Endurance riders are really interesting to talk to on the subject of gaits. One told me that the 'gaited' gaits are easier on the rider but require more energy from the horse. Anther gal told me that 'gaited' gaits are less suitable to rough terrain, where the trot is king.
We had a pony at the barn where I took lessons as a youngster - 'Pancho', a gorgeous little Palomino who 'tattled' on any rider who didn't keep his hands steady, by breaking from a trot to pace. It didn't take long for some of the kids to start to WANT him to pace, LOL. To get him to trot, we put our hands lower and very steady, leaned forward a little bit, and rode in a circle. To pace/gait, sit further back, sit up very straight, and lift the hands.
I only got to ride a 5 gaited horse sometimes - the trainers teach Icelandics to pick up the gaits differently than other trainers - a steady pull on the left rein shifts the horse into the flying pace (skede, fast gait). I love riding the tolte (slow gait), it is so much fun, I just steady them a little and they go into it easily enough, but the quality of the tolte is really gotten by doing basically what people do in dressage, getting the horse very straight and balanced, that's quite an art and schooling Icelandics is really fascinating.
I love riding 5 gaited saddlebreds too. The way I was taught to ask the horse to gait, was to very quickly tug very lightly on first one rein and then the other so the bit 'shuttles' back and forth in their mouth, sit back and raise the hands slightly. Then the horses are either kept slow or urged into the faster version of the gait. What a rush! The scenery rather flies by. The fast gait definitely was not invented to encourage sightseeing!
I've seen people ride gaited horses almost any way you could imagine - western, english, in almost any bit.
We had a pony at the barn where I took lessons as a youngster - 'Pancho', a gorgeous little Palomino who 'tattled' on any rider who didn't keep his hands steady, by breaking from a trot to pace. It didn't take long for some of the kids to start to WANT him to pace, LOL. To get him to trot, we put our hands lower and very steady, leaned forward a little bit, and rode in a circle. To pace/gait, sit further back, sit up very straight, and lift the hands.
I only got to ride a 5 gaited horse sometimes - the trainers teach Icelandics to pick up the gaits differently than other trainers - a steady pull on the left rein shifts the horse into the flying pace (skede, fast gait). I love riding the tolte (slow gait), it is so much fun, I just steady them a little and they go into it easily enough, but the quality of the tolte is really gotten by doing basically what people do in dressage, getting the horse very straight and balanced, that's quite an art and schooling Icelandics is really fascinating.
I love riding 5 gaited saddlebreds too. The way I was taught to ask the horse to gait, was to very quickly tug very lightly on first one rein and then the other so the bit 'shuttles' back and forth in their mouth, sit back and raise the hands slightly. Then the horses are either kept slow or urged into the faster version of the gait. What a rush! The scenery rather flies by. The fast gait definitely was not invented to encourage sightseeing!
I've seen people ride gaited horses almost any way you could imagine - western, english, in almost any bit.
