>>>> This is the four-beat, lateral gait of the Icelandic Horse, which is very comfortable to ride. It is sometimes compared to the rack of the American Saddlebred,
NO! Wait, this is new. When did they change this? It wasn't so long ago - a few months - that it said that it was "similar to the gait of the TWH" or something very similar. So...the USIHC has just changed the definition of the gait? I have to admit, when I first read that older definition (and boy was I naïve back in those days - 5-ish years ago) I noticed the word "similar" and thought that was cool. Now this was before I encountered some of the "biddies" as Anneliese so tactfully called them, some of whom have insisted that Icelandics don't foxtrot, whatever. But as a young, naïve 40-something-year-old, I so gullibly took the "similar" to mean that no one was going to sweat the minor differences between a running walk, rack, saddle rack etc. and that this breed was more open to various gaits. Oh, man, had I just fallen off the turnip truck then or what?!!! >>>> An incorrect tolt is closer to two-beat than four-beat is the "Pig's Pace" (similar to the lateral gait sometimes seen in gaited breeds which rely on shoeing and training). OH MY GAWD! Of all the sensibly named, well-thought out gait definitions we have at our disposal now, some bozos have actually decided to DEFINE piggy pace - and not very clearly, and not in any way that any of us have heard it used, where it's an awful, punishing slow pace - close to pure pace. And what on earth does that mean - "similar to the lateral gait sometimes seen in gaited breeds which rely on shoeing and training" - now tell me, has ANYONE ever heard the term "piggy pace" used with another breed? I never have. That's an Icelandic-only term...so why the heck are they throwing it back to "other breeds" who require shoes and training... It's an Icelandic term, so that must mean that some Icelandic's must need shoes and training, right? There was NO reason to bring other breeds into that term. I suppose somehow the shoeing practices of the TWH made those isolated Icelandic farmers coin that phrase in past decades/centuries? Oh my...that's kind of pathetic. This is a step backwards. It's funny in a way, but it's ludicrous. We have definitions for gaits that are generally accepted so why not use them. But, one thing I find hysterically funny. I've rarely heard the term "Pig's Pace." I've heard it a few times, but almost always it's been called "piggy pace", said in some snarling, disparaging one, like one might say, "Yeah, and your mother wears combat boots!" But, I guess "Pig's Pace" is the FORMAL name for this gait, huh? It just wouldn't be "proper" to call it "piggy pace" now would it?!!! Oh my gosh, I'm rolling in the floor over a "proper" name for an insulting term with no specific definition. (A few of you will recognize why I use the word "proper", since that was always the buzzword of a former list antagonist...) >>> It's just interesting. I haven't read their definitions in a long time. I remember reading this a long time ago, it was similar, but I don't think it used to include many soft gaits in tolt. I remember thinking it didn't actually offer much guidance for me, not knowing about gaits and trying to figure this out. You're right, Kim, this is new, almost certainly less than a year old. And you're also right, the definitions were always vague, with no help in determining the specifics of gait. Karen Thomas, NC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.10/624 - Release Date: 1/12/2007 2:04 PM
