Hi Krisse >>>Many 5-gaited horses tölt just fine but need the weights to trot. Like one riding instructor/horse trainer said about my Fjóla when we were talking about her weak trot: "But she's 5-gaited, she doesn't have to trot without weighted boots".
That is true but over the years we have found that it is better overall for the horse to teach them trot without boots. We have found that by working with the balance and body flexibility using Connected Groundwork that most of the horses with little trot without boots or shoes, found the trot very well. We used to put slightly heavier shoes on the front feet, pretty common practice. The thing I think that can happen is that there is extra stress on the fetlock joints with even a little extra weight and you can have bilateral lameness that often goes unrecognized but can show up in behavior. I think, if you are going to add some weight to the front legs, it is probably better to do so with boots than by constantly wearing heavier shoes, because the boots come off.. Robyn
