Re: [IceHorses] My Horse Doesn't Tolt
take him to a Liz Graves clinic. We had never seen my husbands horse do any easy gait under saddle and took him to a Liz clinic. She had him foxtrotting in about five minutes, then by barely wiggling just her fingers, adjusting headset, she got him in a running walk, saddle rack (slow tolt) and stepping pace. janice-- yipie tie yie yo
Re: [IceHorses] My Horse Doesn't Tolt
He fox trots, but no tolt. Her most recent message to me: I am pretty frustrated; spent a lot of money on his mother, spent a lot of money breeding to a good stallion and ended up with a horse that doesn't tolt. What would you say to her? Suggestions? Give him time and more time and lots of trail rides, relaxed trail rides over all sort of terrain. Pay attention to what he does in which situations. This type of horse will likely tolt on slight decline. And then if he tolts for only a few steps, you praise him as if he had hung the moon. Then, at some point, go to a black top road where you can hear his footfalls very well. Try and recreate the situation in which he first tolted and if he does it again, praise him a lot again. Most Icelandics are so willing to please that he will probably try his utmost to please you. And have PATIENCE! ANNELIESE
RE: [IceHorses] My Horse Doesn't Tolt
She sent video of her attempts to get him to tolt. He fox trots, but no tolt. Sigh. Poor horse. What's wrong with foxtrot? Ok, on second thought, let me answer my own question. There is NOTHING wrong with foxtrot. It's a great gait. If a five-year-old just under saddle OFFERS foxtrot, I that is a wonderful thing. But your phrasing above worries me...what does it mean her attempts to get him to tolt only results in foxtrot? What is she doing to get it? Is he freely offering it - if so, be happy, very happy. If she has to pressure him to get that, give him some time. In this case, knowing the gait he's doing doesn't tell me much; the context in which he's doing that gait would tell me a lot. I am pretty frustrated; spent a lot of money on his mother, spent a lot of money breeding to a good stallion and ended up with a horse that doesn't tolt. What would you say to her? Suggestions? Yeah. It frustrates me when I hear about people being frustrated with a five-year-old's gaits. A five-year-old is a baby. Don't rush the poor thing. His gaitedness is what it is, and trying to make him do something he isn't ready to do isn't fair to him. Some horses simply take more time. Personally, I'd never breed a horse that doesn't offer gait (key word: OFFER) during his/her first few rides under saddle...but I've known some awfully nice Icelandic's who have some gait limitations. There's a lot more that makes this bred special than merely gaits. And back to your point: She provided some background information on him. She bought a good (expensive) mare, bred her to a good (expensive) stallion, both of whom were *prized* horses. The prizes (first-prize, second-prize) aren't given out until the horses are evaluated. And horses aren't evaluated until they are trained, at least not for gaitedness. And the horses are allowed to wear bell boots, have longer toes than I'd ever have, and have heavier shoes on front when they are evaluated. And they can be evaluated with riders sitting on their rumps, saddles too tight and placed too far back, nosebands too tight, with broken mouthed shanked bits. Now how on earth can you tell what is inherently in the horse's DNA with that many man-made influences at work? If you want to see the heritable part of the horse, best to observe as much about the horse as you can while the horse is unspoiled by training, and to make careful, honest notes as the horse is put under saddle. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [IceHorses] My Horse Doesn't Tolt
The first thing I would say is that there are riders who would settle for a fox trot as a nice intermediate gait for a trail horse. Maybe that's where he's headed. The second thing can be taken with a grain of salt. There's a gaited horse breeder on another list who insists that her horses walk for 100 miles before she asks for gait. She wants them to be swinging along at a nice relaxed flat walk. Then she will ask for (in her case running walk) gait when going down a slight incline, praising when the horse produces it. She claims it works. Nancy
RE: [IceHorses] My Horse Doesn't Tolt
Give him time and more time and lots of trail rides, relaxed trail rides over all sort of terrain. Pay attention to what he does in which situations. This type of horse will likely tolt on slight decline. And then if he tolts for only a few steps, you praise him as if he had hung the moon. Then, at some point, go to a black top road where you can hear his footfalls very well. Try and recreate the situation in which he first tolted and if he does it again, praise him a lot again. Most Icelandics are so willing to please that he will probably try his utmost to please you. And have PATIENCE! Oh yes, PATIENCE is right! If someone pressures a horse that's very willing to please...well, I'm frankly more worried about the horse's frustration than the owner's. The horse can only do as much as he can, but given time, he may be able to do more...and if he can't, well, there are some darned nice three-gaited trail horses out there. The owner should enjoy what she has, not fixate on what she doesn't have. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
