Thank you Judy, thank you. This is absolutely what I have come to believe. Out horses are HORSES first and gaited horses second and that gait is pretty much hard-wired into them. I use all the same techniques on my TWH that I would use on a Thoroughbred. I don't think you could prevent him from gaiting. And yes, I also own an off-track Standardbred and I might at some point change his hoof angles to help him forget the pace he performed at the track, but right now he's in a nice round snaffle bit and is receiving my version of as much natural horsemanship as I have been able to digest. Nancy
