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Although Tiger Horses are running walk horses, all three types of middle gait exist in our breed. Diagonal, Square and Lateral. (above) This is a beautiful example of a lateral gait. The dam
Tiger Lilly is clearly performing the stepping pace. Notice how far ahead of the vertical her raised fore is. Her filly "Indy" is also exhibiting strong middle gait, and is probably quite lateral judging by this
photo. I always look for a deep "V" joining the suspended legs to be certain that gait is present, and she certainly has that. |
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GAIT INHERITED
OBSERVATIONS MADE OVER THE COURSE OF 15 YEARS of EXPERIMENTAL BREEDING by VICTORIA VARLEY TIGRE HORSE FOUNDER MEMBER.
Gait appears to be gender related. ie, mothers to
sons and fathers to daughters with one screaming exception. Whilst non Ghost siblings tend to follow this gender rule, their Ghost Horse siblings have all inherited the shuffle gait. See the shuffle explained,
below. There also seems to be a correlation between stronger middle gait and more basecoat colouring. For example, the less white (suppressors) that are apparent, the more likely the horse is to show
stronger middle gait, all things being equal of course.
The exception to this rule is horse number 19 (the foal shown above with her dam) who was born from two gaited parents one a
diagonal gaiter and one a lateral gaiter. She is a rarity indeed and the first Ghost Horse to be born from two gaited parents and the first time we have been able to examine our theory more closely. In all other
cases only one parent has been strongly gaited while the other was an obvious shufler. This filly exhibits extreme middle gait but we're not sure if she is in fact a Ghost Horse or a minimalistic leopard.
"Indy" is also very sensitive and exhibits the nightblind condition which is a depth perception problem in certain lines including Appaloosas, Tigers and some other breeds. Said by Dr.
Sponnenberg to be "a condition found in all homozygous horses," we do not necessarily agree with that statement but we do accept that some homozgous individuals, while not exhibiting the condition themselves, may in
fact be carriers and they pass it to some of their offspring and especially the homozygous ones. Indy is the result of breeding a half brother to a half sister who share a mother but unrelated sires, so she is somewhat
"inbred." Her grandsire on her sire's side has a nightblind dam while he himself does not exhibit the condition he has passed it to his homozygous foals. People usually inbreed when trying to cement in desirable
genes. It doesn't always work to full advantage but in Indy's case, she not only apears to have inherited a double gene making her homozygous, she also got extreme middle gait. It takes my breath away that horses
from my farm have been able to produce these results by others.
Horses like Indy are extremely rare, not perhaps wonderful for trail riding because they tend to be a little skittish, but
incredible producers of colorful solid citizen foals provided they are not crossed back into the same line. Since Indy inherited strong middle gait, she is a horse in a million. In fact the only one registered
todate, after 15 years of experimental breeding. Choosing a suitable breeding partner for this filly is vitally important and we would recommend one of our solid coloured stallions. |
