> they are at: http://www.andor.org/stjarni-207/
Thanks for the pictures! Great photography!
As to gaits, looks like some fox trot, maybe a stepping pace or two, and
some saddle rack.
> i'm trying to get stjarni to slow down and lift his front end
Not sure what you mean by this. in what gait?
>>>as his default speed at *any* gait is FAST. we have already
> learned to rate the walk to slow, medium, and fast using more subtle
> body aids, and for some reason he's very responsive to this already at
> the canter, but he wants to gait FAST all the time and i want him to be
> willing and able to vary his speed.
Ljufur was like that when I got him. We spent quite a while on the trails
getting him to "smell the roses" instead of feeling like his job was to get
the ride over with as soon as possible ("It's not a race, Lju, relax.").
As well as doing circles on the trail to get back to the other riders, and
clicker training, getting him into the treeless saddle helped.
You're doing good if you've already taught him to rate speed at the walk.
Just keep working on it in the other gaits such as trot and canter. It may
be a little more difficult for him in the easy gaits, depending on his
conformation and previous training.
For example, sometimes a horse may *need* to go fast to hold a tolt; they
can't easily do it slower. It may be a situation of dropping into another
gait to go slower.
Judy
http://icehorses.net
http://clickryder.com
