On Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 06:56:49AM -0500, Karen Thomas wrote: > >>> so i'm calling them all "tolt" for now, in the icelandic sense of the > word (note that i don't substitute the english "rack" indiscriminately). > > But, in the Icelandic sense, "tolt" DOES mean rack, at least these days. > Other soft gaits are called "trotty tolt", "pacey tolt" - heck, I've even
in english, yes. but note thta it's still "tolt", adjectives aside. also note that i can't say too much for sure about stjarni's gaits, since i am insufficiently expert to be sure from the saddle, and the tracks tell me only so much, and i rarely have access to educated people to watch me. so i am necessarily conservative about it. > tolt jumbalya, boiled tolt, tolt cocktail, tolt creole..." to paraphrase one hee! > The reason we dwell on this on the list is that the "tolt variations" are > mostly considered faulty and trainers will try to "fix" them. indeed, and if they're comfortable for horse and rider, i think that's a bit silly, and if it goes too far it can get downright cruel. in stjarni's particular case, there's a gait he does readily that's very smooth and evenly four-beat, but i couldn't tell you which of the smooth, even gaits it is (his head gives no clue) -- i am guessing rack, since some of the photos were identified by one of our local experts as a rack, but i'm not placing bets on it right now. i do have a somewhat stiff upper body (i have chronic pain on my left side), but i certainly don't ride with a death grip on the reins, and i follow his head movements in general (they are quite pronounced at walk and canter). i refer you to the recent group of photos, again. i agree that the horse is a unified being, and problems aren't always happening where they are visible. i ride bareback a lot, and look at stjarni on the lunge, to see how he moves without a rider or tack (besides the halter and lunge; i admit i lunge in a plain halter, not a caveson, b/c i don't have a caveson). i think it is much as i describe and as the pictures show; he hasn't done much on the lunge line that's surprised me. but i am not a gait expert, so it is possible i'm missing something. but his expressionk, at least, remains happy and relaxed and interested, so i assume his heart's still in it. (i *have* seen stjarni's "mad face" and wild head-tossing, when we've encountered something he doesn't like alone on the trail. so i'm not glossing over his emotions here, either. he swishes his tail when asked for tight turns as well; i think his neck is more flexible than the rest of his back, and we're working on this, but really only at a walk atm with the footing being what it is.) > gaits most of the time, with healthy, happy horses. i think i'm tired of your presuming stjarni to be a not-healthy, not-happy horse. how would your perceptions change if you abandoned that assumption? > is stiff all over, as stjarni's personal massueuse, i testify he ain't that at all. --vicka
