> I don't know what she was doing most of the time, > but she kept going > from one thing to another, and didn't stay in any of > them for any > length of time. > > So--what does that mean? Am I confusing her by not > giving the proper > aids or cues? Or is she just not capable of keeping > a consistent > gait? Should I be trying to encourage one over > others? Which gait > would be the best to encourage?
This is sort of what we were talking about the other day; the advantage of knowing about gaits. Most likely, Gat was never set in one certain gait (meaning having someone determine what is her natural gait, give her cues / aids to get into it, and practice for her self-carriage in that gait). So, she has probably gone most of her life, just offering stuff and either being framed by the rider, or mooshing around in whatever. When a trainer doesn't know gaits and can only get gaits by framing a horse, the horses miss out on learning about gaits themselves (because they don't "learn" if they are force framed). So say we have a pacey young horse, and about the best gait it'll be able to do under saddle is a stepping pace which can be quite comfortable. We can work with the horse and establish that as the default gait, and help the horse attain self-carriage, so the horse can do it on a loose rein. The horse will know what the rider wants, and the rider will know what the horse can give. It's a good deal for the horse instead of not knowing for 20 years! Judy http://iceryder.net http://clickryder.com
