishing I had my camera with me that day, because I would have loved a video of it. From his tail set it looked more 'racky' but he didn't sustain it long enough for me to study it. When Janice visited here with Stonewall, I took a little video of him. I would have sworn that he was racking...but all I could make out when I freeze-framed the video was trot, with just a stride or two of canter. He's built to rack, and Janice says he does under saddle, but he really does trot at liberty - at least a good bit of the time. Karen Thomas, NC hey you dont have to take my word, Lee Zeigler saw pics of stonewall gaiting at liberty and then conformation analysis pics from the side and she verified that he was doing a nice big floaty trot at liberty and that his conformation was perfect for saddlerack. Interestingly when I bought him at age 15 months, the seller, a person who breeds mccurdy horses, said i think he is gonna be well gaited, he does a flashy rack sometimes in the field. But I have never, not once ever, seen him do anything at liberty but gallop and trot. Traveller, now, he very often at liberty does the prettiest little gait, I havent a clue what it is, but it is so low to the ground his toes actually puff up sand and it is very rhythmic and smooth looking, something none of my other horses do. I wonder if it is what some people call a shuffle which Lee says is a stepping pace. Jaspar at liberty very frequently looks like he is doing his stepping pace. I have seen fox gait at liberty many times but not sure what it is. Runa looks to be on the RW side of things to me. I think she has that sweeping back end for it too. I am not even CLOSE to being good at guessing, but I do know a horse that does a RW has to have that sweeping long legged rear end going on. Traveller has it, but his front end is so short he forges himself sometimes :) Janice Janice-- courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway--John Wayne
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
Runa looks to be on the RW side of things to me. I think she has that sweeping back end for it too. I am not even CLOSE to being good at guessing, but I do know a horse that does a RW has to have that sweeping long legged rear end going on. I don't think running walk will be her easiest gait - not because of her rear end but because of her conformation in front. She has a steep (upright) shoulder angle, as well as an angled-to-the-front (non-horizontal) humerus bone. Those are both traits that contribute to lift and fold in the front end, so she won't have a ton of reach in front. In other words, I think she's going to be racker, probably of the saddle-rack variety, although she certainly seems capable of foxtrot too. Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
I would say canter... I'm almost always wrong on these pictures though... Bia
Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
I would say canter...I'm almost always wrong on these pictures though... Bia Not this time. She was indeed cantering. Runa is a goey Icelandic by my definition. That means she canters pretty much the second she hears the word. No one has cantered her under saddle yet, but at liberty, you don't have to get down on both knees and beg and plead like with some. Of course, compared to that hot mare in the Parelli Impulsion video, I'm sure she's a total deadhead - it's all a matter of what your frame of reference is. :) Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
On 27/01/2008, Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Here's a what gait shot, and it should be an easy one. I'll say after I get a few guesses. Flat walk? Wanda
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
Flat walk? Close - plain, old, ordinary walk. Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
On 27/01/2008, Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Flat walk? Close - plain, old, ordinary walk. So the difference would be in how exaggerated the head nod was?? In Lee's book the foot falls look identical. Wanda
RE: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
So the difference would be in how exaggerated the head nod was?? In Lee's book the foot falls look identical. I guess I'd say that the head nod is usually deeper/ more pronounced with a flat walk than with a regular walk. Because of the length and set of Runa's neck, however, her head nod isn't as obvious as with some horses - Trasuti for instance, or with most TWH. The gaits are the same - only speed defines the difference. Runa was NOT burning up the record books with speed when I took the picture, so I'm sure it was a plain old walk. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.12/1245 - Release Date: 1/26/2008 3:45 PM
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
looks like a slow dog walk to me...
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
i thought RW too. She has a very nice sweeping back legs motion. very VERY nice. today i rode Jas and he did a jog! I swear to goodness. i know it wasnt a pace. no side to side movement, just a gentle trot so soft my rear did not leave the saddle. i cant put my finger on it and dont know if it is a bad sign or good, but something is changing about my Jas. He has never trotted that I know of, and he has been on pasture rest since early october. the only way i recognized it as a jog is that it is a gait Tivar does almost constantly so I am very familiar with it. it as so smooth i checked our shadow and tried to see if it was a bouncy foxtrot :) Janice -- courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway--John Wayne
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
On 27/01/2008, Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I guess I'd say that the head nod is usually deeper/ more pronounced with a flat walk than with a regular walk. On Friday when I went out to feed, Solon came gaiting in. Honestly lately he's been taking my breath away. He's such a nice mover. I was wishing I had my camera with me that day, because I would have loved a video of it. From his tail set it looked more 'racky' but he didn't sustain it long enough for me to study it. He's a big boy, bigger than Gusti even... Wanda
Re: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
Assuming those two diagonal feet hit the ground at the same time ... trot? This is a little tricky I guess because it's not a soft gait. It's canter. To be a trot, there would have to be some pairing between both diagonal pairs, but a canter is neither lateral or diagonal exactly - it's three beat. If you have Lee Ziegler's book, look at figure 7 on page 191 - that's the closest phase to what she's doing. Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
I was wishing I had my camera with me that day, because I would have loved a video of it. From his tail set it looked more 'racky' but he didn't sustain it long enough for me to study it. When Janice visited here with Stonewall, I took a little video of him. I would have sworn that he was racking...but all I could make out when I freeze-framed the video was trot, with just a stride or two of canter. He's built to rack, and Janice says he does under saddle, but he really does trot at liberty - at least a good bit of the time. Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] What gait, Runa?
i thought RW too. She has a very nice sweeping back legs motion. very VERY nice. Thanks. I think so. today i rode Jas and he did a jog! I swear to goodness. i know it wasnt a pace. no side to side movement, just a gentle trot so soft my rear did not leave the saddle. i cant put my finger on it and dont know if it is a bad sign or good, but something is changing about my Jas. He has never trotted that I know of, and he has been on pasture rest since early october. Has it occurred to you that maybe he's had some potential to trot all these years, but hasn't for one reason or another? You say he's had major saddle fit issues in the past, right? Sina can certainly get pacey when her saddle isn't right, but she can foxtrot, and even trot when she's comfortable. If that's a possibility, it could be a good thing if he's finally offering a little trot. Another possibility - I'm a firm believer that horses mirror our bodies. Maybe YOU'VE started anticipating trot a little more after riding Tivar so long, so maybe you subconsciously are expecting - and thus asking for - a trot? Karen Thomas, NC
RE: [IceHorses] What gait - Runa #2
is this a plain trot? That is what it looks like it would feel under saddle.
