Love ya George LOL, & Yes I ride with a horn LOL , I just happen to have a foxtrotter LOL. & I can't help it I was born & raised in WV. LOL Take care Kim

kadrn2 I read with a combination of intrigue and dismay your comments on gaits. Some how I don't think you grew up on a west texas type ranch chasing longhorn dogie calves. What you describe must have something to do with riding horses under saddles without horns. I think it is wonderful that some people pay that much attention to those things but to us if the horse is in the correct lead he likely won't go down on you in a hard turn or roll back. I was good on quadratic equations but get a little lost on that many hoof beats. As far as little Waylon’s gait goes, I think it changed when my 6’2” frame with 260 lbs got on his back. I think he changed due to the necessity of getting enough hooves on the ground simultaneously to handle the load. The good news is, I am losing a lot of that 260 and maybe he will go back to something you would be proud of. Did what I wrote here make any sense to you or anyone else? I am taking some good stuff called hydroco in liquid form and if I just take a swig rather than measure it in that little plastic thing, I get to thinking I can sing and dance. I’m about to break out in MY Way any minute now.

George, If he is doing some form of a gait, look at it this way , if he is doing a lateral type of gait , which I would imagine a mustang would be, unlike a foxtrotter , that travels in a diagnonal gait, which you would see in a pace= rt hind, rt front hit at the same time , moment of suspension, then lt hind lt front it is a lateral even two-beat timed gait 1-2 Gait. amble, = rt hind, rt front , lt hind, lt front as in an uneven lateral pick up & set down 12--34 , lateral hooves will be paired fino, corto or largo,= Rt hind, rt front, Lt hind, Lt front Lateral pick up is even setdown 1-2-3-4 or a true rack which = Rt hind, rt front Lt hind Lt front , lateral pickup even set down 1-2-3-4. George if you are really confused now LOL, Look up some of Lee Zieglers articles on Easy-Gaited Horses .

Hello, I just joined ES and stumbled onto this older discussion. I am so into Gaited Horses since many years and might be able to shed a bit of light on this. I am not affiliated with one breed and have ridden and studied a good many gaited breeds out there. First off - ALL Gaited Horses can also trot (most people do not realize that), and canter, even if their Breed Organisation says otherwise.The only breed I know of where it is required by breed Standard to show Walk, Trot, Canter, Soft Gait AND a Racing Pace under Saddle is the Icelandic Horse. Most Breeds have one or two signature Gaits that they should show exclusively, that doesn't mean they don't have any other Gaitvariations or -talent in the Breed, but they just don't always WANT them to do anything but their specific signature gaits. The difference between gaited and non-gaited horses is that the non-gaited horses cannot do anything but a truly 100% diagonal gait (Trot)inbetween Dog Walk and Canter. A gaited horse can do all kinds of variations between the dogwalk and canter, depending on their conformation and internal 'wiring', and of course training, rider skill and equipment. What gaits a gaited horse does at liberty is different from what they do under saddle - they are very sensitive to shifts in balance, bodytension, weight on their feet or backs, saddlefit, terrain, and so it goes on. That's why it is a bit more complicated to really understand and ride gaited horses well, not to mention train them. Oh, and there are many 'gaited experts' out there that often cannot even agree on the same things for the same horse LOL. Some horses can only do one type of gait in one speed under saddle, others are more talented and can do several versions or have a great speed range. If you wonder what to do with your mustang - first I would check for saddle fit (a) he is bucking and that might be an indication there is a saddle problem and b) if he gaits and has this extreme shoulder movement you need to make sure his shoulders are free, but also that the saddle doesn't sit on his loins, now that you freed the shoulders). Most times you simply want to find his most natural gait at his favourite speed and work from there in establishing rhythm and expanding the speedrange. Or, if one is happy with the comfortable gait that 'sure feels great but what in the world is it', just go ahead and let the horse do what it needs to do. BUT, what the horse does might change after a while as his balance changes or as the terrain changes, or as you put shoes on or take shoes off, or as you put a saddle on that restricts the shoulder movement (gaited horses usually have large shoulder rotation and need absolute freedom in that area). Even a slight shifting of your pelvis or a change in your own body tension can change the gait of the horse slightly to dramatically. Another word of caution - it is very hard for horses to bend while they do any non-diagonal intermediate gait, so please do not ask your horse to bend his whole body into a turn when he gaits. For any of the diagonal gaits (Trot, Foxtrot, Trocha, Marcha Batida etc) that is not a problem. I guess before I write a book here I'll end this post and hope I could be of a little help. Your little Mustang sounds like a real character. I have heard of many Mustangs being gaited, and with their spanish heritage that is no wonder. Cheers, Ellen

wondering if this horse might go back to Spanish horses, lot of Andalusion blood there and that breed has a trot much as Rancher describes. copy and pasting a link to a search result which has many links. I looked for a film but dial up is frustrating me and need to get back to repairing the bucket on the loader. Good luck with the competition. http://www.bing.com/search?q=andalusion+horses&FORM=MSNH56&mkt=en-ca&setLang=en-CA

Pokey you just gave me a good idea. I bet all those other cowboys and cowgirls at EMM will be loping. I will go out in a canter and blow them away.

Well actually what the little guy's breeding is is a nice curiosity but the bottom line is when it comes to a horse,papers,colors or breeding don't mean spit. Treat him well, train him well and he'll be the best little man he can be. A single foot gait is comfortable to sit and it covers ground well. After that a canter or a lope whatever you prefer to call it is common and familiar.

I can see it now...Big Ol Rancher in a suit with one of those silly looking durby hats on...LOL I sure am glad that won't be happening... I know when Rancher has trained Waylon as much as he has time for, He will be the best little Trail Horse for someone to love and enjoy. I really think movin down a trail is what that little guy will do best.

He came from Nevada and I don't have his paper work close by but I can find out which range he came off. Most of the horse work is at a lope so his gait will not come to play unless I use it in the freestyle and I already have a plan for that. I have seen other trainers on gaited horses and they simply pushed the horse past it and showed in the way we know will be more pleasing to the judges. In looking back at finalest of the past several maker overs and especially Fort Worth, cow horses dominate. There has been an occasional gaited type horse up there but too few to mention. Interesting though, Evelyn's Willie came from the same place and he could pull a 12' tandum disk. I'm sure I'm not telling you guys anything you don't already know but folks have been turning horses out in the American open range since those Spanish guys with funny hats came and left. When tractors came along the farmers turned out plow horses rather than feed them and likely about every breed around the country has influenced the Mustang herds. I think that may be what makes them so interesting. At least interesting to me. I also know there are ranchers in the West that wish someone would come take all of them to some where else. Kinda like coyotes and fire ants around here. If you are truly a horseman and never worked with a wild mustang, you should give it a try because they will teach you things you don't know. One of the few things I have heard Clinton 'OK' Anderson say that I agree with is, "if you can break and train a wild mustang, you can handle about any domestic horse." Maybe true maybe not but I still don't know what gait or breed this little guy is but don't suppose it makes any difference. We may try to get a video of him on one of those internet things, and let you guys tell me what I got.

If he has some gate in him maybe he's part beaver? :P On a more serious note, the "Sheldon" herd of mustangs have a lot of standardbred blood so I'm sure some of them have a natural pace. http://www.strawberrymountainmustangs.com/mustangs They are not however, BLM mustangs (Fish and Game managed instead).....but the link tells the interesting story of the breeds that became this unique herd. I'm sure similiar things happened as other herds developed too. Do you know what range Waylon (very cool name by the way) came off of George?