The Dream

     Regardless of discipline, the skill and control displayed by that horse and rider should be the goal of all horsemen. Notice how quickly the horse responds to the commands with a strong "Yes sir!". The rider even instructs the horse with one hand, a particularly western-like way of doing. It barely looks like the rider does anything, but the horse responds quickly and obviously under the guidance of the rider. Just the fact that the horse did all of those transitions at a canter is impressive enough! You can tell that not only is that horse extremely well trained, but he is very trusting of his rider. This is what every human and horse pair should look like.

The Scoop on Gaited Horses

     If you're like most of the horse world, or the non-horse world for that matter, you have no clue what a gaited horse is. You may have seen the word  on an advertisement or in a magazine, but you didn't really know what it meant. Since only a very few breeds are capable of doing it, it' only natural that so many people don't know what it is. So what is a gaited horse? Technically, a gait is anyway that a horse moves it's feet, but when people use the term "gaited" horse refers to any 4 beat gait that the horse does. This means that each foot touches the ground at a different time. Since there is no moment where a foot isn't on the ground this movement tends to be much smoother than 2 beat gaits such as the trot (what most people are used to) and the pace (a gait where both legs on one side are hitting the ground at the same time). 

     Now, while any pattern of the feet hitting the ground in a 4 beat motion is considered a gait, the smoothest of all gaits is called the amble. The amble -and of course the gait the Rocky Mountain Horses are known for- is where each foot hits the ground in a perfectly even count. To the untrained eye, this gait simply looks like the horse is walking super fast, but it is actually a movement of it's own. The video below is a wonderful example of what a gait on a Rocky should look like. This is a slow gait, but they can go much faster. Notice how the rider's head does not move up or down at all as she is riding. The foot fall is (and should be) back left, front left, back right, front right. My trick to tell if a horse is gaiting is to stare at the back left leg, and from there you should notice that the left front hits next, and the right side follows suit. 

     There are several breeds of gaited horses, and all have different gaits. The most common in Kentucky are Tennessee Walkers, Kentucky Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Spotted Mountains, and Saddlebreds. Although Standardbreds do pace, I don't consider them a true gaited horse because many cannot be trained to do a 4 beat gait. In my opinion, Rockies are the smoothest horses out there. However, I've ridden several very smooth Tennessee Walking Horses, Pasos, and a variety of grade horses and ponies, so breed isn't everything. Hope I've opened your eyes to the wonderful world of gaited horses! I normally say "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is" but not in the gaited world!

Keep Your Horses Warm

With the weather here in the negatives, luckily a very rare occurrence in the great state of Kentucky, we're scrambling to keep the horses here warm without freezing our fingers off in the process. Here are some articles that I've found the most helpful. 

These focus mainly on keeping horses in good health warm. 

Keeping Horses Warm -The Horse

Keeping Horses Warm -Hobby Farms

This one is specifically for helping older horses stay warm.

Your Aging Horse: Winter Horse Care- Equisearch

Things that I have done are give plenty of free choice hay, keep the younger, thinner, and any horse that would not be allowed to stand under shelter in the barn, and check water frequently, breaking ice as necessary. The free choice hay is especially important because the horses need all of the forage to regulate their internal temperature. Super high quality hay isn't necessarily as important as a large amount. They need the calories, but they need it spread out during the day, and horses tend to eat higher quality hays such as alfalfa too quickly. As long as the horses have a good, thick winter coat, plenty of hay, and access to shelter, they should be fine. Good luck, and I hope all your horses and your fingers stay warm during this crazy cold spell!

Here are a few pictures of my baby this morning in the disappointing amount of snow we got last night.

Hay is important! Drover has no issues with having access to more hay!

Just look at that fluffy winter coat