>>> So then there were trips back to the orginal trainer for 'tune-up's" and >>> things would go fine for a while and then the horse would stop gaiting >>> again, and usually the owner felt responsible and then was told she should >>> take more lessons and go to more clinics to learn how to ride properly. >>> Anyone else recall these discussions?
Oh, I remember them well...and I haven't been on these lists all that many years. >>>> It is my opinion now, years later and somewhat smarter about a lot of >>>> things...if a horse is naturally gaited and has been trained properly (and >>>> kindly)....I should be able to stand on my head in the saddle and that horse should still be able to tolt... Mind you, good balanced riding always helps every partnership. But naturally gaited horses shouldn't 'lose' their gaitedness. It should always come bubbling to the surface as it was in the little video clip I sent in of Dagur the other day. Am I right or am I missing something? I THINK what you're missing is that some folks would like for gaits to be mysterious and evasive, so that we MUST pay for their clinics and their evaluation seminars, and send our horses to them for "gait training." It literally "pays" for some people to make these things complicated. Thank goodness ALL trainers and clinicians aren't that way, but WAY too many are only concerned with making a quick buck by keeping the masses confused. Aren't we lucky to have folks like Liz Graves, and weren't we blessed that Lee Ziegler finished her book before she died? I know I was awfully to encounter Anneliese and Christine Schwartz as the first two Icelandic breeders, and they never tried to convince me that Icelandics needed "special" training, and assured me I could do a lot on my own. Thank goodness for good people. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
