Gaited horse peolpe!!!

[arena_run]

Wondering how many of us have gaited horses.

Chime in w/you horses, their breed, their favorite gait… YOUR favorite gait, and what kind of riding you do w/them.

Me first.

We’ve got three gaited horses.

-Bay - 21yo pacing mare who is retired and has COPD.

-Wallis - 3yo TWH (grade) filly. I started her under saddle this past fall. She does a rack and what I’m assuming to be either a speed rack or speed pace. Either way, it’s faster than my daughter’s appendix horse’s gallop. I plan to do a bit of very local small-town showing on her but mostly she’s going to be a road and trail horse. I LOOOOVE her rack!

-Shady Chance of Carbon - coming 2yo TWH (papered) stud (soon to be gelding). Don’t know his saddle gaits but right now he’s got a nice looooong-strided running walk thing and a fox trot. Bought him for my husband who likes Wallis but thinks he wants a bigger horse. Chance promises to be 15.2h if not bigger while Wallis will top out at 14.3h. Same kind of riding as Wallis but… I’m kinda thinking I’ll use him for jumping, too. Maybe some fox hunting… if I EVER get to go again. sylvia

[GallopingGrape]

12 Year old Spotted Saddle Horse named Bacchus… saddle rack and can get pacy sometimes… We do local western shows and lots and lots of trail riding!

[LuvMyNSH]

I have two-

10yo MFT mare, prefers to rack or do a running walk but I usually ask for a foxtrot. Much easier on her (the heartrate moniter told me so :)) and more practical for the winding, twisty trails that require a shorter stride to navigate at any speed.

8yo TWH mare. Foxtrots. Old owner thought that was a minus, it’s a huge plus for me. Although right now we’re just trotting because she is sooo behind the leg and needs to build her topline anyway.

[Cashela]

I have two:D. We trail ride.

9 year old, MFT mare. Has finally picked up a nice fox trot but her preferred gait is a canter and her canter is sooooooo smooth that I would ride it all day long.

6 year old, MFT mare. She is my goofy baby. She currently does a stepping pace or a hard pace. I like her stepping pace a lot as it is really smooth. She has been known to fox trot but we have had all sorts of saddle fit issues and her pelvis was out of whack so I think that is contributing to our pace issues. She is painstakingly slow though. It drives me insane.

[2Jakes]

9 year old MFT gelding, most excellent trail horse. Jake’s best gait is his foxtrot. He can do it forever, over any terrain, and it is really smooth. He also has a wonderful canter. We have shown a little bit (in Pleasure classes, he’s too “slick” for performance) but our main thing is trail riding.

Here is Jake gaiting in the pasture: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/2Jakes/JakeFreeGait.jpg

This is me and Jake out on the trail, atop a huge berm at the Sebastain Buffer on New Year’s day: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e337/2Jakes/119MenJakeNWBuffer.jpg

[Trakehner]

I’ve got a gaited mule named Jackson…his mom was a TWH…he’s got a nice running walk.

[gabz]

I’ve got 2.
One is a B&W MFT. 6 years old. Still working on his gaits. He wasn’t started under saddle until last year. He has a nice walk and running walk. His foxtrot is coming along.

The other was a rescued horse. I think it’s a rocky or mtn pleasure type. when ‘free’ he has a great running walk. His canter is hilarious to watch…like a bunny hop… poor guy. He’s about 11 (guestimate from Equine Dentist)

And then my QH who does a nice jog… can walk in front and trot behind. VERY smoooottthh… :lol: (but slow)

[2Horse]

Trake, You have a gold mine in your mule!! :yes:They go for very good money around here! I’m thinking of breeding my palomino TWH mare to a jack in hopes of a gaited mule. Maybe a palomino or buckskin one?!?!

I have a reg TWH mare that racks and loves to canter.
I also have a reg buckskin Ky Mountain mare that loves to rack.

The rest of mine are Saddlebred Sport Horses. (non gaited)

[4whitefeet]

I have 2 gaited horses:

An ASB mare that has a rack to die for, we mostly trail ride though, do a couple of parades a year and hack through the neighborhood. :winkgrin:

A racking horse that you have to ride with a seatbelt on the saddle.:eek:
I always have that wind blown look when we get back home.:lol:
She has 2 speeds… stop and warp speed.:lol:

[arena_run]

Wow… ya’ll’ve got some nice-sounding horses. Love the pic you posted 2jakes. Your boy has a beautiful head.

Several of you said your horse fox trots. And one mentioned it was easier on the horse. My girl does a niiiiiice rack, but I’ve read that it’s really hard to maintain over a long period of time due to the energy demands. She also trots and I was thinking about trying to work up a fox trot in her. I’ve got Lee Zieger’s book “Easy Gaited Horses”. I was just going to follow her instructions in there… is that about the best way to get a fox trot in her?

I honestly haven’t noticed if her trot is a true fox trot at liberty or not.

I DO have a TWH colt (coming 2) who does fox trot. Very obviously so. Won’t be up on him for at least another year though. Probably the summer of 2010. (wow… that sounds like a long way off, but it’ll be here before we know it!).

Hey… one last question. Would any of you be interested in joining a forum of ‘natural’ gaited folks – ala Lee Ziegler (getting to the gait w/out appliances)?

Just PM me of you are… I’ll give you the details. sylvia

[loganisle]

I’ve got three.

Bee - 4.5 yr old Rocky Mountain horse mare - Has a nice saddle rack and racks at various speeds. Also the normal gaits, walk, pace, trot, canter, all which are fairly smooth. She can both rack and trot faster than a QH can lope.

Harley - 18 yr old APHA gelding - In addition to his normal gaits, walk, trot, lope, and canter, he foxtrots! He’s bred 3/4 QH so I can only surmise that this is the “amble” that some of the QH old timers mention from time to time.

Jewel - 7 month old Rocky Mountain horse filly - Half sister to the mare above. She has a nice little saddle rack that I’ve seen at liberty. Also the normal gaits I’ve seen are walk, trot, and gallop.

I grew up riding TWHs and LOVE the running walk, but the rack isn’t too shabby either. I probably prefer the running walk just because I grew up with it. Bee is my favorite of our horses, but she’s special in every way too.

Oh, and both of my riding horses gait without any kind of “special” apparatus, shoes, or appliances. Both are regularly ridden in snaffles. The Rocky gaits in just a halter and would likely gait bridle-less as well, but I haven’t tried gaiting her bridle-less yet.

[2Horse]

I ride my TWH in a ring snaffle. The Ky Mountain I ride in a Jim Warner hack. She doesn’t seem to like any bit. Or at least the dozens I have tried:lol:
The TWH has never had a shanked bit. She doesn’t need one.
It makes me sad to see all these long shanked big bits that most people think they have to have for a gaited horse. Less is more to me.
Here is the TWH with my son. The running martingale is actually for him because his hands aren’t the best yet…
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2614612790060910712MdwYIS
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2263564900060910712ktdvAT

[Kerrysmom818]

I have a Tiger Horse mare, she prefers a stepping pace, we are working on her running walk and it is getting better. We also do parades with a sidesaddle group and are heading to DC for the Inaugural parade. Normally, she goes shoeless and bitless . . .

[LuvMyNSH]

[QUOTE=2Horse;3773257]

Here is the TWH with my son. The running martingale is actually for him because his hands aren’t the best yet…
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2614612790060910712MdwYIS
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2263564900060910712ktdvAT[/QUOTE]

Looks like fun!

The MFT doesn’t need a lot on her head, obviously.
http://inlinethumb19.webshots.com/41042/2155096030100167444S600x600Q85.jpg
No issues with brakes in the snaffle either-
http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/1624/2364696560100167444S600x600Q85.jpg

I have no issue going to a shank bit for refinement, but everything goes in a snaffle too. If it can’t, it’s not broke.

[arena_run]

Love that pic of her stop! sylvia

[Cashela]

Trak, I LOVE your mule!!!

[jeano]

Sigh… a gaited mule is my dream horse. Nice withers on him, too.

If I were crazy, or rather crazier, I’d contemplate breeding Sadie to a gaited jack. Better lie down until that thought goes away.

Anyway–two more (Sadie) or less (Hawk) gaited nags.

Sadie, aka the Satanic one is a grade racking horse. She can dog walk, flat walk, runwalk. She can trot, but never does under saddle. She can amble. She can do a saddle rack and a speed rack. She can pace. She has a nice smooth canter, and a smooth but weird ‘wicky-wack’ where one end of her is cantering and the other end is either racking, pacing, trotting, or god knows what-ing. She can gallop, and I mean a REAL fast, front hooves punching the air gallop, as well as a hand gallop.

Those are the gears I have more or less accurately identified on her. Every blessed one is smooth enough to sit. Can I elicit any of them consistently? Hell, no. But its fun trying.

Other horse, grade TWH. No dog walk, nice flat walk, nice running walk when I can get it. Many different trots, including a hard trot that will knock your fillings out of your teeth, a smooth extended trot, a smooth collected trot, and every once in a while a passage. Dont ask me who taught him that or why he sometimes breaks into it out on the trail. He has the classic rocking horse canter, a flatter canter that is actually easier for me to ride, and he can gallop pretty fast too. I would LOVE for him to rack or fox-trot but so far, not.

Sadie is lazy, Hawk has the soul of an endurance horse. Both of them are barefoot. So far the longest the two of them have been ridden (by me) is roughly 15-18 miles at a time. Hawk is ALWAYS rarin to go out again when we come home. I am content to leave Sadie as my pleasure/trail horse, but have secret yearnings to take Hawk on a foxhunt and to at least do one LD with him sometime. I am probably undermotivated and too decrepit to do either but I can dream.

[gabz]

LuvmyNSH - Your MFT is very similar to my B&W… except mine is about 250 pounds overweight right now! LOL…
Wonderful handle on that horse. You sit him well.

Can I ask what brand of saddle that is? Did you have any trouble fitting him?

[luvmywalkers]

7 TWH’s, all but one registered.

8-Month old filly with all the right attributes, her dam is 12 and the goofiest horse I’ve known. 2-Year old stud colt with an awesome walk, his dam is 6 with the same walk and tops it with a fast rack. A 12-year old mare who is on the pacey side, used to show in model (win blues) and country pleasure. A 20-year old grade gelding, terrific racker. My oldest mare, 31, who on her good days will outperform all of the others in walk and canter.

[Halcyon_Days]

My main man is a 7 yr old TWH gelding, 16.2H, ridiculously tall for an endurance horse, we compete in 25-75 mile rides, with plans for our first 100 this coming season! Yes, he gaits the whole way, flatwalk, running walk, rack, canter, gallop. He does trot for the vetchecks, but never under saddle, kind of weird, but it makes the vets happy. My up and coming is a 3 1/2 yr McCurdy Plantation filly, she’s going out on longer trail rides now, learning how to navigate, focus and think through icky winter trails with lots of downed trees and low branches, and glops of snow landing on her head. LOL. Just recently bought another McCurdy filly, have been very impressed with their intelligence, smooth gaits and their natural trail balance, have trained several for the breeder, they’re all lovely horses–flatwalk, running walk, foxtrot, rack and canter.