Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, as well as in working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment, therapy and gaiting.
Icelandic Horse, American Saddlebred, Peruvian Paso, Rocky Mountain Horse, Mangalarga Marchador are only some breeds belonging to the ambling horses kin. Horses that are able to do an ambling gait are referred to as “gaited horses.” The term Ambling is used to describe a number of four-beat intermediate gaits of horses. All are faster than a walk but usually slower than a gallop. Such horses are often used in parades as they are smoother for a rider than either the two-beat trot or pace and most can be sustained for relatively long periods of time, making them particularly desirable for parades or trail riding and other tasks where a rider must spend long periods of time in the saddle.
Ambling requires training. Some breeds naturally perform these gaits from birth; others can be trained to do them. If you have a horse from the gaited horse’s family then we would hold pleasure to teach you upon how to school your horse for successful ambling.
To begin with, coach your steed with the basics. Train him over how to acknowledge a saddle, and when and how to stop, to move forward, and when to turn. Your horse should be docile with all these before you move on with him to the more complicated training.
Purchase a saddle along with a saddle pad. Make sure that you buy the one that perfectly fits your horse. Too tight or too loose a saddle may result in an uncooperative behavior from your horse towards you.
As mentioned earlier, most of the breeds of the gaiting horses are naturally gifted with the ambling ability. What you need to do is to bring out this skill and polish it to aptness.
Below is a list of some of the points that would help you in refining the abilities of your horse.
- The position of the saddle alters the style of traveling.
- Engaged rear helps to easier gaits.
- Placement or angles of shoes and hoofs alters pace.
- Stature of the neck carriage and the changes the manner of gaiting.
Keep in mind that the early, the better. Ace your horse towards gaiting before he crosses the age of four. Or if your horse is already four or above then ride your horse before you start off with ambling.
Progress your horse towards his gait with a forward thrust. Afterwards, allow him to saunter gradually and boost his speed after fairly a while. However, do not let him to arrive at a tempo out of his walking pace. Carry out this for some time until he performs it correctly.
Increase the speed when you reach the next gait. But do not beat the amble. Practice this for another few days.
Gradually pick on speed. Perform the gaits every day so as to let neither yourself nor your horse out of practice. Keep your horse in shape all the time.
Lastly, while riding on your horse, always remember that patience and training is the key. A good guide would never expect its horse to learn everything in a day. Instead he would work on his horse with a whole heart and breathe relief only when he aces the gaits.
