Jenny and JR have spent time just passenger riding which JR choose to do at a walk.\u00a0 The emergency stop or bend to a stop was instituted before JR moved.\u00a0 Then they added direction with reins, stopping, backing, fore and hindquarter turns.\u00a0 I know that Jenny has asked for the soft feel and probably have done a little sidepassing.<\/p>\n
Our philosophy is to FIRST get JR to be a versatility horse and learn the athletic moves plus flying lead changes.\u00a0 After this is accomplished, we were going to help JR with the gaits.\u00a0 Jenny\u2019s famous words when we finished our philosophy conversation were, “I bet he will gait up a storm”.<\/p>\n
JR has already done flying lead changes on the 22\u2019rope.\u00a0 I am ecstatic at this news.\u00a0 Actually, I felt weak in the knees with no air to breathe!<\/p>\n
Well, Jenny has just now progressed to a speed faster-than-a-walk when riding JR.\u00a0 Her first experience was on a horse with a big head nod and a flat foot walk!\u00a0 The first time she asked for a faster-than-a-walk speed, she had a difficult time keeping him going faster than a walk.\u00a0 He did well going from the back of the arena to the front, but dropped to a walk often going anywhere else.<\/p>\n
Tonight, Jenny yelled at me because I didn\u2019t get there sooner.\u00a0 She had JR going at a flat foot walk and a Fox Trot!\u00a0 She was almost certain it was a fox trot.\u00a0 She asked her husband, the lover of quarter horses, if he saw JR trot.\u00a0 Tony said that he never saw him trot, but he had no idea what it was.\u00a0 We are frustrated with non-Gaited husbands!\u00a0 On this night, she had a much easier time keeping JR going for a short but significant time.\u00a0 Jenny doesn\u2019t think that JR will trot with a person riding him, even though he trots in the pasture.<\/p>\n
WOWEE!\u00a0 A hard-wired fox trotting horse and he belongs to me\u2026plus he can do flying lead changes (on the ground). I couldn\u2019t ask for a better Christmas Present!<\/p>\n