Conforming to the gaited crowd- for some reason it annoys me!

I have to agree 100% with this.

Control your horse's behavior so that others' behaviors cease to be an issue.

My horse balks at leaving a group or being left behind. Well, I want to be able to do both. So occasionally I set up a situation where she has to deal with it. When she starts to get upset she gets enough leg and enough whip to get over it and do what I want.

I hate to sit and wait also, I also don't like playing catchup. I learned something last year that made my riding so much more enjoyable, it's called. "Dont wait on me and don't expect me to wait on you I am just going to do my own thing, see you at lunch,."
I just don't worry about it. But yeh if you wanna trot and my horse goes nuts that's my problem not yours. Im going to do what I wanna do, just not going to wait on you though, please don't wait on me. And FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't ask me if I am ok every 2 minutes if I am not right with the group.

The only thing I hate is when people with horses like yours trot to the front, then stop or go really slow. See that often. Horses that have to be in the front. But when they get there they drop down to crawl speed.

Oh Darrin, you are like some of the gaited owners I know!

This is exactly what I was trying to say in a nutshell. My Mustang doesn't have an inbetween gait for the flat walk. If the gaited horses do an intermediate gait, fine, we trot. But we don't have a flat walk gear nor do I want to try to train for one. I love my guy just the way he is. He is very consistent in his gaits, he will walk politely or trot politely. But he doesn't have an inbetween speed.

I don't like to get blamed for someone else's horse being a ditz when mine is being well behaved.

Also, as an owner of each type of horse I don't mind the sit and wait. Even before I had a gaited horse I had an Arabian that could out-walk many horses so I guess I have been doing the sit-and-wait for years.

I don't ride to be in a race. It's not relaxing to be in a rush all the time. I ride for enjoyment, not to be stressed about if I am fast enough for the other rider all time. Why are they always in a rush? (Oh yeah, I get it, it's because they can't get their horse to slow down!)

I guess I just have a problem with the attitude some gaited horse riders have (um, sorry Darrin, this means you!) that my horse must conform to your horse. Maybe your horse should conform to mine once in a while.

Also, I agree that this is where riding alone comes in as a good thing once in a while. You can take your horse out and just have fun at their natural speeds while not having to worry or babysit other riders. It's kind of ironic that the same gaited horse folks that are speed demons at the walk are afraid to canter because their horses will freak out.

I like to canter once in a while when the footing is suitable and I can't do that riding with gaited horse folks- even if I am on a gaited horse! They never seem to willingly ride that gear. So that is one thing I find kind of interesting, my non-gaited friends are willing to canter with me while the gaited friends won't. (But to give them a bit of a break, one lady is in her 70's and the others are kind of newbie-ish.) So I canter with my non-gaited friends or alone.

I love, love, love my Fox Trotter! She is a blast and a half! I must admit she is more fun to ride than the Mustang. But the Mustang is Mr. Perfect and the best horse I have ever owned. So they each have their strong suits. If I had a chance at another affordable gaited horse I would jump on it. But that doesn't mean if I found a nice non-gaited horse I would not jump on it as well. I love pretty well all horse breeds. I just love horses in general.

I guess I just get the feeling the gaited horse owners think their horses are the "best" and everyone else is below them. And I hate that attitude. I know my friend with QH's thinks they are the best breed out there, but she doesn't make me feel like my horses are inferior, know what I mean? The gaited horse people seem to think a "regular" horse is below them and if it doesn't conform to their standards then it is not worth riding with.

Hey guys, I hope I haven't offended anyone. This is more of a vent than anything. These are thoughts I have on the matter and wanted to discuss them. But I am not taking it super seriously. We will either ride together or we won't, no biggie.

This is good advice! We don't practice it often because when we ride together we are usually wanting to ride/talk together but if there is a bigger group of us, the gaited usually pair up and the non-gaited pair up. So everyone is kind of doing their own ride with similar horses.

The only thing I hate is when people with horses like yours trot to the front, then stop or go really slow. See that often. Horses that have to be in the front. But when they get there they drop down to crawl speed.

Those horses are herd bound and the rider isn't really calling the shots. They trot up because their horse doesn't want to be left behind. Then when the horse gets in front they are afraid to leave the herd so they crawl. So I would say that is the sign of an insecure horse and the rider is just trying to appease them and not really calling the shots.

It's the attitude that I'm not impressed with too, THR! Wow. "If you can't keep a steady pace on your horse, don't ride with me." Apparently it hasn't occurred to some people that perhaps THEY should keep pace with the horse that doesn't have in-between gaits. Either a little faster, or a little slower, so that the horse that doesn't have in-between gaits can keep pace with them.

I lean towards the side that says get your gaited horse under control if you have non-gaited horses trotting/cantering around you. This shouldn't even be a gaited/non-gaited debate. If you can't control your horse from spazzing out around other horses when they do NORMAL things-like trotting- then that's your own fault for not training the horse to listen.
I ride a 15.1 MFT gelding and a non-gaited 14.2 Morgan mare with my friend who rides a 15.3 Morgan gelding. When I'm on the MFT and gaiting, my friend usually is trotting or sometimes she'll go into a canter which I usually follow suit. If I don't want to canter then I simply pull the MFT back and keep him gaiting while she canters ahead. I know eventually she'll slow down and we'll catch back up again.
When I ride the 14.3 Morgan mare with her 15.3 Morgan Gelding however, I usually slow canter while she trots because their strides are so different. This mare is quite buddy sour and so usually our trails consist of working that out of her so I will purposefully let my friend run ahead and work the mare and make her walk back. Most of the time I just call to my friend that I'll be a while so she doesn't turn a bend and think I've fallen off onto a tree or something :P
Really, you should take care of and control your own horse no matter what anyone else is doing and just enjoy the trail at your own pace. The only reason you should be sweating staying at the same speed is if you want to have a conversation with someone while riding and by the sound of how you gaited and non-gaited people think of each other, I don't think that'll be a problem anyway ;P
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I have a twh and what I find is that it is not necessarily the speed but the attitude of other gaited horse riders. By that I mean "I ride a gaited horse so deal with it". If you all want to ride together then pick a speed all can live with and stick with it. That being said I don't enjoy riding with alot of people because I enjoy dogs and horses alot more than dealing with a bunch of whinning people.

Guess I should elaborate a bit. I'm not blaming you or your horse if your non-gaited horse and my gaited horse can't find a gait we both can maintain and be comfortable with. What I am saying is I just wont ride with you.

I do blame the rider and not the horse if a constant speed is not maintained. If your horse has to switch between two gaits to keep up with me, see above. Believe me I know a lot of gaited horse riders that can't maintain a constant speed, I don't like riding with them either.

You see I ride for my entertainment and pleasure, not yours. I do give people several chances before they are not asked to go along again. Of course there are exceptions for new people, green riders, green horses, etc.

One more thing, this isn't a gaited rider attitude of mine either it's just my attitude. If I rode appy's I wouldn't be trying to ride with TWH riders and asking them to wait up for me.

I ride gaited horses exclusively, trot up beside me, walk along side walk behind, ride with me, or not doesnt matter, I'll talk to you or meet you at lunch. I'm going to putz along, Im going to do some cantering, might even do a wide open gallop. But if your horse can't keep up, or goes nuts cause I am passing sorry that aint my problem. Any more than it is your problem if my horse freeks out at something normal you are doing. LIke I said above, I'll ride with anyone anyhow. But I am pretty much going to ride the pace I want. Im not waiting and please don't wait on me, not being rude or anything. Just want to enjoy my day just like everyone else.
I have gone on a few club rides with nervous nelly riders. That constantly want to tell everyone else around them what to do or not do on their horses. Yeh um I don't think so. Get your horse under control.

Now don't get me wrong I have gone out with nervous riders/green horses specifically to help train and get said horse under control. Those days I am all about helping that person/horse team calm down and get used to riding. A good experienced trail horse can be great to lead a green one along.

Why don't more people just walk instead of gaiting all the time...? I guess I don't get it If I'm riding with someone, its because I want to enjoy their company, so of course I'm not going to allow my mare to just rack the whole way down the trail, I'll collect her into a nice walk right along the QH's and enjoy talking to the other riders.

If ya wanna go racking/or whatever you and your horse does xD, then go alone or with other gaited horses.... sounded simple to me personally.