Dixie's gait pattern from Funder on Vimeo.
Yes, there's a 1/4" thick layer of cement-mud caked on her hooves. I tried to clean it off and bent my hoofpick on it. I guess when it warms up I'll soak her feet?
Yes, my horse still has issues with moving in a straight line. She's getting better though.
Yes, she trots sometimes and paces sometimes. IDFK how she decides what her legs are going to do. :rolleyes:
She's a good horse, wobbly pacey muddy mess that she is. Let me know what you see in the video!
Well, you're right....I don't see ANY straight lines! ;-D Had y'all bit hitting a bit of the medicinal supply of brandy?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the pace. I've almost no experience with gaited horses--Rode a part-TWH at camp one year, that would sometimes slide into a running walk (at least that's what I think it was). There are a couple of Pasos in our trail riding group that look really spiffy, but they're not exactly mellow horses.... I'm deep into cowboy country, so it's sort of a special niche around here.
Wish I could figure out how to upload my videos...
Heeeey, that is remarkably straight for her! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe pace is the "bad" gait - it's as bouncy as the trot, but it's side-to-side bouncing instead of up-and-down. Sometimes she paces under saddle, I think, but I post it like it's a trot. She "changes gears" a lot.
Pasos look like tiny crazy things to me!
Vimeo is free, and it's pretty easy. If you can download the videos off of your camera onto the computer, you can probably upload the file straight to Vimeo. I didn't want to upload three choppy videos, so I had to figure out how to splice them together. But it's much easier to just video, download the video to the computer, then upload the video file to Vimeo.
Cool video! Don't worry about doing the trot-out in a straight line yet. Just practice getting a brisk departure and staying in gait (uh, whichever gait you choose).
ReplyDeleteIt helps sometimes to have a traffic cone or even a rock to trot towards..."we will go to the landmark and then change gears".
She does seem pacey. I know that's supposed to be a bad thing for a gaited horse, but I ride a standardbred who was bred for a fast pace, so I'm here to tell ya it t'ain't necessarily so. Is your mare's pace FAST? 'cuz it can be hella fun to ride if it is!
Coming from the "well of no knowledge" as gaited horses go...but wouldn't the pace kind of just rock you side to side? Or is it hard on your hips? If ever I get horse #2 I was thinking of a pacing mare off the track, so interested in hearing about the pace.
ReplyDeleteLove the video, hope to get a good camera someday. It really helped me with my riding to see what I was doing. ~E.G.
AareneX - I've heard a fast pace is easy to ride, but she only slow paces. Maybe 5-7 mph is pace or trot, then 9-11 mph she switches to a rack or a canter, and faster than that is all canter. If a fast pace is as fun as a fast rack, sign me up!
ReplyDeleteEG - a slow pace is bouncy, which is why it sucks. I think the faster they pace, the less you get flung side to side, so it's easier to sit. You can post it, kind of, and that saves your butt.
I am also leaning toward a STB, one day many years from now, for my next horse. My pacey old mare looked and acted like a STB - no tattoo, so probably just grade gaited.
Funder, I thought of you while reading Kate's post today about animal/human relationships.
ReplyDeleteCheck it out, if you haven't, that last quote from the book she posted--had you read that book?
The way you treat your mare when she sees something scary stood out to me - you become very calm and let her stand and soak it in. It seems to work for her, and I believe she will be one brave horse soon.
http://ayearwithhorses.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-animals-make-us-human-by-temple.html
~lytha
p.s. I do not agree with the phrase, "animals are terrified by forced novelty" because so many horses are curious and also trusting. But the first part of that quote made me go "Funder!"
Lytha, I love Temple Grandin! I read that book shortly before I got into horses, or maybe right after I bought Champ - it was pretty early on.
ReplyDeleteI think what she means by "forced novelty" is sacking out. Horses do not like to be "attacked" by plastic bags on sticks, but if you tie a plastic bag to a fence they'll often go up and investigate it on their own. They put up with sacking out, and there's uses for it, but it's not something that they enjoy.