>>>> Just a sidenote here: There is a line of Appaloosas who do a soft gait >>>> referred to as the "Indian Shuffle". Has anyone ever seen or ridden >>>> one of those?
The Appaloosa "breed" as exists now is basically a color breed - even though some purists will tell you differently. Their studbook was open for a long time, and to get registered, a foal had to show something like three of the five color traits. (I can immediately think of these: striped hoofs, spots on the coat and the obviously visible schelera. The spots can be virtually invisible too!) They closed the studbook a while back, but they can still outcross with TB and QH and be registered as Apps...maybe Arabs too? Can't remember that for sure. Joe is 25 this year. I never saw his father but I saw some pictures. He was colored much like Joe (loud, leopard patterning), but there's no doubt in my mind that his father had a large percentage of Arab blood. (He looked more "typey" than our registered Arab, Thunder.) Joe's mother wasn't a registered App (at that time, Joe was able to be registered by inspection) but I believe she was TB. Joe certainly moves and is built as if he might have TB in him. Most of us tend to think of Apps these days as being stock-type horses, or the old Indian ponies, but there has been a LOT of other blood in the breed in the relatively recent past - say, within the last 30 years. Knowing how much TB, QH and Arab there is in the breed now, and who knows what else, I'd be surprised if a significant number of single-footing Apps remain. I love our Joe dearly and he was a wonderful horse for the job...but we bought him despite the fact that he was an App, not because of it. We bought him for what HE is even if he was the "wrong" color. The last thing I'd want to breed a gaited horse to, to preserve gaits would be to a three-gaited horse who has three such distinct and clear gaits. There are Apps now being bred specifically as "sport horses" (hey, Joe was just ahead of his time!) To me, these horses are sort of the antithesis of "gaited." In other words, gait was never valued in this breed. They mostly have their "sport horses" and they have their "stock types" or so it seems to me. You might still stumble on a gaited App, but I sure wouldn't hold my breath, not unless you find someone who has searched them out and is breeding specifically to bring them back. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.4/1277 - Release Date: 2/13/2008 8:00 PM
