It is a wonderful gait and is usually performed faster than 7 mph. One of my TWH mares has taken fi rst in two 100s while performing a running walk. Each time was on a very technical course that prevented the Arabians we were competing against from get ing into an extended trot.
» Rack. T e rack is my favorite gait. It is also very smooth and faster than a running walk. One foot of the horse will be on the ground at all times except when jumping. T e horse will have his head sway back and forth with less bobbing movement than a running walk. T e Icelandic crowd calls this a “tolt,” the Singlefooters call it a “singlefoot” and the Paso Fino folks call it a “largo.” Each of those breeds use small variations, but the basic movement is the same.
» In a broken pace, also known as a stepping pace, amble or saddle rack, the horse will pick up both legs on one side together and then set them down in a syncopated manner. T is gait may require posting at speeds over 10 mph but is very effi cient for the horse. In fact, it may be the most effi cient way of a gaited horse traveling 50 or 100 miles.
When considering a gaited horse, you need to make sure his favorite gait is something other than a hard pace. T at is where both legs on the same side of the horse pick up together and then set down together. T is is wrong in the show world and even worse in the trail-riding world. It is a horrible movement, and riding it is similar to a drunken sailor trying to stand up on a rolling ship. Folks, it’s not smooth.
nd u
While the pace is very possibly “fi xable,” that issue is more complex than can be examined in a meaningful manner in this article. I spend a lot of time with young horses trying to make sure they never learn how to pace.
When I started endurance, I was told a gaited horse could not rack 25 miles, let alone 50. We routinely do training rides of over 20 miles with many diff erent gaited horses in a rack. We have over a 90% completion rate for 50-mile endurance rides and most of those have been done in a rack or running walk during most of the ride.
“PROSPECT” OR SEASONED HORSE? You have two main choices in picking a gaited horse. You
either buy a “prospect” or a seasoned, fi nished horse. Unless you have several horses and understand how to train, breeding does not make economic sense. We do breed, but it is as a part of our endurance program.
We usually acquire horses to use in endurance by buying two- to three-year-olds who have barely been started. I then let them sit and be a horse. Later, I begin their training and am riding and conditioning them by the time they are fi ve. By the time they are six or seven, I usually know what we have and then may off er them for resale to other riders. By that time, they have proven themselves on the endurance trail and I have developed a training protocol for their development in endurance.
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Buying a prospect can be both exciting and risky. We travel to fl at-shod gaited sales in the south and look at lots of horses. I have studied Tennessee Walker and Missouri Fox Trot er bloodlines and look for foundation horses common to both breeds. In par- ticular, I look for as much Merry Go Boy in the bloodline as I can fi nd. MGB makes for a forward horse. T is style is not for everyone,
nd l 64 | June 2013 •
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La Paz Jivago is an 11-year-old Mangalarga Marchador owned and ridden by Rox Rogers of Whitefi sh, Mon- tana. He is doing a Marcha Batida, a type of bro- ken trot. Photo courtesy Lynn Kelley, Summerwind Marchadors
but it is one my wife and I like. I always fi ght an overt chuckle followed by an eye roll when I
see “prospect” in an advertisement for a gaited horse. T is word usually means a completely untrained animal, or a horse with more energy than sense. Unless you are trainer, you do not want this kind of horse in your barn. I have had expensive horses and I have had cheap horses. I have also been dragged, been unconscious and had concussions. I have been hospitalized and sustained several broken bones. A cheap horse can be the most expensive horse you have ever owned. My wife and immediate gaited crew were at a TWH fl at shod sale
a few years ago in the South. A drop-dead gorgeous MFT stud horse was led into the arena. He was black and white with white lightning bolts across him. He was muscled and had the old-fashioned “cow horse” MFT look. I wanted the horse. As he was in a TWH venue, he was in the wrong place to bring what I thought his true value. Did you catch I said he was “led” and that he was a “stud”? In fact, two burly men with stud chains and welding gloves led him on their lead hands. No one wanted this horse. Well, no one but me. Trained and
under saddle, I knew this horse was worth over $ 5,000 and that was not even considering the value of the breeding I could use him for with our Fox Trot er mares. I started bidding. My friends tried tackling me and holding my arms down. T e bidding was low, really low. At $600, one of my training buddies said, “T is horse will cost you $30,000 in medical costs, have you noticed the twin stud chains and the welding gloves?” I blinked and quit bidding. T e horse sold for $650. My friends were right in stopping me. A top endurance competitor from the West Coast recently con-
tacted me. Keep in mind, gaited horses are a bit higher in the west and trained gaited horses that have been successfully competed in endurance with records are rarely off ered for sale. She told me she expected to have $10,000 in a successfully prepared gaited horse for endurance, whether she bought one ready to go or bought a “prospect” and spent years with trainers and preparing the horse. Neither option is foolproof, is it?
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