>>> I am working on Scooter's gait. There is potential.But according to Carla, Dagur doesn't seem to have it in him. Is it something he can learn eventually?
That depends on how he's built, how old he is and many factors. Some DO eventually develop some little bit of gait later in life as they get stronger, but ideally, the gaits should simply be there when the horse goes under saddle - no "gait training" needed. >>>> My MFT did it naturally. Do some Iceys do it naturally? Yes, a good many Icelandic's have strong natural gaits...but some have practically no natural gait, and for practical purposes, you'd have to consider them three-gaited. And some have "natural gait" - but only if you count pace as a gait. Remember, a horse can still be a wonderful trail horse and have no gaitedness - most of the trail horses in the USA are three-gaited. Janice's Tivar doesn't have much natural gait in him - but he's a lovely trail horse, very brave and sensible. I think he can do a little flat walk, and he has a very nice jog. I think Tivar is virtually an ideal Icelandic - except for the gaitedness. Anyway, that's why we worry so much on this list about cruel show methods which allow harsh bits, saddles, shoes, etc to be used to manufacture gaits - non-gaited horses (or weakly gaited ones) can be forced into gait (often causing them great stress and pain) and then a later owner discovers that the horse isn't gaited at all. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.16/1250 - Release Date: 1/29/2008 10:20 PM
