> So, with that in mind, Nancy, can you describe how Hunter feels from the > sadddle?
Okay. Hunter only rarely does a running walk. I can think of three times - twice at endurance rides when all the stars were in allignment and once on trail when I was out by myself and he was badly scared by two counter culture youngsters pulling a garden wagon filled with camping gear. Makes me think that he needs more energy or impulsion to RW, or perhaps just be scared witless. He has a 6 mph flat walk - GPS. At endurance races, he will do a speed rack that Arabs need to canter to keep up with him, but I don't allow much of this, assuming that it would not be good for his long term soundness if he did it for 25 miles. He has sort of an ordinary, but truely diagonal trot, very little suspension. He's a small horse 14.3, and it feels a little like a pony's trot. Not bad, but not wonderful. I believe he occassionally does a stepping pace, based on the fact that both his muzzle and his back feel like they are swinging gently from side to side. I recognize hard pace because Twist paced at the radetrack and he does a true hard core God-awful racetrack pace. He will occassionally fall into a stepping pace. The difference is dramatic. And I'm pretty sure Hunter also does a fox trot, based on still photos I have. Because he is primarily a trail and distance horse, I normally allow him to choose appropriate gait for the condtions. I get to choose the rate of speed. Nancy
