What is a Gaited Horse
What is a gaited horse? That question is
hard to answer; almost everyone will have a
different opinion about what their horse's
gait is called and where the head position
should be. Here are some basic principles
and guidelines that apply to most gaited
horses.
A gaited horse is one that has not only the
gaits (or paces) of the walk, the trot (or
the pace), and the canter, but also a gait
that is in between the walk and the trot or
pace. This other gait is often a 4-beat-gait
that is smoother than a trot or pace, but it
can be just as fast. This gait, as we call
it, is the main characteristic of the Gaited
Horse.
Here is a list of the most common breeds of
gaited horses:
- Tennessee Walking Horse
- Rocky Mountain Horse
- Missouri Foxtrotter
- Paso Fino
- Icelandic Horse
There are, of course, other less well
know breeds, but these are the ones that you
will likely hear the most about. There is
also the Standardbred horse that has
sometimes been called a gaited horse; I
believe that this is mostly because this
breed paces, which can be referred to as a
"gait."
While there are many breeds of gaited horse,
the one thing that is consistent is the
natural ability to give a smooth, four-beat
gait. This would seem to be the main
requirement of a "gaited horse." Of course,
there are certain standards within each
breed that dictate there specific qualities,
but mostly, they must gait a certain way.
The rack is an even four-beat gait. Its
footfalls are left hind, left fore, right
hind, right fore. There should be an even
about of time between each footfall. It
should sound like: pucka, pucka, pucka,
pucka. To be smooth, there should be an even
about of time between each footfall. The
footfalls are the same sequence as the walk.
This is what makes such a smooth ride. The
rack turns into a Stepping Pace when two of
the horse's legs on one side hit almost at
the same time; the hind just before the
fore. This is still a gait, but there is not
an even amount of time between footfalls,
therefore, it is not usually as smooth. The
stepping pace sounds like: puck puck; puck
puck. A Tennessee Walking horse will usually
do this gait.
| |
|
|
|
"In principle
the fully trained school horse
must always be able to show
the same standard of excellence
as an all around horse as he
does as a school horse."
~Alois Podhajsky~
|
|
| |
|
|
Basic Training
$560 per month*
Includes board
Advanced
Training
$600 per month **
Includes Board
* $140 per week
** $150 per week |
Definitions
Gaited Horse
A "Gaited" horse is one which
performs any of the four-beat
natural gaits in place of or in
addition to the trot or pace. These
gaits are the stepping pace, the
rack, the running walk, saddle,
single-foot, and the fox-trot.
A horse that performs a foot fall
pattern outside the normal walk,
trot/jog, canter/lope sequence is
said to be gaited. A horse that
single foots, ambles, paces, tolts,
does a running walk, or a rack is
‘gaiting’.
The "Pace"
The pace is when two legs on one
side of the horse hit the ground
together. It is called a lateral
type of gait. It sounds just like
the trot. It can be, and often is,
as bumpy as the trot. It is often
desired on buggy horses where the
land is flat as they can go farther
and faster than a horse that trot.
However, a pacey horse is not
desired where there are hills
because they do not have the
strength to pace up the hills.
The "Stepping Pace"
The stepping pace is half way
between a pace and an even 4-beat
gait. It is usually a little
smooth when slow, but with any
speed, it gets very bumpy. A
lot of horses will do this
uncomfortable gait, with their
riders thinking this is a smooth
"gait." |
|
