My very own Eagle Eyes Miss Dixie was at the GCHS last year. (Halfway down the page, class 272 SSH Open Shod.) That's kind of trippy.
Of course, 4th out of 4 isn't really a testament to her stunning natural gait or anything.
I dug her pedigree out of my files. On her dam's side, she doesn't go back to any "famous" gaited horse names (a 5th generation Black Sun daughter, woo!) but on her sire's side she's a granddaughter of The Pusher, a great-granddaughter of Delight of Pride, and a great-great of Mack K's Handshaker. I looked up her famous ancestors on Walker's West, but it depresses me to see all those padded, probably sored baby horses being ridden too hard. And wtf is with the gaited show horse seat? Why are all those guys ... craning their necks forward? Here, look at the '86 or the '87 WGC. Gaited show horse riders all - down to my crappy little local level - tend to ride hunched over with their heads craned forward. I'm not sure what the point is, or why they all seem to stare at their hands. My hands generally do what my brain tells them to do, regardless of whether or not I'm watching them. But that's just me, and I'm obviously not a show rider. :rolleyes:
When I signed up with the TWHB&A in order to look up Peanut's dam's pedigree, I also got a year's subscription to their magazine. It seemed like all of the men rode hunched over, and the women rode more erect. I showed some of the pictures to Leeandra and asked what she would do if I started riding like that during a lesson. The verdict was something like she would tell me to get off of the horse immediately because I was an absolute moron who had no business in the saddle.
ReplyDeleteBut, man, that magazine made me mad.
Peanut's pedigree, from his dam, anyway, has Midnight Sun in it about 30 times - no exaggeration. At one point a half brother was bred to a half sister, both by him. I've been thinking of throwing Peanut's pedigree into a geneology tree to see how related he is to himself, but I'm mighty lazy.
-Sara