>>>> I have decided, however, to love Twisty for who he is and stop trying to >>>> change him. He was born, bred and trained to do a hard pace. I'm >>>> thinking it isn't fair to try to change that at age 13.
I totally agree about not trying to change horses - we should love each horse for his/her own special traits. But, how about this case: I thought Sina was pacey when I first got her. She's not. When I watched her in the pasture, she WOULD pace occasionally, but most often, she foxtrots, trots, saddle racks or canters. (No, actually she mostly walks...) What it turned out was that her pacing was due to external factors - saddle fit and my physical disability at the time. It's not easy for many people to isolate these differences. I could have said that Sina is just pacey and let it go, but I'm glad I thought about what she does at liberty and kept plodding on. I'm not arguing with you about Twist though - our Mac certainly had trouble cantering, and I don't think we ever saw him trot. We tried taking him over cavaletti a few times, but gave up. He was a lateral horse, and that was just him. Occasionally he'd run-walk at liberty (and he could under saddle too) but mostly he step-paced or hard-paced. That's why I bring this up from time to time - how does an average owner (most of whom have a lot less horse-experience than you have) know the difference between a Sina versus a Mac/Twist? Sina has awesome gaits - once I fixed MY problems and got her a good saddle. Even Skjoni, the poster child for perfect gaits, will go pacey if his saddle doesn't fit... Thanks for participating in this discussion, Nancy. I think you have more insight and experience than you give yourself credit for... :) Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.2/1221 - Release Date: 1/12/2008 2:04 PM
