> > Scoring the horses for gait, but it's manufactured > gait for the > > most part, > > obtained by the narrow saddles, severe bits, > ill-placed and tight > > nosebands, > > boots, heavy contact... when is the horse ever > scored on natural > > gaitedness?
> I am thinking if you did all of that to a QH you > still would not have > a horse that gaited....so I am trying to see how the > gait is MFG on > the Icelandics that are ridden in that way. Good discussion, Skye. I like a lot of your points. I don't think we're talking about QHs in this discussion. Say we have an Icelandic Horse that naturally does a little fox trot. He *needs* to do a rack / tolt for show. It's manufactured with mechanical aids. Tighten his noseband, bring out the whip, put a little *protection* on his feet.... voila, tolt. Is this natural for him? No. Would he ever in his life offer tolt without these additions? No. So, the point is, when is this wonderful fox trotting Icelandic ever going to be recognized for his natural gait? Or should he be? Should all three-gaited and fox trotting Icelandic Horses be culled absolutely from the breed? And who picked out the signature gait anyway? Was it someone who knew about gaits and knew how to bring out natural gait... or was it someone who chose the easiest gait to manufacture? Gait is influenced by three things: boney structure, musculature, and neural wiring. Suppose we have a horse that has two out of three of those things... maybe he has the boney conformation, but not the neural wiring... should he be forced to rack? Suppose he is, and gets good scores for conformation and his manufactured gait.... and becomes a breeding horse. Is that good for the breed? What does he have to pass on to his offspring? What is a better bet to use as a breeding horse? One like him, or one that has all three things which results in natural gait? On a slightly different bent.... it has been said to never breed two four-gaited horses or you will lose the gaitedness in your offspring... does that sound logical? how does it fit in with the manufactured gait subject? Judy http://iceryder.net http://clickryder.com
