He's a Kentucky Mountain horse, which means he is big, hardy, has tough feet, and has five gaits rather than the typical four. I'm still figuring out how that fifth gait works, how to access it, and how to ride it.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Pretty Pony
Well, after over a year of having a horse, I finally gave him a bath and took some pictures. In all his 16-hand glory, here he is, our very own Mr. Cruise!
We've been doing a lot of Parelli work, which has improved his already fantastic ground manners. See the soft look in his eye? It makes me happy.
Technically, he's considered a Blue Roan, but in all honesty he has a different color for every season of the year. Sometimes he's grey, other times he's reddish, and occasionally he looks almost white or black. Regardless, he's a pretty good-lookin' horse, I think.
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3 comments:
5 gaits? Is that kind of like overdrive on a car?
I'm happy for you that you are able to have a horse.
WV: chiafte--a fancy non-alcoholic wine that you drink when you are celebrating horsemanship.
He is a beauty!
I'm not sure what overdrive is on a car...my ignorance rears its ugly head!
A gait is a footfall pattern. Often it's thought of as a speed, but horses can go the same speed at different gaits. Each gait, though, moves the horse in a different way, which means that it requires different ways to ride each one.
Here's the really trippy thing, though... there are several breeds that are "gaited," but not all gaited horses have the same 5th gait. Cruise does a lateral trot, basically, but some horses do a walk with one set of legs and a trot with the other set of legs. There are even some horses that do what looks like a spider-walk. Craziness.
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