Metro and cows. Cattle were a major part of Metro's life, and her ability to herd them in a gentle fox trot or burst into a fast lope to bring them back into line made her a joy to ride.

Metronome came into my life in 1972.  She was the answer to the problems I had riding a trotting horse, and at the same time, an introduction into the sometimes mystifying world of gaited horses.  She was registered as a Missouri Fox Trotter, and indeed, she did fox trot .. but .. I soon found that she also did a bunch of other things that were not on her papers or my ‘data bank’ of gaits.  Through trial and error we (Dad helped with film and research) discovered that she also would step pace, hard pace (ugh) running walk, flat walk, rack, ‘saddle rack’, fox walk, hard trot, do a slow walk, and canter or gallop. Whew, what a lot of things to learn about!   In addition to all these gears, she had a mouth that would not tolerate a bit of any kind, so I learned a lot about types of bitless rigs and hackamores from her.  And, of course, riding her became addictive - we had to get another gaited horse!

Next came Taffy, a sabino Fox Trotter who looked to me like a Hereford Cow, and had a badly ingrained habit of pacing.  With Metro it was only a case of selecting a gait and staying in it, with Taffy it was more a case of trying to find a gait, any gait,  that was not a pace!  Dealing with her was what sent me on my first trip to MO, to learn as much as I could from the old hands in the Fox Trotting breed, practical horsemen mostly, but also some others who spent more time in the show ring than on a trail or after cattle in a pasture.  They helped with suggestions for bits, for riding techniques,  but some of them also suggested a lot of things I did not want to use.  I knew enough about good riding to dismiss the use of chains and weighted shoes out of hand. I also knew that you could get good gait without a bit, so the advice on using walking horse bits was also not something I was inclined to apply.

Taffy, an education in pacing.

Back in Colorado I met a couple of old cowboy types who had used gaited horses, particularly those that fox trotted, for decades.  They told me of being able to teach the gait to horses caught out of mustang bands (fascinating!) and gave me some more clues as to how to go about it. (Eventually I taught my Anglo Arab Kali to fox trot, much nicer for both of us than a hard trot all the time.)

What these generous old men suggested worked, Taffy stopped pacing (hurrah!) and started fox trotting.  Little did I know that she was an EASY one to get into gear …..
 

Life was good, but too boring, so next my Dad and I decided we needed to breed more horses.  More trips to the “motherland” in MO produced Susie, a show mare who was totally set in her fox trot, not a pace in her, ever (guaranteed, and they were right!) and Sterling Silver King, aka Juner, a stallion Dad felt was worthy of Metro and Susie, if not a good cross for Taffy. He taught me even more about gait, as he was registered as a racking horse as well as a Fox Trotter.  Then more mares … and then the foals started to come. Right: Riding Juner. He was an education of another sort, since any normal leg or bit cues terrified him. After time and with lots of laughter and thought, we began to work together. Oh, and he was multi gaited as well as tripple registered.

The foals and all training fell to me.  What a learning experience!  Along the way I discovered ways that worked to teach foals manners, manageability, and to develop them into nice, well behaved young riding horses when they were old enough.  I also figured out quickly that foals were foals, no matter whether gaited or not, but that the gaited ones had a few little special needs that would help them gait better. Left:Metro's first foal. The beginning of a lot more education for me!

 

Then it was time to start those foals under saddle. The basics were no problem but developing the gaits I wanted, boy, was there a lot more to it than I had learned with Taffy!  And so I started experimenting, using dressage techniques, “gaited” techniques.  I confess I even tried a pair of rattles, to NO effect and general wet  saddle blankets to figure out how to get the gaits I wanted from those young horses.  There was a lot of soul searching, tears, and determination to figure it out before those young horses finally became set in their gaits. But they did get there, and in the process taught me how to help other horses find the gaits I wanted. The foals we raised and the mares we bought eventually spent a lot of time out on the trails and after cattle, as well as some in the show ring, working in the gaits they were born to do, once I learned to help them find those gaits. In the process, I discovered  the Rosetta Stone for gaited horses .. the gait is in the body position the horse uses as he moves, not in the hooves, shoeing, or registration papers.  Eureka!  A formula that applied across the board to all horses for developing specific gaits!      After a while, I had enough experience finding and keeping gait using a “whole body” approach to take in horses for training, as well as begin to teach riders how to find gait on their own horses.  By then I had figured out how to encourage a running walk,  a rack, even a stepping pace, so I was able to branch out from Fox Trotters to other breeds.  We owned several racking horses, I worked with people who owned Paso Finos (and certainly enjoyed riding them, too!) rode and coached Icelandic horses, Peruvians, Rocky Mountain horses, Tennessee walkers, Spotted Saddle horses.  If it was gaited, I rode it and worked ( and still work) with owner/riders so that they could  to a better job with their own horses.  Interesting thing - all of these breeds produced numerous individuals that did NOT do the “signature gait” of the breed without some help from the rider!             .                         . Starting another youngster under saddle.  This is Molly Brown, the mother of my current Fox Trotter, Morgan Brown Working on gait with a young horse is always fun for me.  Here Beau improves his ability in the fox trot, while making transfer to a bit from the bosal.

We taught our foals manners early. Here is  Balthazar, showing he is "grandma trained" by being a good boy and visiting with Grandmother Bradbury in her walker. She adored the foals  and all the older horses, too. Starting under saddle.  By the time I got on Balthazar, he had plenty of groundwork and time to grow up physically and mentally. Then started the fun of finding gait! Yes, I started and still start them all in a bosal. Mattie Silks, working a show obstacle class. Once their gaits are established, I think gaited horses need something else to think about. Obstacles are just one thing that they seem to like to do.

Diana Dempsey, a student, rides Morgan   . Brown in a fox trot while working on her form and discovering his gaits.

Joan, another student, on her mare Dusty.  This pair did very well in the show ring as  well as on the trail together.

Tammer's Lady Sarah, at a running walk.  I love  riding this mare, whether English or Western.  She is fearless on the trail, but tolerates ring work only in small doses!

Eventually, our focus at home shifted away from breeding and raising horses, as well as maintaining cattle in the mountains. My husband and I “downsized” our lives about 10 years ago.  From a high of 14 horses and standing a stallion, things have settled to 2 riding horses, one Fox Trotter gelding, the grandson of dear old Metronome, and one Tennessee Walking Horse mare, Sarah, who is from a line I have known for 3 generations as well.  I give private lessons on my own horses or those of my students, frequently ride and work on gait issues with those lesson horses, and continue to offer some selected clinics each year as well as occasionally judge gaited shows. I don’t take in horses for training anymore, but instead prefer to teach others how to deal with gait on their own horses.  But I still ride as many of them as I can! Gaited horses, they are addictive.