Avi - Walk, Flat Foot Walk & Fox Trot in slow motion - 21 Sept 2024b

Avi has been my personal horse for a little over 3 years logging well over 2,400 road and trail miles during that time. She is a 10yr old dark brown and white Pinto half Tennessee Walking Horse. She has done the Walk, Flat Foot Walk, Trot, and Canter as her willingly offered gaits since completing her foundational training. I have often wondered IF I could get her to do one of the quicker smooth ambling gaits - such as the Running Walk, the Saddle Rack aka Saddle Gait, or the Fox Trot - but I simply have not committed training time on her to finding out the answer (too busy training other people's horses and using Avi as my helper horse). So on 6 Sept 2024 (fifteen days ago) I switched her back to the Rocking S Raised Snaffle and started intentionally working on getting my dear Avi to do one or more of the quicker smooth ambling gaits. For the past several days I have felt like she was possibly giving me a few steps of a slow Running Walk (then breaking gait) and at times a few steps of Fox Trot (then breaking gait to the Trot). I had tried to get a slow motion video of foot fall to verify what my seat and her head movement were suggesting - but it was not until this morning that I figured out how to pull that slow motion video off by myself while riding Avi.

So we are making progress - a wee bit at a time. And now I know for a verifiable fact that Avi can do the Fox Trot at about 6mph. Now to encourage her to use the Fox Trot more and more and the regular bouncy Trot less. I would love it if she gets so she can Fox Trot as fast as she can Trot - but I would love it even more if I can get her to do either one on cue and hold that gait until given further direction.

Training horses always involves some risk of injury (or even death) to the horse, the trainer, any spectators, equipment used, etc. - this risk is totally your own as you will be making your own judgements on what to do. As with any suggestions on any subject you must weigh them out for yourself and proceed accordingly - at your own risk.

Remember to intentionally, on purpose, learn of God each day by prayerfully reading, studying, and pondering upon God's word each day. Talk to God in prayer as your Heavenly Father who would like for you to be His friend. Find out what He would like you to do for Him as His friend and go and do it for Him as His friend. Yes very intentionally, very much on purpose, become the friend of God. And have a blessed day!!

Jack Griffes
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