Best and clearest explanation I have ever seen. Thank you for striving to teach people to look at and understand what a horse can be naturally and helping that horse achieve it without the cruelty and abuse that is prevalent in some circles.
Wish youtube and your videos were around when I was "learning to ride". Was taught all the "basics". I failed. Did somewhat better when I went with a hackamore and without a saddle. Stopped worrying about how right or wrong I looked and just went for the joy of having a horse and staying up! My horses seemed to appreciate my approach but I did it all with some timidity (keeping things lowkey due to my age). I no longer ride, but still have a horse. Such lovely creatures.
Paula, I owned a Rocky Mountain Horse for 15 years. Like a Walker he is a true gaited horse. They go from a slow walk to a very fast walk without the rider bouncing up and down in the saddle like a normal horse that trots. The horses she used were not gaited horses like ours. Our breeds were bred for a smoother ride. But, her video's were interesting. My horse was a Chocolate Stallion with a Flaxen mane and tale. Their most common trait. Of course their 4 beat smooth gait is the real selling point because of their slow to fast walk without trotting. Although they can do all " Gaits" Walk, 4 step gait, trot, sliw canter, canter and all out running like a race horse. I worked on all of my horses gaits no matter what the " Know it all said " They were convinved that a gaited horse would be ruined if you allowd it to trot or canter or run. My horse did it all by voice commands. Without all of the footwork. He even learned many Dressage moves that made him even more special. In short. A horse is an animal that learns by repitition and patience. It all pays off in the end. I didn't even get on my horses back until he was 3 years old, contrary to the idiots that were on their horses back before they were 2 year olds. What idiots.
Having the pink hoof boots really help to see each gait clearly. My Pryor Mountain Mustang has a wonderful pacing trot that is comfortable and he is able to maintain for miles.
I'm currently help training a standardbred and I didn't understand gaited horses before but this helps so much. Amazing information and awesome examples. Keep up the awesome work!
I've watched the DVD's of which this video is a segment, and I keep coming back to these clips on TH-cam. It's a safe haven for me, in the midst of the ignorance and abuse that haunts the gaited horse world. Many thanks for posting these!
Wonderfully well put. As a dressage trainer in Texas, I sometimes (but rarely) get gaited horses in for training. This is a very informative on the different types of gaits.
Thank you! Brenda strongly believed in principles of dressage in training all horses. She incorporated this into her gait training as well as all aspects of riding. I'm glad you enjoyed :)
I am getting a Kentucky Mountain horse to try next week. I have never ridden one before him. It was good to see the video, if I can only keep those gaits in mind when riding. I have always just rode horses with the w/t/c, hopefully my new horse will canter, I bet it’s lovely!
Thank you so much!! I have watched so many videos trying to understand the different gaits and have only been confused. Your explanation & pneumonics (yay!) have helped me immensely.
Thank you, Brenda - that was very articulate and interesting - when I learned to ride in Ireland, some 60 years ago, we were just taught the basics, balance, posting at trot, seated at a canter and on to jumping etc. the latter of course with training on how to have the horse on the correct leg for the fence. Sadly I don't ride now but still have my love for horses and have a few horse pals here and there who like to see me coming with a carrot.
It would be good to film our own horses to know for sure what they are doing. The slow motion clips were especially helpfull. I'm all for aquire ing an easy to ride gait. That's acually what these awsome gaited horses were bred for! and why this senior rider can still enjoy rideing.
@@wbasmith3627 if you upload a video of your horse on to TH-cam and use Google Chrome as your TH-cam browser, you can change the speed of the video to slow it down. We're also happy to take a look and let you know too! :)
What a breathe of fresh air it was to watch and listen to your gait video. 2 things that I really enjoyed hearing are these, 1- Letting the horse use HIS/HER Brain to balance his own gait, 2nd, Your excellent knowledge of all of the gaits that were performed. I noticed that both the Grey and Black are both Righty's...As in the opposite of the late great Secretariat, Who was a Lefty....After watching many video's on Rocky Mountain Horses " Which I owned the Founding Horse " NUNCIO" I had the pleasure of owning his son, " Knightmoves" ... Thank God I owned that breed before these new owners started using Tennessee Walker Mid Evil Mechanics... and I do mean the word " EVIL" in their devices that those people use on their horses fore feet, to make them lift their forefeet higher than normal...Thank you once again for a wonderful video. God bless you miss ! !
What evil devices are you indicating? Rubber bands and shackles? Or bell boots and ankle bracelets? I have trained my half arab mare in the latter two and see no evil at all in rubber bells boots, my leather ankle bracelets or 2 ounce chains. Your cowboy boots weigh more. I never had luck coordinating my efforts with the first two devices, some may have but I never did. I realize many who were involved initially with the RMH disliked any but the daisy cutters, however to quote my grandfather who taught Agriculture at my high school, "Increases in size, quality, refinement and performance are the signs of a quality breeding program." In other words, breeding quality to quality, the breed will evolve. If you fail to do so, things go backward.
to know how to put into words and knowing how to explain what is or should be natural thinking or common sense that "you're born with" is a hard task to do. I commend you on your speech " the gaite spectrum" very well explained and I agree completely with you on all of it and what rang true for me was the part you spoke about the effect of improper bal and rhythm in the way you ride. so riding a gaited horse like they were a non gaited horse could cause them to break down in their hocks and cause discomfort etc.later down the road. thank you for the info I will share this.
Love this video. I have gaited two gaited horses and I have been trying to figure out what they are doing. This made so much sense and was easy to follow.
I was told my horse would break down at an early age , not sure his breeds, I had won him in a card game , rode him for 32 years then retired him he lived to be 38, he never broke down or had any issues. Common sense , let them do the gaits they like, ignore the haters .
What a nice black mare. She gaited beautifully. My mom trained Walking Horses for 45 years. I started showing when I was 5. I agree with most of what you said. If you would set her head and push her up into the bridal you would have a nice flat shod mare. Take up on those reins, put your hands down (rest them on the saddle if you have to) and push her into a nice flat walk. Never sacrifice speed for form. Take a deep seat and speed her up into a running walk.
Have to disagree about the pacing gait. As a teeenager I broke a thoroubread mare that paced. Unfortunately she had no "cow sense" and my boss sold her. Rather than break into a trot she would go into the pace. She could go for hours at about 12 mph. It felt weird at first, but after getting used to it I really enjoyed the pace. This mare was very responsive to neck rein and leg cues. The woman that bought her absolutely loved her.
Fun fact: before the invention of photography, especially motion photography, nearly every artist got the footfall sequence of a walking horse wrong because it is so hard to track with the naked eye. Same with the gallop. They understood that the horse leaves the ground but they didn't understand where in the sequence this happened. That is why you see old paintings of running horses off the ground with their forelegs and hindlegs extended. In contrast, paintings and drawings depicting trotting or pacing horses generally get it right.
Imagine one "cycle" or one measure(in musical terms) of a horse's movement being all 4 feet leaving and being put down to the ground once. If horse moves two feet in sync it's two beat. Because two feet leave ground and land at the same time, and then two others. So you get two distinct beats. Four beat is when none of the feet are synchronized. Four feet leave the ground and land at different times. So you get four distinct beats.
Thank you so much for this! I'm an animator, and this has a good variety of walks and gaits. I especially love the colored hooves, they really help discern the legs from one another. However, I'm wondering if there's any chance to show and explain other gaits, such as the canter, gallop, and some "high stepping" gaits.
Thoroughly enjoyed this very easy to understand video! Color coding the feet really helped in seeing the difference. Working with harness race horses I was familiar with the trot vs pace. Then the fox troy and rackwere confusing but no longer! Thanks! Great video .
Thanks for the explanation of the gaits. Ive always wondered what the fox trot was. I have an icelandichorse and they can do all of these things, but we dont want our breed to do the fox trot or step-pace. If they do they are unbalanced in there gait tölt.. =)
Congratulations on going gaited! I'm glad you found us :) Loping/cantering can be a great way to help a horse who is laterally-oriented break up their muscle and neurological memory to help even out their footfall pattern. Loping up hills can be really beneficial especially, since it helps engage their back-ends, which we want them to do when performing an evenly timed 4-beat gait. There are some caveats here, though, so I'm going to include a couple of links on our website that discuss this very topic that I hope you find helpful :) gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/can-i-canter-my-gaited-horse gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/cantering-the-gaited-horse-q-a gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/how-and-when-to-trot-or-canter-your-gaited-horse Jamie Evan
Aye, this is the best instructional video about gaits I ever saw. I understand now why Tennessee Walkers (natural ones!) and Racking horses are the smoothest. Here is a question though: what defines the Paso Fino and Paso Largo gaits, and the Icelandic horse's gaits, like the tolt? Where do they fall on the spectrum?
I've never owned a horse, or rode one. I also have no clue how I got here but... thanks for the information xD P.S. The closest I can get to owning and riding a horse is playing Star Stable Online... LIV IF YOU'RE READING THIS WHY WONT YOU PLAY ;-;
We're so glad you found it helpful! Brenda had such a way of explaining things to make them seem so simple! I still review all her videos periodically. ~Jamie PS--I love the shoe in your profile picture :)
Also, here is an article that outlines simple tests you can perform to determine if your saddle fits your horse. If their saddle is uncomfortable, it prevents them from rounding up and collecting under saddle, which makes a smooth 4-beat gait pretty much impossible. If your horse stiffens up against the saddle, they usually ventro-flex their back instead of rounding up through their back. This can cause undue stress on the stifles and hocks, leading to long-term soundness issues. Saddle fit is always the first thing you want to rule out when tackling gait training. phoenixrisingsaddles.com/gaited-horse-training/87-does-your-saddle-fit-your-horse
Unfortunately, the horse she used for the Running Walk was still moving slightly on the lateral - notice the loss of head nod at the faster gait. But, it's almost impossible to find a truly square gaited Walking horse these days. All nice horses in the video, though. I couldn't listen to her comments at work, so I don't know if she addressed the lateral movement of the running walk horse when he moved from the walk to running walk. Look for foundation bloodlines......
+Paula SundustFarm Yes, great catch! It's very common for horses to maintain a very slightly lateral movement while doing the run-walk. The same thing happens with the horse that's Foxtrotting, except with the diagonals. She's moving very slightly on the diagonal at times too :)
she's saying that it's a myth that the running walk is defined by the head nod (at 9:30 mark). it's the over reach of the hind past the track that the front has just left that defines it from a rack. yet she says that such movement does cause head nod. then she says the length of neck, back, etc, may effect the degree of head nod, from slight to significant. no wonder I'm confused! sounds like we're right back to a head nod defining a horse is doing the running walk! :)
I know it's a lot to wrap your brain around! LOL. I think what she meant is to not look at the nod, or lack thereof, to define the gait. The nod is a result of the understride and the horse using its head to keep their balance. When analyzing gait, definitely look at the legs and the footfall pattern to determine the gait and not just if they're nodding their heads or not :)
She explained it perfectly. If you don't understand, watch the slow motion parts over again. My stud horse had a headset like a knight on a chess board, in every gait except for an all out run/gallop...but, people try to control their horses head, and in doing so, they mess up the horses natural gaits. That is so true...
The nod IS the most important aspect of the flat walk and running walk. In the old days there was a saying 'if he's not nodding, he's not walking!". Trainers create a problem lumping all "gaited" breeds together, because the others are lateral, a good Walking horse should be moving on the diagonal. Very few good Walkers around anymore.
Hi Linda :) While every breed of gaited horse claims a unique set of gaits, the gaits on the gait spectrum are the only true gaits a horse will perform. However, various breeds do have a slightly different appearance when gaiting due to variants in conformation and training, and breed associations have developed different names for these gaits. In a nutshell, the classic paso fino gait is a very short-strided rack or stepping pace; the paso corto is a rack or stepping pace with average length of stride; the paso largo is the running walk; the trocha is the foxtrot. Same with the Tolt for Icelandics, which is either a rack or stepping pace. I hope this helps! ~Jamie
Thank you very much! Great video. Easy to understand. Would it be correct to say that at the rack, a horse has only one foot on the ground at a time, which would also be true for a horse at the walk gait?
hi, i do hope you can help me out a little. my mare (hafe appaloosa halfe german riding pony, now 20yo) has always had trouble to perform a clear 3 beat galop. what she does naturally is a 4 beat, beeing discribed as ‚trotting hindfoots and galopping frontfoots‘. might this be a gait as well? or is it just a beat problem, as trainers have been telling me for 14years? mind, none of them are gait experienced. thank you for all the information you‘ re providing!!!
After rewatching this video I agree that it is most important to allow your horse to do what comes naturally. I would never be concerned with 3 or 4 beats. Your pony has its own way of moving...yes it does sound like your mare is gaited. She sounds like a fun horse to ride. I would watch for signs of arthritis and pain/damage that come with age. At some point every good pony needs to be retired.
I'm glad you found it helpful! Brenda had such a way of explaining things that made it so simple to understand. Feel free to check out our free natural gait training library on our website phoenixrisingsaddles.com/gaited-horse-training/gaited-horse-training-library. There are all the videos you see here plus a ton of articles written by Brenda Imus :)
The jog has the same footfall pattern of the trot, being completely diagonal, just performed more slowly and usually with less extension in the front legs and movement in the hocks. The walk is the "mother of all gaits" so basically the walk, running-walk, and rack all have the same footfall patterns. The running walk and rack are performed faster and with the running-walk, there is a longer stride in the back legs and sometimes (depending on the horse) more reach and/or lift in the front. I hope this helps :)
The grey spotted horse was not trotting. The diagonals were not even. The black horse with the yellow shirted rider looks sore in the near (left) hip - it’s not following through as much as the offside (right) leg.
No not at all. All horses flat walk, and we often ride at the flat walk on the trail. It's good to allow them a chance to let their muscles relax and not ride in a super collected frame all the time. Many gaited horses have really big flat walks and you can feel a lot of movement under the saddle and others not so much. Just depends on your horse. So a flat walk is just fine for your horse :)
the example of the trot at 4:10 is wrong,not a good example as that appy is doing the indian shufffle (what this video calls the fox trot)if you watch all the gaits are pretty much the same just how the horse tends to extend or not. This video also left out the icelandic horse and the tolt, which genetic studies show is the origin of all gaited horses. The stepping pace looks like the tolt and flying pace. never heard of it making icelandic horses have problems. I also wish they had not used black horses in this . it makes it very hard to see which leg is moving when.
Hi Shewolfen, the walkaloosa (Purim Moon) featured in the trot portion does slip into a foxtrot in a couple spots. I agree it's not ideal to showcase the trot, but it is helpful to see how a horse can slip back and forth between two and four beat gaits. The true trot is exactly equally timed on diagonal fore and back footfalls. We used to have a few spot appy stud, Moon's sire, that performed a true natural Indian Shuffle, which is different from the foxtrot in that the back foot sets down slightly before the diagonal front foot. She ended up being more diagonally oriented than her sire. The foxtrot that she tends to slip into, her front foot sets down a split second before the opposite back foot. A true Indian Shuffle consists of the horse moving two lateral sets of legs nearly, but not quite, in unison. The hind leg sets down an instant before the fore leg. In other words, it is a form of the stepping pace. What sets it apart from other stepping paces is that the hind leg literally shuffles as it sets down under the horse. This has a fabulous shock absorbing effect for the rider. Unlike many other kinds of horses that do a stepping pace, these horses generally will not 'square up' their gaits--the shuffle is an entirely dominant genetic characteristic. Also unlike other pacey animals, Indian Shuffling horses tend to have an easy, wonderful canter, and a very lateral walk. The footfall pattern of the tolt is the same as the walk, rack, and running-walk. Each foot moves independently of the other and is performed at very high speeds. The difference between the four is the timing and also differences in the lift and reach between the different gaits. I wish we had a video of horse performing this very fun gait for the video, but Brenda was unable to find an Icey for the video shoot :)
I'm looking at what you are calling an over step in the running walk and it still is short of what I call tracking up. That is the horses rear foot fall steps into or beyond that of the opposite fore foots hoof print. So none of theses gates add to of encourage collection?
Collection can be taught at any gait and it makes the best even better. However, it is a very difficult concept to impart to people and it does require some physical as well as mental effort on the part of the rider, not just sitting like a sack of potatoes.. Many prefer to just let the horse string along as he pleases. In addition, the contact required to aid in collection can cause some horses to square up and get trotty, therefore causing their riders to avoid using such contact. It's a fine line to walk, getting that concept of collection through to your equine student.
The footfall pattern of the tolt is the same as the walk, rack, and running-walk. Each foot moves independently of the other and is performed at very high speeds. The difference between the four is the timing and also differences in the lift and reach between the different gaits. With the step-pace, it's almost as if the left side and right side are each working congruently except instead of the same-side front and back foot landing together, the back foot lands a split second before the front, reducing the concussion for the rider but placing a lot of strain on the back, stifle and hocks.
I Personally love stepping pace because it's smooth and comfortable and fast and flashy in a show ring when the regular horses do normal jogs u can't be overlooked, when it's a very flashy movement. When I had my saddlebred ceasar the judge absolutely loved him and his unique movement, I'd say to just give them joint supplement as they age , stepping pace is good on trails too. And most gaited horses prefer to do it, over more complex movements. Many naturally automatically do stepping pace in place of jog/trot.
I don't know much about horses but am very interested. Is the gate of a horse learned by the horse or does each horse have a natural gate? Also when I was watching the Queens Household Cavalrymen ride they seem to be lifting themselves up and down in the saddle when riding. Is this because the horses are Pacing?
Naturally gaited horses are both built to gait and also wired neurologically to do so. Rebecca is right about the trot--although riding a pace is no fun either! LOL. How the horse is built will decide what gaits they will naturally perform. They also have to move so that each leg is moving independently from the other (quadridexterous) so this requires neurological wiring (naturally and through practice as well) to help them coordinate. Horses that are more lateral (move the front and back leg on the same side together) will pace and if we help them 'square up' they will perform a running-walk or a rack. Some gaited horses are diagonally oriented, so they move the opposite side legs together and tend to trot. Those horses can naturally transition into the smoother foxtrot or rack once they move their legs more independently of one another. I hope this helps add to your bucket of knowledge :) ~ Jamie
Having seen the posting to ride the trot as you described must be very tiring for the rider with having to alternately stand in the stirrups and then sit back down. However I must say it is attractive to watch; it gives the impression of precision and neatness. Thanks again Rebecca for enlightening me.
Hi Pam, unfortunately sometimes methods are used to force artificial collection and/or headset. Tying down the head is one of these techniques. We advocate for natural training practices. Regarding this method in particular, because a horse uses it's head as a pendulum for balance, we feel it's not a humane practice to impede horses' abilities to move the way they naturally need to. Gaited horses are gaited naturally. We advocate for providing them comfortable tack that allows them complete freedom of movement. This in turn allows them to collect into their natural form, rounded up through the back, neck, and poll, which is key for them to perform an evenly timed 4-Beat gait :)
Maryah Cook they travel hollowed out sway backed and do not support the weight of the rider. brother are not using these hind end properly so there hocks take Alot of the concussion when being ridden.
It's a very subtle difference but can make a big difference in how it feels for the rider. With the pace, the legs on the same side work congruently. With the step-pace, they work almost exactly together, but the back foot sets down a fraction of a second before the same-side front leg. This reduces the concussion the rider feels because instead of being a two-beat gait, it's now an unevenly timed 4 beat gait with no moment of suspension between each side setting down. This is evident if you watch the rider instead of the horse next time around. She bounces significantly more with the pace than the step-pace (watch it in the real time and not slow motion and it's very evident. Ideally you want all four legs to 'square up' and become evenly timed to get them moving in good form. The result of this is a rack or running-walk, depending on the speed and amount of overstride in the back. I hope this helps!
This is the clearest explanation of the various gaits I've ever seen. Thank you so much!
Yes ...great simple explanations. Love the yield to horse's natural head shake. Thank you
Best and clearest explanation I have ever seen.
Thank you for striving to teach people to look at and understand what a horse can be naturally and helping that horse achieve it without the cruelty and abuse that is prevalent in some circles.
We're glad you found us and found this video helpful! :)
Wish youtube and your videos were around when I was "learning to ride". Was taught all the "basics". I failed. Did somewhat better when I went with a hackamore and without a saddle. Stopped worrying about how right or wrong I looked and just went for the joy of having a horse and staying up! My horses seemed to appreciate my approach but I did it all with some timidity (keeping things lowkey due to my age). I no longer ride, but still have a horse. Such lovely creatures.
Paula, I owned a Rocky Mountain Horse for 15 years. Like a Walker he is a true gaited horse. They go from a slow walk to a very fast walk without the rider bouncing up and down in the saddle like a normal horse that trots. The horses she used were not gaited horses like ours. Our breeds were bred for a smoother ride. But, her video's were interesting. My horse was a Chocolate Stallion with a Flaxen mane and tale. Their most common trait. Of course their 4 beat smooth gait is the real selling point because of their slow to fast walk without trotting. Although they can do all " Gaits" Walk, 4 step gait, trot, sliw canter, canter and all out running like a race horse. I worked on all of my horses gaits no matter what the " Know it all said " They were convinved that a gaited horse would be ruined if you allowd it to trot or canter or run. My horse did it all by voice commands. Without all of the footwork. He even learned many Dressage moves that made him even more special. In short. A horse is an animal that learns by repitition and patience. It all pays off in the end. I didn't even get on my horses back until he was 3 years old, contrary to the idiots that were on their horses back before they were 2 year olds. What idiots.
Having the pink hoof boots really help to see each gait clearly. My Pryor Mountain Mustang has a wonderful pacing trot that is comfortable and he is able to maintain for miles.
I'm currently help training a standardbred and I didn't understand gaited horses before but this helps so much. Amazing information and awesome examples. Keep up the awesome work!
10/10 for that explanation.I never knew horses were such complex creatures. Wonderful stuff.
I've watched the DVD's of which this video is a segment, and I keep coming back to these clips on TH-cam. It's a safe haven for me, in the midst of the ignorance and abuse that haunts the gaited horse world. Many thanks for posting these!
Wonderfully well put. As a dressage trainer in Texas, I sometimes (but rarely) get gaited horses in for training. This is a very informative on the different types of gaits.
Thank you! Brenda strongly believed in principles of dressage in training all horses. She incorporated this into her gait training as well as all aspects of riding. I'm glad you enjoyed :)
I am getting a Kentucky Mountain horse to try next week. I have never ridden one before him. It was good to see the video, if I can only keep those gaits in mind when riding. I have always just rode horses with the w/t/c, hopefully my new horse will canter, I bet it’s lovely!
Learned more with this video than 98% of the videos I have watched
These videos are very much appreciated! I just got my first gaited horse so I'm brand new to the gaits and this has been very helpful!
Excellent explanation of the gaits that I’ve seen so far! Thank you so much for making this video! Bravo!
Thank you so much!! I have watched so many videos trying to understand the different gaits and have only been confused. Your explanation & pneumonics (yay!) have helped me immensely.
Thank you, Brenda - that was very articulate and interesting - when I learned to ride in Ireland, some 60 years ago, we were just taught the basics, balance, posting at trot, seated at a canter and on to jumping etc. the latter of course with training on how to have the horse on the correct leg for the fence. Sadly I don't ride now but still have my love for horses and have a few horse pals here and there who like to see me coming with a carrot.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Pamela. Many people who no longer own horses still find joy in staying connected in other ways :)
this is so helpful!!!! the colored bell boots were a great idea as well! thank you for taking the time to make this video
Awesome! So glad to hear it's helpful! :)
It would be good to film our own horses to know for sure what they are doing. The slow motion clips were especially helpfull. I'm all for aquire ing an easy to ride gait. That's acually what these awsome gaited horses were bred for! and why this senior rider can still enjoy rideing.
@@wbasmith3627 if you upload a video of your horse on to TH-cam and use Google Chrome as your TH-cam browser, you can change the speed of the video to slow it down. We're also happy to take a look and let you know too! :)
What a breathe of fresh air it was to watch and listen to your gait video. 2 things that I really enjoyed hearing are these, 1- Letting the horse use HIS/HER Brain to balance his own gait, 2nd, Your excellent knowledge of all of the gaits that were performed. I noticed that both the Grey and Black are both Righty's...As in the opposite of the late great Secretariat, Who was a Lefty....After watching many video's on Rocky Mountain Horses " Which I owned the Founding Horse " NUNCIO" I had the pleasure of owning his son, " Knightmoves" ... Thank God I owned that breed before these new owners started using Tennessee Walker Mid Evil Mechanics... and I do mean the word " EVIL" in their devices that those people use on their horses fore feet, to make them lift their forefeet higher than normal...Thank you once again for a wonderful video. God bless you miss ! !
What evil devices are you indicating? Rubber bands and shackles? Or bell boots and ankle bracelets? I have trained my half arab mare in the latter two and see no evil at all in rubber bells boots, my leather ankle bracelets or 2 ounce chains. Your cowboy boots weigh more. I never had luck coordinating my efforts with the first two devices, some may have but I never did. I realize many who were involved initially with the RMH disliked any but the daisy cutters, however to quote my grandfather who taught Agriculture at my high school, "Increases in size, quality, refinement and performance are the signs of a quality breeding program." In other words, breeding quality to quality, the breed will evolve. If you fail to do so, things go backward.
to know how to put into words and knowing how to explain what is or should be natural thinking or common sense that "you're born with" is a hard task to do. I commend you on your speech " the gaite spectrum" very well explained and I agree completely with you on all of it and what rang true for me was the part you spoke about the effect of improper bal and rhythm in the way you ride. so riding a gaited horse like they were a non gaited horse could cause them to break down in their hocks and cause discomfort etc.later down the road. thank you for the info I will share this.
This video Is extremely well explained. New to the gaited world. Thank you for this video
Love this video. I have gaited two gaited horses and I have been trying to figure out what they are doing. This made so much sense and was easy to follow.
Thank you! Wonderful presentation that clears up my understanding of the gaits!!!!
We're glad you found it helpful :)
Very clearly, sensibly and succinctly explained thanks!
I was told my horse would break down at an early age , not sure his breeds, I had won him in a card game , rode him for 32 years then retired him he lived to be 38, he never broke down or had any issues.
Common sense , let them do the gaits they like, ignore the haters .
Nice video - the horse in the running walk is stepping shorter behind on his left hind and over stepping with the righ hind
Excellent explanation of the gaits. Will pass this on to others who have asked me about them.
What a nice black mare. She gaited beautifully. My mom trained Walking Horses for 45 years. I started showing when I was 5. I agree with most of what you said. If you would set her head and push her up into the bridal you would have a nice flat shod mare. Take up on those reins, put your hands down (rest them on the saddle if you have to) and push her into a nice flat walk. Never sacrifice speed for form. Take a deep seat and speed her up into a running walk.
Great information!!! I knew nothing about how these unique moves worked! Thank you!
I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thank you for letting us know :) We wish you many happy and smooth trails in 2020!
Great organization of the gaits.
Have to disagree about the pacing gait. As a teeenager I broke a thoroubread mare that paced. Unfortunately she had no "cow sense" and my boss sold her. Rather than break into a trot she would go into the pace. She could go for hours at about 12 mph. It felt weird at first, but after getting used to it I really enjoyed the pace. This mare was very responsive to neck rein and leg cues. The woman that bought her absolutely loved her.
Very good overview of the basic gaits - thank you!
🍃I really enjoyed your explanation of the gates! A great refresher!🍃
Excellent explanation of gaits. Thank you.
Thank you. I have a new TWH and want to enjoy her. This will help me greatly
Very knowledgeable lady ...
tHANKS . would love to see more colors of horse
Fun fact: before the invention of photography, especially motion photography, nearly every artist got the footfall sequence of a walking horse wrong because it is so hard to track with the naked eye. Same with the gallop. They understood that the horse leaves the ground but they didn't understand where in the sequence this happened. That is why you see old paintings of running horses off the ground with their forelegs and hindlegs extended. In contrast, paintings and drawings depicting trotting or pacing horses generally get it right.
Now I get it! The lateral, the diagonal, stepping pace and pace. Two beat and four beat still learning about.
I'm gad you found it helpful! :)
Imagine one "cycle" or one measure(in musical terms) of a horse's movement being all 4 feet leaving and being put down to the ground once. If horse moves two feet in sync it's two beat. Because two feet leave ground and land at the same time, and then two others. So you get two distinct beats. Four beat is when none of the feet are synchronized. Four feet leave the ground and land at different times. So you get four distinct beats.
Amazing clear to learn video ! Bravo ! Thank you sooo much!
I'm so glad to hear that you found it helpful! That's what it's all about :) I wish you many happy and smooth trails!
Thank you so much for this! I'm an animator, and this has a good variety of walks and gaits. I especially love the colored hooves, they really help discern the legs from one another.
However, I'm wondering if there's any chance to show and explain other gaits, such as the canter, gallop, and some "high stepping" gaits.
That explanation was very helpful!
Thoroughly enjoyed this very easy to understand video! Color coding the feet really helped in seeing the difference. Working with harness race horses I was familiar with the trot vs pace. Then the fox troy and rackwere confusing but no longer! Thanks! Great video .
Thank you for that very clear explanation!
This is GREAT!! I learned a lot! Thank you for making this video!
My Lanta, this lady is knowledgeable.
You explain this so well! Great job! Thank you!
Amazing video for studies. Thank you so much
Very nice explanation. Thank you.
Thank you .... very nicely and clearly explained!
Thanks for the explanation of the gaits. Ive always wondered what the fox trot was.
I have an icelandichorse and they can do all of these things, but we dont want our breed to do the fox trot or step-pace. If they do they are unbalanced in there gait tölt.. =)
very well explained. thank you
Beautiful, I learned so much, can you come to Florida?
I just bought a gaited horse but It seems I can't get him to lope. Is it possible for gaited horses to not be able to pick up a lope at all?
Congratulations on going gaited! I'm glad you found us :) Loping/cantering can be a great way to help a horse who is laterally-oriented break up their muscle and neurological memory to help even out their footfall pattern. Loping up hills can be really beneficial especially, since it helps engage their back-ends, which we want them to do when performing an evenly timed 4-beat gait. There are some caveats here, though, so I'm going to include a couple of links on our website that discuss this very topic that I hope you find helpful :)
gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/can-i-canter-my-gaited-horse
gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/cantering-the-gaited-horse-q-a
gaitedhorsesaddles.com/blogs/news/how-and-when-to-trot-or-canter-your-gaited-horse
Jamie Evan
Aye, this is the best instructional video about gaits I ever saw. I understand now why Tennessee Walkers (natural ones!) and Racking horses are the smoothest. Here is a question though: what defines the Paso Fino and Paso Largo gaits, and the Icelandic horse's gaits, like the tolt? Where do they fall on the spectrum?
I've never owned a horse, or rode one. I also have no clue how I got here but... thanks for the information xD
P.S. The closest I can get to owning and riding a horse is playing Star Stable Online... LIV IF YOU'RE READING THIS WHY WONT YOU PLAY ;-;
The pink boots are easier to see than the green.
This was truly fascinating thank you
This really is excellent. Thanks.
We're so glad you found it helpful! Brenda had such a way of explaining things to make them seem so simple! I still review all her videos periodically. ~Jamie PS--I love the shoe in your profile picture :)
Great job describing this!
Extremely good!
thank you! ever informative!
Please visit us at phoenixrisingsaddles.com for more gait training info and check out our line of humane and effective tack
Also, here is an article that outlines simple tests you can perform to determine if your saddle fits your horse. If their saddle is uncomfortable, it prevents them from rounding up and collecting under saddle, which makes a smooth 4-beat gait pretty much impossible. If your horse stiffens up against the saddle, they usually ventro-flex their back instead of rounding up through their back. This can cause undue stress on the stifles and hocks, leading to long-term soundness issues. Saddle fit is always the first thing you want to rule out when tackling gait training. phoenixrisingsaddles.com/gaited-horse-training/87-does-your-saddle-fit-your-horse
Unfortunately, the horse she used for the Running Walk was still moving slightly on the lateral - notice the loss of head nod at the faster gait. But, it's almost impossible to find a truly square gaited Walking horse these days. All nice horses in the video, though. I couldn't listen to her comments at work, so I don't know if she addressed the lateral movement of the running walk horse when he moved from the walk to running walk. Look for foundation bloodlines......
+Paula SundustFarm Yes, great catch! It's very common for horses to maintain a very slightly lateral movement while doing the run-walk. The same thing happens with the horse that's Foxtrotting, except with the diagonals. She's moving very slightly on the diagonal at times too :)
she's saying that it's a myth that the running walk is defined by the head nod (at 9:30 mark). it's the over reach of the hind past the track that the front has just left that defines it from a rack. yet she says that such movement does cause head nod. then she says the length of neck, back, etc, may effect the degree of head nod, from slight to significant. no wonder I'm confused! sounds like we're right back to a head nod defining a horse is doing the running walk! :)
I know it's a lot to wrap your brain around! LOL. I think what she meant is to not look at the nod, or lack thereof, to define the gait. The nod is a result of the understride and the horse using its head to keep their balance. When analyzing gait, definitely look at the legs and the footfall pattern to determine the gait and not just if they're nodding their heads or not :)
She explained it perfectly. If you don't understand, watch the slow motion parts over again. My stud horse had a headset like a knight on a chess board, in every gait except for an all out run/gallop...but, people try to control their horses head, and in doing so, they mess up the horses natural gaits. That is so true...
The nod IS the most important aspect of the flat walk and running walk. In the old days there was a saying 'if he's not nodding, he's not walking!". Trainers create a problem lumping all "gaited" breeds together, because the others are lateral, a good Walking horse should be moving on the diagonal. Very few good Walkers around anymore.
Very interesting 🐎
Where does the Paso fino gait fall in this spectrum? I am referring to one that is natural and not tormented to the clipped gait for show?
Hi Linda :) While every breed of gaited horse claims a unique set of gaits, the gaits on the gait spectrum are the only true gaits a horse will perform. However, various breeds do have a slightly different appearance when gaiting due to variants in conformation and training, and breed associations have developed different names for these gaits. In a nutshell, the classic paso fino gait is a very short-strided rack or stepping pace; the paso corto is a rack or stepping pace with average length of stride; the paso largo is the running walk; the trocha is the foxtrot. Same with the Tolt for Icelandics, which is either a rack or stepping pace. I hope this helps! ~Jamie
Phoenix thanks for the answer that was very helpful.
Thank you very much! Great video. Easy to understand. Would it be correct to say that at the rack, a horse has only one foot on the ground at a time, which would also be true for a horse at the walk gait?
hi, i do hope you can help me out a little. my mare (hafe appaloosa halfe german riding pony, now 20yo) has always had trouble to perform a clear 3 beat galop. what she does naturally is a 4 beat, beeing discribed as ‚trotting hindfoots and galopping frontfoots‘. might this be a gait as well? or is it just a beat problem, as trainers have been telling me for 14years? mind, none of them are gait experienced. thank you for all the information you‘ re providing!!!
After rewatching this video I agree that it is most important to allow your horse to do what comes naturally. I would never be concerned with 3 or 4 beats. Your pony has its own way of moving...yes it does sound like your mare is gaited. She sounds like a fun horse to ride.
I would watch for signs of arthritis and pain/damage that come with age. At some point every good pony needs to be retired.
@@saturnslipper thank you for taking the time!!!
Running and walk and stepping looks similar
whats the difference between the Rack and the tölt?
Very helpful and clear!
I'm glad you found it helpful! Brenda had such a way of explaining things that made it so simple to understand. Feel free to check out our free natural gait training library on our website phoenixrisingsaddles.com/gaited-horse-training/gaited-horse-training-library. There are all the videos you see here plus a ton of articles written by Brenda Imus :)
Awesome! Where would jog and the flat walk come into play here?
The jog has the same footfall pattern of the trot, being completely diagonal, just performed more slowly and usually with less extension in the front legs and movement in the hocks. The walk is the "mother of all gaits" so basically the walk, running-walk, and rack all have the same footfall patterns. The running walk and rack are performed faster and with the running-walk, there is a longer stride in the back legs and sometimes (depending on the horse) more reach and/or lift in the front. I hope this helps :)
4 beat stepping pace
Actually bad?
Thank you!
The grey spotted horse was not trotting. The diagonals were not even. The black horse with the yellow shirted rider looks sore in the near (left) hip - it’s not following through as much as the offside (right) leg.
Can gaited horses gaited in a circle?
So is a horse that flat walks going to have soundness issues too?
No not at all. All horses flat walk, and we often ride at the flat walk on the trail. It's good to allow them a chance to let their muscles relax and not ride in a super collected frame all the time. Many gaited horses have really big flat walks and you can feel a lot of movement under the saddle and others not so much. Just depends on your horse. So a flat walk is just fine for your horse :)
the example of the trot at 4:10 is wrong,not a good example as that appy is doing the indian shufffle (what this video calls the fox trot)if you watch all the gaits are pretty much the same just how the horse tends to extend or not. This video also left out the icelandic horse and the tolt, which genetic studies show is the origin of all gaited horses. The stepping pace looks like the tolt and flying pace. never heard of it making icelandic horses have problems. I also wish they had not used black horses in this . it makes it very hard to see which leg is moving when.
Hi Shewolfen, the walkaloosa (Purim Moon) featured in the trot portion does slip into a foxtrot in a couple spots. I agree it's not ideal to showcase the trot, but it is helpful to see how a horse can slip back and forth between two and four beat gaits. The true trot is exactly equally timed on diagonal fore and back footfalls. We used to have a few spot appy stud, Moon's sire, that performed a true natural Indian Shuffle, which is different from the foxtrot in that the back foot sets down slightly before the diagonal front foot. She ended up being more diagonally oriented than her sire. The foxtrot that she tends to slip into, her front foot sets down a split second before the opposite back foot. A true Indian Shuffle consists of the horse moving two lateral sets of legs nearly, but not quite, in unison. The hind leg sets down an instant before the fore leg. In other words, it is a form of the stepping pace. What sets it apart from other stepping paces is that the hind leg literally shuffles as it sets down under the horse. This has a fabulous shock absorbing effect for the rider. Unlike many other kinds of horses that do a stepping pace, these horses generally will not 'square up' their gaits--the shuffle is an entirely dominant genetic characteristic. Also unlike other pacey animals, Indian Shuffling horses tend to have an easy, wonderful canter, and a very lateral walk.
The footfall pattern of the tolt is the same as the walk, rack, and running-walk. Each foot moves independently of the other and is performed at very high speeds. The difference between the four is the timing and also differences in the lift and reach between the different gaits. I wish we had a video of horse performing this very fun gait for the video, but Brenda was unable to find an Icey for the video shoot :)
I'm looking at what you are calling an over step in the running walk and it still is short of what I call tracking up. That is the horses rear foot fall steps into or beyond that of the opposite fore foots hoof print. So none of theses gates add to of encourage collection?
Collection can be taught at any gait and it makes the best even better. However, it is a very difficult concept to impart to people and it does require some physical as well as mental effort on the part of the rider, not just sitting like a sack of potatoes.. Many prefer to just let the horse string along as he pleases. In addition, the contact required to aid in collection can cause some horses to square up and get trotty, therefore causing their riders to avoid using such contact. It's a fine line to walk, getting that concept of collection through to your equine student.
Is stepping pace the same as tölt for icelandic horses? I never heard that tölt is bad for them.
The footfall pattern of the tolt is the same as the walk, rack, and running-walk. Each foot moves independently of the other and is performed at very high speeds. The difference between the four is the timing and also differences in the lift and reach between the different gaits. With the step-pace, it's almost as if the left side and right side are each working congruently except instead of the same-side front and back foot landing together, the back foot lands a split second before the front, reducing the concussion for the rider but placing a lot of strain on the back, stifle and hocks.
I Personally love stepping pace because it's smooth and comfortable and fast and flashy in a show ring when the regular horses do normal jogs u can't be overlooked, when it's a very flashy movement. When I had my saddlebred ceasar the judge absolutely loved him and his unique movement, I'd say to just give them joint supplement as they age , stepping pace is good on trails too. And most gaited horses prefer to do it, over more complex movements. Many naturally automatically do stepping pace in place of jog/trot.
I don't know much about horses but am very interested. Is the gate of a horse learned by the horse or does each horse have a natural gate? Also when I was watching the Queens Household Cavalrymen ride they seem to be lifting themselves up and down in the saddle when riding. Is this because the horses are Pacing?
Thank you so much for answering my Question. Horses are such majestic animals.
Naturally gaited horses are both built to gait and also wired neurologically to do so. Rebecca is right about the trot--although riding a pace is no fun either! LOL. How the horse is built will decide what gaits they will naturally perform. They also have to move so that each leg is moving independently from the other (quadridexterous) so this requires neurological wiring (naturally and through practice as well) to help them coordinate. Horses that are more lateral (move the front and back leg on the same side together) will pace and if we help them 'square up' they will perform a running-walk or a rack. Some gaited horses are diagonally oriented, so they move the opposite side legs together and tend to trot. Those horses can naturally transition into the smoother foxtrot or rack once they move their legs more independently of one another. I hope this helps add to your bucket of knowledge :) ~ Jamie
Having seen the posting to ride the trot as you described must be very tiring for the rider with having to alternately stand in the stirrups and then sit back down. However I must say it is attractive to watch; it gives the impression of precision and neatness. Thanks again Rebecca for enlightening me.
Thank you very much for the technical information. I never knew that there was so much to know about the gates of horses.
And what if they have the walker's head tied down to his/her chest, where I see them like that
Hi Pam, unfortunately sometimes methods are used to force artificial collection and/or headset. Tying down the head is one of these techniques. We advocate for natural training practices. Regarding this method in particular, because a horse uses it's head as a pendulum for balance, we feel it's not a humane practice to impede horses' abilities to move the way they naturally need to. Gaited horses are gaited naturally. We advocate for providing them comfortable tack that allows them complete freedom of movement. This in turn allows them to collect into their natural form, rounded up through the back, neck, and poll, which is key for them to perform an evenly timed 4-Beat gait :)
Easily understood explanation of gates....
and this is why i don’t mess with gaited horses
Excellente!
Why is the stepping pace so hard on the horse???
Maryah Cook they travel hollowed out sway backed and do not support the weight of the rider. brother are not using these hind end properly so there hocks take Alot of the concussion when being ridden.
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Watch it again and explain to me the difference in stepping pace and running walk. Look the same to me.
It's a very subtle difference but can make a big difference in how it feels for the rider. With the pace, the legs on the same side work congruently. With the step-pace, they work almost exactly together, but the back foot sets down a fraction of a second before the same-side front leg. This reduces the concussion the rider feels because instead of being a two-beat gait, it's now an unevenly timed 4 beat gait with no moment of suspension between each side setting down. This is evident if you watch the rider instead of the horse next time around. She bounces significantly more with the pace than the step-pace (watch it in the real time and not slow motion and it's very evident. Ideally you want all four legs to 'square up' and become evenly timed to get them moving in good form. The result of this is a rack or running-walk, depending on the speed and amount of overstride in the back. I hope this helps!
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Thank you!