Now this is going to be fun--and fascinating. We have a range of nearly extinct strains of Colonial Spanish Horses. Each strain traces itself back to the early years of Spanish colonization of our nation. Genetically joined, geographically separated, the same horse raised in differing environments for hundreds of years--changing, yet maintaining everything in them that makes them special.
The Grand Canyon horses from the desert Southwest--The Shackelfords, Corollas, and Marsh Tackys from the swamps of the Southeast--the Galiceno from Mexico, the Choctaw from the Southeast via Oklahoma--how they all move--how they all dance.
Yesterday we were working on some drills to enhance gaiting with several of our horses. Jen has a slow motion camera and she filmed some of what was going on--what a thing to see!
The comparisons and contrasts that we will film as we move these horses under saddle and in the round pen will be a thing of beauty. I hope that Jen, Sherry, and Rebecca can all come out next Saturday and get a series of stills and video as we examine the gaits of perhaps twenty Colonial Spanish horses with an eye towards creating a video scrap book.
And as Muhammad Ali told his crew of trainers and corner men before stepping into the ring with George Foreman--"We goin' dance--Yes we goin' dance."
Some years ago I read that a study of the Marsh Tackys found that they have a unique gait. The researchers were going to let the Marsh Tacky registry name the gait. I would have chosen the swamp stomp or the bog trot. They probably chose something more prosaic.
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