November 2008 

We began to look for a new horse for me (Laurie).  Our criteria was to find a short, gaited horse, so I can get on easily and keep up with Strider without constantly trotting.  We began by looking at a couple of Paso Finos, Breeze (Byers) and Ken (Golden).  They were short & petite, but we were concerned that they would have to gait constantly just to keep up with Strider’s walk.  Tim also thought that they may not be comfortable carrying him, if need be.  Tim’s practice when looking for a horse is to first ask the owner, “What kind of groundwork do you do?”  Both of these women looked puzzled and said, “Huh?  I just lead him to the trailer and put on the saddle.”  Funny.  The second explained that she puts out minerals for her horses, so they can supplement their diet as needed.  We imagined a horse deciding, “Oh, I need magnesium.  I think I’ll go get some.”  With Paso Finos still in mind, we thought we would also check out some Missouri Fox Trotters.