>>>> It's been a long time coming to get this much canter. Is there anything Alex could do to slow it down? The other horses in the arena have a slow, relaxed canter while Gat is always racing like she doesn't know how to canter slow or like she needs to go fast just to canter. Is it lack of balance? Or fitness?
I think that's hard to say, but I'd bet it could be some of all you mentioned. If a horse is built to the pacey side, I believe it's harder for them to find balance in non-lateral gaits like trot and canter. BUT, also don't rule out her past training, if you don't know the details of how she was started under saddle. One of the first things that struck me when I started paying attention to Icelandic showing is how fast they go at the canter. In fact, they really don't promote canter at all, not the way other breeds and disciplines do, but go to gallop instead. Is it possible that Gat was pushed to go at speed in her gaits in all her initial training? Maybe she thinks that's what she's supposed to do, and is trying to do the best her conformation allows? I don't know - I'm just throwing out thoughts. I think there are LOTS of Icelandics that would appear zooming around if they were put in that same ring compared to the non-Icelandics.... I DON'T think the gallop-instead-of-canter-thing is a breed thing so much as a training thing though. If you looked at the videos of my foals, you see them doing a fair amount of relaxed canter... sure they gallop too, but canter is very easy for them. Personally, I want to do whatever I can to preserve that. I have many evaluation videos, but only one where it's fairly easy to hear the judge's comments. The most common comment she gave (for all gaits) is "needs more speed." I think it's sad that a good canter is not appreciated more in the shows and evaluations. All of my Icelandics have nice, relaxed canters, although some are definitely better and cleaner than others. We don't push for "more speed" all the time though, so I don't think I have unusually talented horses - just different priorities from the show folks. Didn't you say that she canters in the pasture, at liberty? If you ever get a chance to get a video, I'd like to see it...although with her being a mature mare on the quiet side (I think?) it may be hard to catch a freely offered canter in a photo op! If she can - and does - do a relatively relaxed, three-beat canter at liberty without too much effort, I'd suspect even more that her pacey canter might be due to tension or past training...? But, back to what can you do to slow it down? Get her balanced and relaxed - bending, lateral work, flexions.... Maybe not ask for canter for so long at a stretch, but ask for shorter stretches of a nice, relaxed canter and brag on her profusely when she delivers it. The trotting is good for her, as are the low jumps, but also lots of walk-trot transitions, with a little bit of backing-up interspersed will get her rear-end engaged too. Remember the old adage - "speed is the enemy of collection." While Gat doesn't need much collection to do her job and do it well (she's certainly doing very well in many ways now) I think it might be to her benefit to move her a couple of notches along the collection continuum. With my old QH, I'd do a lot of walk-trot, walk-trot, walk-trot-stop, walk-trot-back-two-steps, walk-trot-stop-walk-trot...doing only a few strides each of walk and trot before asking for a transition...that sort of thing. Not LOTS of backing, but enough stopping and backing to keep him from falling forward all the time. Just some random thoughts... Karen Thomas, NC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.17.8/649 - Release Date: 1/23/2007 8:40 PM
