Can someone point me in the direction of some research please?
We just found out that our Camelot horse may be a gaited horse which has been ridden as non gaited (aka, allowed to trot etc). My husband, who has taken a special shine to Witch, and thinks gaiting is not all that cool, has brought up the question of whether or not the gait, or encouraging it is detrimental to the horse?
It seems as if the horse is smoothing out the ride for the rider, but at what cost? Does it cause greater impact on the horse's musculoskeletal system?
He also wonders if forcing a mare who may be 20ish to gait when she has not been previously trained to do so is possible or even feasible at this point?
Again, if anyone could give me their opinions, anecdotes or direct me to some research, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks guys! =)
We just found out that our Camelot horse may be a gaited horse which has been ridden as non gaited (aka, allowed to trot etc). My husband, who has taken a special shine to Witch, and thinks gaiting is not all that cool, has brought up the question of whether or not the gait, or encouraging it is detrimental to the horse?
It seems as if the horse is smoothing out the ride for the rider, but at what cost? Does it cause greater impact on the horse's musculoskeletal system?
He also wonders if forcing a mare who may be 20ish to gait when she has not been previously trained to do so is possible or even feasible at this point?
Again, if anyone could give me their opinions, anecdotes or direct me to some research, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks guys! =)