Absolutely! I use the ring for training only and would expect my horse to allow me to choose gait, but Hunter is an endurance horse. Except for not letting him go so fast he exhausts himself, I let him choose whatever sensible gait takes us forward safely and quickly. Since endurance horses mainly trot (for miles and miles and miles) his choices would be trot, RW, rack and speed rack. Sometimes when he is beginning to tire, he will choose to canter and I allow that if his heart rate is in a good range - always compete with a heart rate monitor in place.
Nancy
