>>For the record, I am slightly handicapped and my legs are very spastic. I need a very smooth horse. The trot and most canters don't work for me. I wish they did.
I know this...and I do sincerly apprecite it. But, I also think that you need to keep your horse's welfare in mind. I'm sorry, I know this will upset you and hurt your feelings. But I can not support that fact that you want to change your horse's way of going.....with shoes, so that your ride will be smoother. There are many smooth horses out there; smooth slow QH's with awesome ride "all -day -jogs", smooth fast gaited horses and horses who have awesome smooth dog/flat walks. In the long run...what you do to your horse's hooves will affect thier bodies. It''s just not fair to your horses to try to make them ...into something that they are not built to do. Conformation is the huge important part in gaiting! Gaits are in the horses conformation...not in the hooves or shoes. I know that you love your mares, but maybe....just maybe you need to try to find a smoother...naturally gaited horse. (??) It's like me wanting to run cans and win the purse. No way could I do that with Huginn, he is to bulky, stocky and just can spin those cans that way money-making can horse must do. If I wanted to run cans to win.... I would need a small fast QH. Or me bringing home those senior Ice Ponies and wanting to do endurance on them. Yea...may work. But,,, most likely...NOT. Huginn's tolt is not set ...nor is it the best/smoothest. I would never consider shoeing/trimming him to get smoother gaits out of him. He is what he is. HIs body is not built for tolt and as a repsonsible horse owner I need to accept that. If not, than I would sell him and get a smoother horse. Again...please beleive me...my intention is not to hurt you or upset you!!!! Raven
