GAITED HORSES??? answers please...

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pinkcob

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Feb 16, 2007
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Does anyone own a gaited horse? I still breed, break - 'well on ground, long rein etc..' and show in hand many horses but after a 'few' accidents in about 10 mins in saddle i'm as stiff as a board and can't straighten up for half an hour there are 'things' wrong with my back - warranted .. that's why i went to cobs but have even retired her to stud now as my back just won't take it..
Have ridden gaited horses in the States about 15 years ago... how has anyone got on with them? They are sooo limiting in some ways.. no dressage, showing zero, etc... etc... but as a hack horse.... ab fab! No rising to trot! No jolting and Jarring! Does anyone out there have any real postive experiences??? Apparantly they are very good endurance horses... would be interested to know what else anyone has done with a gaited horse??
 
There are loads of shows and events in the UK for Icelanidcs, but they are not for the total novice.

They can be very, VERY responsive and forward going, but, as you say no trot to worry about. But you must work to keep the gaits pure and smooth.

You can enter Icelandics into any ordinary show, or LDR or CTR event, the same as any horse. You can also enter dressage and SJ envents.

What gaited breeds do you work with?

As far as I am concerned there are no limits with Icelandics, no issues on the ground, or in the saddle, The Icelanders ate all the nasty ones with issues! They are by far the most intelligent of the breeds, never panic, think thngs out and are bred not to drop you.

I was in a wheelchair 15 years ago with a bad back, that's why I have Icelanidcs,
 
Think I should of eaten mine for Sunday dinner.:rolleyes:

I was riding Icelandic's because of my back. If you are dinged badly already...a nice...older that 15 year old..level headed, steady going Icelandic would suit you.
That's what I should of done....but nooooooo could not even follow my own adivse...and look where is has gotten me. Sigh ~ ~ :eek:

Had a grand giggle at that Wally.... you must have some really nice ones there...because I have only met one in 16 years being around Icelandic's like that.
Most all the ones..here...that should of been sunday dinner but wasn't & has been bred to boot to keep passing the temperament issues on....there are a large amount of over sensitive...over reactive Icelandic's over here.
Know quite a few of them that the owners have just given up and and they are pasture pets..not to be ridden. And these folks are good horse women.

So..if shopping use care...make sure the person you are buying the Icelandic from is honest.
 
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A lot of folk in the UK over horsed themselves to start with, they bought the flashy ones and found they were far, FAR more sensetive then ever they had anticipated!

We have what most Icelanders would discard as kids ponies! failures in their eyes as adult's riding horses. You need to be careful buying Icelandics from Iceland, what they consider fun and forward going, general horses riders would poo their pants on!

I love them, but you have to think differently around them, they are like border collie sheep dogs, they can verge on madness, can be obsessive and just a bit potty, handling can make or break them. They are not for everyone.
 
Gaited Horses - Rockies - RMH

The only experience I've had with gaited horses was riding a Rocky- (RMH) in the States gosh years ago.... and that was trial riding...

The Icelandic does sound a precious soul...I think I saw them once at NEC Birmingham at a horse show... showing off their trot... has a special name but can't remember what it is.. Sounds like a breed you have to be very dedicated to!

My back doesn't sound as bad as your was Wally but I do miss hacking out with kids... get left at home now!

Paso Finos?? they are gaited... but someone told me very hot... sharp..
Are there any other gaited breeds in UK?

Wally - your in UK, do you show them in UK??
 
Wally said:
I love them, but you have to think differently around them, they are like border collie sheep dogs, they can verge on madness, can be obsessive and just a bit potty, handling can make or break them. They are not for everyone.
Click to expand...

you talking about my collie there? :D

I've ridden two Icelandics and they have all been very sensitive to ride but highly enjoyable.... once you get into their way of going!
 
Pasos can be a bit sharp and fast too. There was a problem of folk buying things they couldn't handle a while back in the Paso world too.

There are two kinds of specialist Icelandic show, ridden and breeding. The horses are judged individually and awarded a score, so there is no 1st, 2nd and third the animals are judged to a standard at a breeding show.

In a ridden show they are judged purely on their way of going. and you can come 1st, second or 3rd. There are group classes where 4 of you enter the oval track together and individual classes. Some judge all 5 gaits, some just 4 and some judge just one gait, tölt or pace.

There are pace races and timed trials between flags, but you MUST be back in tölt or walk before the last flag or you are deemed to be out of control.

Most folk in the UK think they have hurt themselves as they are not used to seeing gaited horses.
 
Icelandic's are a little different than many other breeds of horse.
Took just shy of 4 years to get my grey squirrel to this point. Had to go very slow with her, slower than most Icelandic's. And she trusts me now. There have been times she wanted to loose her marbles...and she tried very hard to not do it.
She does not trust other people.
Just before I got hurt...we saw one of the Does and fawns that stay around her...same thing she would wind herself up for three or more hours. Getting more and more upset.
But this time she touched her nose to my toe and asked if she could eat grass 30' from them.That was a miracle in itself.
Even if I never ride again..she will stay with me.
Her type...taking with the Icelanders I have....she is the type even the Icelanders would not bother to ride. Most of her line would of been Dinner.

My other mare is the type they would keep.

Mic had/has for sale a Blue dun?,,, that sound like is a nice horse.

If anyone that is looking for an Icelandic...and wants something with a medium to slow amount of go..willing to stop and turn..an Icelandic bought and started in the UK I think would be best. If you want to just relax... look for those gems...called "Grandma" horses.

For other gaited breeds in the UK...but it has been awhile..knew of two Tennessee walkers that were imported there.
 
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There is the Peruvian.. they have a fast "gait" you can really motor on them They can be hot tho although I have met many lovely sane ones.

Some Morgans are 5 gaited,

although.. if you can find a good Quarter horse - They may just suprise you. One of mine has idealistic gaits - she isn't gaited per say but her jog is so smooth I could carry a glass of water and not spill it while she motored along and her lope is like a rocking horse.

North american's just seem to have a thing for "gaits" most breeds who are naturally gaited seem to come from here.
 
paso finos combined with an icelanidc = very elegant gaited horse with high movement, very fiery though and not for the light hearted!

as for dressage, you can can still do dressage with a gaited horse..they are not that much different.

Here in Germany we have dressage classes as part of gaited shows. Up to ''high'' levels too with all the piaffe , travers etc and music!

the best thing is though, youc an choose whether you want to ride your dressage test in tolt or in trot!!:)

as for bad back, my back is slowly getting worse and now its even worser since i have stopped riding due to foal break. But i have now got a young little mare to train with a super soft tolt and back bain is reducing because the most important thing by back problems is to build up your stomach muscles so that the back isnt under so much strain...but having problmes makes the stomach training harder which is why riding is good because you tense your stomach muscles whilst riding and they get stronger!
 
I've never ridden a Paso, but I have also heard that they are a bit hot. I have actually read that they are not a very people oriented breed, somewhat independant. I also have a bad back, and it makes a HUGE difference to ride gaited horses. I'm still stiff after hours in the saddle, but w/a trotter I was sore in 20 min!
 
Wow, the Icelandics sound well scary !!! I must not believe everything I read then, as in most "horse / pony" books - they are described as safe, fun, even tempered and capable of carrying adults as well as children. Humph, good job I didn't buy one - me thinks I'd have made a mistake........(I am very much a novice). I know they can be quite fast, but I didn't realise as Wally points out that they needed special handling and that they weren't for everybody (those darned horse magazines make them sound like donkeys!!!)
 
Don't get me wrong, there are really good family horses out there, it's just the ones with competition heads can be really complicated.

I must say that the Icelandic has the widest spectrum of any breed I have ever encountered. Fjords tend to have a spectrum with start off with brainless plods one end to cheeky forward going the other end of the scale.

Shetlands have brainless plod one end to bad tempered rat bag at the other.

Icelandics have "safe plod", but thinking about why he's plodding (never met a thick one, thoughtful yes, thick no.....Flippi was a bit slow to catch on......) one end of the scale and at the other end is something that even the most accomplished German dressage riders cannot ride.

You have to be more careful buying an Icelandic as they all do switched off plod on the ground. They don't waste energy......then you get on and they can be very fast indeed.
 
Trewsers, What you need to look for in an Icelandic is what they call a "Grandma" horse. This is what most people are looking for and not for sale often.
But if you are willing to wait for that Grandma horse,,, you can end up with what is written on the Net. The nice mellow easy going Icelandic.
Lukka is pretty good at finding Icelandic's people need.
http://www.icelandichorse.is/

I do know for a fact that when I can afford to.. only way I can find what I am looking for would be in Iceland. Just will go through someone like Lukka.
 
Go to youtube and type in tölt or tolt or Icelandic horse or Landsmott. Any of those will get you any amount of clips.
 
http://www.hestakaup.com/content/view/65/125/

This place has a lot of video of Icelandic's. Some show Icelandic's, which is not what you want. To the Average Icelandic like mine.

You can see two different types of Icelandic horses with these two videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2YsF17pH8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rWeWymJDw&feature=related

For this web site..just scroll down to the bottom and click the link there.
http://www.sandmeadow.com/kalman.htm

I have a video of Dyfra and I tolting a couple of years ago... but you are more likely to get seasick because DS did not keep the camera bouncing about.
 
A friend of mine who has MS owns a Paso Fino, it is one of the less highly strung ones and is brilliant. :)

They are not all like that so you would have to choose carefully! :eek:
 
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