>>> I know some disagree but in my own personal experience I have foundthe spectrum of gaits rarely goes from one extreme to the other in one horse. I believe A horse on the pacey side is gonna tolt well and a horse on the trotty side is gonna running walk well.
I think that is true a lot of times Janice - that r/w horses tend to trot more in the field. I paid a lot of attention to the various gaited horse breeders when I used to read the gaitedhorse list, back when Lee was alive. That seemed to be the consensus of a lot of the experienced breeders on that list...and I have to say, I don't see anything too different within the Icelandic breed. BUT, there are a few horses that have the full range of gaits, those who seem to find it just as easy to do one gait as another, all the way from pace to trot. Trausi and Sina are two. Probably Brunka too. I see it in several of my young horses too, ones not yet under saddle, or who haven't had a lot of time under saddle. And of course, the first horse I ever knew to have the full range of gaits was Holly, my TWH mare. There are some horses who CAN trot, but for whom it's not so easy. If it's not easy for them to trot, there are other ways to encourage them to use all their muscles. Walking is one of the best exercises, and so is cantering if the horses can do a three-beat canter. Karen Karen Thomas
