Spokewrench, you might be ok with a gaited horse like a Paso Fino...It's kind of like the recumbent of the horse world! I was at a horse show once, where they were demoing all these different breeds. We were going psycho with laughter at the Pasos, and some lady sitting behind me says "If you'd ever ridden one, you wouldn't be laughing like that..." So, a while later, someone I knew was shopping, and looking at Pasos, so I rode one- OMG!!! I had a Paso within months, and let my (ex) husband ride Annie the Perfect Horse (Arab). True, the Paso had nowhere near the personality of an Arab, but she was incredible to ride.

Anyway, I had a variety of horses my whole life till I moved to Florida. I went to Farrier school in 1977 and shoed from 1978 till 1998- full time for about five years, then just special friends' horses and my own.

Nanci