>> do you feel additional terms are needed to describe those gaits? > > -----------------Good point :-). I guess the question I have is this - > at what point is it ok to just say "pacey" or "trotty"? I would bet > that many folks would happily accept the terminology of "pacey tolt" > or "trotty tolt". There are just so many shades of gray when it comes > to gaits, and some horses have a tendancy to switch back and forth > rather than stay consistent. I guess it's just hard to put an exact, > correct word with everything our horses do...
Here's something to think about: Tolt, the gait that evaluations and competitions is based upon, is a one foot / two foot support gait, done at speed (like hopping versus skipping, speed is necessary for the one foot support). How can a tolt, which is a lateral one / two foot support gait, become "trotty"? Does it still retain it's one / two foot support? if not... Is it then a fox trot or not? (fox trot being a two / three foot support gait). If it goes to two / three foot support, it's no longer a tolt (per the definition of it's use in evaluations and competitions), correct? Or does it retain it's one / two foot support and just become slightly diagonal or slightly lateral? If so, that's fine. But what are the two / three foot support gaits called? There's a lot of space between trot and pace, besides the small area of tolt, which contain several gaits... do you think they should be identified and defined? Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
