>> I don't mind stepping pace at all - as you say, it's comfortable - but >> I have found that Icelandics which do stepping pace a lot do seem to >> stiffen up and end up doing hard pace which isn't comfortable at all! > > You may be right. > > Could it be that there are some Icelandic Horses who do not have backs > that > are strong enough to carry riders (or can only carry up to a certain > weight > before becoming uncomfortable), so they tend to stiffen up?
The other possibility is that Icelandics aren't suppled to stretch and loosen their back muscles in training or before riding. As someone pointed out, Peruvians do the stepping pace routinely (I have to translate from TWH/MFT lingo -- that's the sobreandando gait in Peruvians?). A big part of Peruvian training is circle work (done without a bit to start) -- large circles, small circles, the caricole (large circle that gets smaller at each turn until the horse has its nose against the rider's knee, then unwind in progressively larger circles . .. and repeat in the other direction). The horse learns to double while still in bozal -- while standing, the horse nose comes to rider's toe, knee, or hip (depends on how the neck is set on the body), on each side. A horse doesn't learn these maneuvers in one session! -- training is a matter of months. But being supple is the key to doing the gaits "harmoniously", without going to the trot or hard pace. Lynn Kinsky, Santa Ynez, CA http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/
