Hi Karen
> With the yahoo duplicates and delays, I almost didn't get around to replying > to this one. Sorry! I know what you mean!! Saturday I downloaded my email, I had not been on for 3 days, I had over 900 email!! About 700 or more, from 5 lists, were duplicates!! I was a little overwhelmed. > > Do you have Lee Ziegler's book? No I don't . She talks about the "essential tension" > required for tolt/rack - you can see it at the base of the neck/withers. > Tension isn't always a bad thing, but is necessary in order for the horse to do a racking gait. Now, that said, that doesn't mean that the horse's > entire body has to be tense, nor does his frame of mind have to be tense. Stigandi is not a tense horse except when the mare are close to him. :-) On the trail he is very relaxed. He can canter, he can tolt but he prefers walk. He has a wonderful trot too which he much prefers over tolt. > I'm curious - do you think he's normally too lazy to tolt? What is his > normal gait - is he more likely to step-pace or trot? I am not sure that I would say lazy, but he is very laid back. Trot or step-pace --- definitely trot. Sherrel and Stigandi
