March 6 2025
I’ve let Hillbillie Willie pick the gait he wants going down the endurance trail, which, despite him being a pacer on the racetrack, is mostly a nice trot on the trail. Over the years he’s rounded up and balanced out to have a smooth trot, and even his pace now is a smooth gait.
One of the conditioning methods I use if for some reason I can’t ride, or for a change of routine, is liberty in the arena. Willie works hard solo, but he can be especially enthusiastic if he’s competing in the arena with/against his bromance bro DWA Barack. They both get some serious workouts in, because Willie always has to be in front, and sometimes Barack will sneak-and-squirt by him just to mess with him, and Willie has to work hard to get ahead of him again.
With the round circles in the arena, Willie’s started shifting into a canter more, (and often some other gait like a spinaroonie pacealope - oh, if I could just bottle that!), so over this winter in the arena (when/if it was dry) I started asking him for a canter. He’s gotten the right lead canter down so well he can do several loops in a canter and even slow it down. We’re still working on the left lead… I figure that since pacers on the track are discouraged from breaking gait, and they race to the left, it’s just harder for him. That’s my theory anyway.
The other day we had a good conditioning ride out on the trail, and at two different places, where Willie likes to pick up speed anyway, he slipped smoothly into a right lead canter, and both times he held it easily (and not speedy) for at least a quarter mile. I swear that horse was so proud of himself that he could show it off so well!
