Horse gait question (Pictures added)

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thanks everyone! I'm really looking forward to getting done with this semester and going home so I can ride/train again.

Equest,

I don't really think he looks very QH-ish either. Honestly i think he is just such a mutt that determining his breeds would be nearly impossible! LOL I wish I knew more about his background, but other than his brand, we don't have too much to go on.

As far as age, we aren't quite sure about that either, but between our dentist and ourselves, we've pretty much decided that he is between 6 and 7. The people we bought him from said he was eight, so it was nice to find out he was a little younger. We've had him now for about two years, maybe a little longer. I think it will be three years this summer. This past year my dad has been working him more than ever and he tries to ride him about once a day. Other than that, we do occasional trail rides with him. I do know that he is not in as good a shape as he could be. Honestly, we have to start doing more of a workout with him along with the regular training. He does need to build muscle tone. His past work was basically ranch work, which means he was probably left saddled for 12 + hours a day and may or may not have been used during those hours. He probably did some cow work and typical ranch work.

He doesn't show any lameness or stiffness. He is a little cinchy, but we've never had a problem with his feet. A chiropractor probably wouldn't be a bad idea for any of our horses (They could always do with a tune up!) but my dad just flat out doesn't believe in chiropractors for horses. I've been working on him, but unfortunately he still pays the bills for the horses so the ultimate decision is up to him. Stetson doesn't have any immediate need for a chiropractor though....if we were to have one it would be more for a tune up so to speak. He's a pretty healthy guy, he just has an attitude problem sometimes. We were having saddle issues for awhile, but FINALLY found one that fits him very nicely. He has very high withers and a thinner back (Like I said, his muscling needs to be built up!) so saddles were often too wide or not tall enough in the tree.

I wish I knew more about this horse's background. I know most of his issues stem from poor handling and abuse. I also think he was neglected (not in the sense of care, but in the sense of human interaction). He just doesn't know how to properly interact with humans, so we've found ourselves learning very quickly how to think like a horse! We still have some trust issues with him, but he is getting better.

I can't wait to get more pictures! I'm going home on Tuesday!

 

[CountryMom]

Equest you are right in that US Ranchers never would see a need to teach such a gait to their working horses. I just want to clarify that it is what I have seen and heard that the Mexican men like to do to their horses. At least from the ones that I have known and been told about that have come from south of our borders. Both of the horses I have personally seen that gait were registered QH and a registered Paint. I have a Peruvian in training at the moment and she has a completely different build about her. Nothing similar to a QH or this gelding in question.

LOL A good older friend of ours once said he went to visit some guy who wanted help rounding up his cattle. He gave him a horse to use and it turned out to be a Walker. The first pasture they finally brought in that herd and he got off his horse and tied it. He then said he could do a better job if he had a real working ranch horse. Most Texas Ranchers down here wouldn't use a gaited horse to do cattle work. Now for hunting I have heard it said the gaited horses are what is used. Personally don't hunt enough to do so.

 

[EweSheep]

Back in the 70's there were some Peruvian Pasos going on in TX and Paso finos sometime in 1960's in Florida and GA and some in TX as well.

He looks NOTHING like a Paso or has any confirmation of Tivio or Resorte and others. Something tells me he has alot of TN Walker or MO Foxtrotter OR Rocky Mts Gaited Horse. His head looks alot like a TN Walker but his ears are not as large as Walkers were. So he has something going on in the background. And Criollo as well.

If you really want to know what his background consisted of, you can send a sample of his DNA by hair or blood to a lab (dont remember which one but they do dogs too) and they will give you the run down on his genetic. It would be costly but you can ask your vet or google online for DNA typing on horses.

Good luck on this young man! He is handsome with that chestnut color.

 

[SheriM]

Quote:
I have to agree. I had a Paso Fino for many years and have been around many others. Pasos tend to be small (mine was only 13.3) with heavy muscling, fairly large heads and a wee bit of a roman nose. When I saw his head shot, I too thought TW. We rescued an old gelding from an auction sale who looked a lot like this guy and he turned out to be gaited too.

BTW, if he seems cinchy and uncomfortable under saddle, it could be more than just the high withers. In order to gait well, the Pasos need extra wither/shoulder room in the saddle to allow for the exagerated shoulder movement. They also have to carry their heads higher than most western saddles allow for. Just a thought.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Interesting! Thanks again everyone!

I didn't know that you could actually find out the different breeds from the DNA. I had heard it for dogs, but didn't know you could do it for also also! We probably won't end up doing that, but its something I would like to research more. My dad thinks he's a "cowboy" horse LOL, so he's happy with him. I don't think he's a quarter horse and even though that's what we originally set out for, but in all reality for the purpose we use him for it wouldn't matter what type of horse he is. We may start him on some light cow work this summer, but other than that we just do trail riding and some putzing around the yard. My dad's gotten very much into the training aspect and so he's been working with him on that and stetson has been a great learning tool. He still has his issues and there are days we just want to up and sell him, but I think he'll be a good horse in another few years time.

As far as the cinchiness goes, we are pretty sure he's this way just due to the rough way he's been saddled in the past. We watched at the barn he was at when we bought him and they just cinch up in one swift pull. That has to hurt. He's much better when you cinch up in steps...usually we tighten a little, wait a few seconds, tighten a little more. Luckily with his high withers we don't have to cinch up as tight. He used to be really bad...he wouldn't bite but would act like he wanted to. Now you still have to watch your back, but he knows that we aren't going to pull it up real tight.

About a year after we got him, we started serious saddle shopping. I've tried all sorts of saddled on him, from smaller barrel type saddles, to larger billy cook type saddles. He seems to ride more comfortably in the real heavy leather billy cooks, and they fit him the best too. After much trial and error (And $800 later) we finally found one that he was noticeably more comfortable in, and it passed all the tests for fit (Thanks to BYCers for their help!) He's still a butthead sometimes, but he did that with every saddle we had so between the vet (who ruled out any medical issues) and ourselves we just deemed his issues to be behavioral. We have seen with training that he has gotten better. We just have to keep at it I think!