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The Gaited horse
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
Along with some of the less common breeds:
- Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse
- Mountain Pleasure Horse
- Peruvian Paso
- Gaited Curlies
- Racking Horse
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"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~
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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.
When observing a gaited horse, to tell what kind of gait
he is in, it helps to look only at two legs on one side.
You will be able to tell if he is pacing, doing a
stepping pace, or racking. Practice watching only one
side and it will become easier to see what gait they are
in.
Getting a Gaited Horse To Gait
Most of the time, with gaited horses, the trick is
getting them to gait. Sure, they are naturally gaited,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will gait.
Many people buy a gaited horse and they find out their
horse won't gait well, or won't gait well for them. This
brings us to the question of how to get a horse to gait.
To find out whether you want to attempt to get him to
gait on your own, see the article "Can You Get Your
Horse To Gait?"
There are no "quick fixes" or "buttons" that will make
your horse gait. Some, a very few, horses just gait as
soon as you get on them. If you own one of these
wonderful horses, hurray for you! Unfortunately most
horses need work and consistency to get them and keep
them gaiting well. Sometimes they need a lot of time and
work. It just depends on the horse. I have had people
come to me hoping for me to tell them what I did to get
their horse to gait. They were hoping that I used a
certain bit or used my legs a certain way to get their
horse to gait, but rarely is that the solution. It is
almost always through time and thought that the horse
understand what you want.
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"[Born riders] really
exist and are not the product of the
imagination of a romantic poet."
~ Waldemar Seunig~
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Up Hill, Down Hill
One of the easiest ways to work on your horse's gait is
to use hills. Some horses gait really well going
downhill, while others gait well going uphill. You can't
be sure which it is going to be with your horse. There
are ways to make and educated guess, though. If your
horse's gait is toward the pace, then he will likely
gait better going uphill. If your horse's gait is toward
the trot, then he will likely gait more easily going
downhill. Keep in mind that there are lots of exceptions
to this idea and to try going both uphill and downhill
with your horse.
A good way to utilize a hill is to use the bottom of a
hill. Start walking your horse going down a hill, not
too steep, though, and when you get to the last fifty
feet at the bottom of the hill, ask your horse to gait.
If he gaits when you do this, ease up off the reins and
let him go until he gets bumpy, then slow him down right
away. Often, though, when you first try this, your horse
won't gait and just gets bumpy. If that happens, slow
your horse down right away, and try again.
If a horse has not been gaiting well, or at all, for
some time, it may take a couple of weeks to get him
doing a smooth gait well. Don't lose patience, just be
consistent. Keep trying different things and your horse
should get it eventually.
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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.
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