OK, here it is: http://iceryder.net/videogaitstjarni.html
I keep mentioning the head nod on horses, but I don't know if everyone sees
it the same way I do. There's more to it than just a cool look. When a
horse nods his head, I can feel his whole back undulating at least a little.
When horses are too forced into gait, they tend to get stiff, and one sign
of overall stiffness is that they hold their heads very stiff and still -
you can see the tension at the base of their necks if you learn to look for
it. Horses don't have much head motion in a rack or saddle rack, (aka tolt
and saddle tolt) but those gaits can be quite natural for some horses - but
of course a true rack/tolt is also pretty easy to force. I guess the way I
see it, and I think I probably learned this from Lee Ziegler, is that a true
head-nodding running walk or foxtrot almost has to be performed by a relaxed
horse, else the head gets tight and still. A horse may be able to get the
footfall sequence of a running walk or foxtrot without a nod, but the nod is
a good sign usually. Liz Graves said it this way: while horses don't truly
collect to any serious dressagey extent while gaiting, you can think of
the running walk as having little moments of semi-collection as the
horse's head stretches into the low point of the nod. They are actually
stretching their backs slightly with each stride - a good thing for horses
who may get tense in gait. Pace and rack/tolt require invariably at least
slightly more tension for the horse to perform.
So, not all horses will nod in gait, and that's not necessarily bad -
sometimes it is what it is. The saddle rack is certainly a cool gait,
extremely smooth to ride. But, the nod is just one symptom of something
good going on to me. I try to make sure that my saddle racking horses do
plenty of alternate gaits to give them a break: lots of walk, some canter,
trot, foxtrot, running walk - whatever is easy for them to do.
On the other extreme, as usual, the dreaded show people can invariably
find ways to corrupt even the good things. The TWH horses in shows are
often doing gaits other than the breed's signature running walk, often a
rack or stepping pace, and they often are rewarded for it. And, they have
figured out ways to fake the head nod seen with these gaits. So, even a
head nod isn't 100% proof of a relaxed gait. Hopefully none of us are into
that crap...I don't even know how they fake the head nod, and I have no
interest in learning how. I doubt it's very nice. Often I'm afraid they
are actually doing a head bob - as is characteristic of lameness.
Vicka, if you want something specific to isolate to watch in Stjarni's
gaits, give him just a slightly looser rein for a while, and just observe
his head while he gives you his range. When the gaits get more lateral, the
head movement will become less of a up-and-down nod, and more of a
V-movement - the head will be up in the center, then down to the left, up
to the center, down to the right, up to the centerWhen I was in my most
pathetic physical state, even I could see that, while I couldn't feel some
of the other gait characteristics. And it's often easier to see that
lateral V versus the up and down nod while you're in the saddle - you may
not see the three dimensional V as clearly if you look from the side.
Anyway, all of this is in Lee's book, and she said it much better than I
can.
Karen Thomas, NC
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