>>>In the first one I see stepping pac. Second pic I see a flat walk. Third >>>pic I see canter and in the fourth pic I see saddle rack... How did I do?
I'm not absolutely positive, but I don't think you're too far off. The main difference is that the one you think is saddle rack, I'd be more inclined to think flat walk or maybe even slow running walk - I'm not sure, but they are both sort of "adjacent" to saddle rack on the gait chart. There's definitely a canter in there. In one of the first two, though, I think he's actually gone to the diagonal side of walk. The reason I point this out, is in these pictures, I see some good hints that the horse can do a pleasant soft gait - and not always pacey. But under saddle, with a rider, he's always pacey, even with this skinny rider up. He's reputed to be a very pacey horse...but he's a very broad guy, and he needs to lose weight. This is not his owner riding him, but she was trying a slightly wider saddle on him that day than his owner normally uses. He was doing better with his gaits. I think if he got a saddle wide enough a lot of his pace problem would go away. He might always be more laterally oriented than ideal - I don't know- but I think there is more than JUST pace in this horse. Did you notice the difference in his head position in the pacey pictures versus the other pictures? His head is up in the pace pictures , but more level or "long and low" in the more pleasant gait pictures. He was also a little bit of a pill under saddle - not too bad, but not as pleasant as his ground manners would lead you to believe. More evidence of saddle/back discomfort? Anyway, he's not my horse to work with, but my guess is that this is one "ingrained pacer" with some untapped potential for more than just pace... Karen Karen Thomas Wingate, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.2/891 - Release Date: 7/8/2007 6:32 PM
