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HorseSense HorseManShipThe pleasure of riding out on the trail is greatly enhanced when the gaited horse allows the rider to sit comfortable at a very fast walk, or even faster, … rather than having to put up with the bouncing of a trot, or doing all their trail riding at a slow walk.
But a gaited horse is not just comfortable to ride leisurly down the trail, and flashy for the show ring in gaited classes!
More and more gaited horses are proving their abilities at endurance races and competitive trail rides, ghymkhanas, as ranch horses, and in events like reining, cutting and team penning.
Difference between trot and gait:
When the average horse breaks into a trot, thus challenging his rider’s ability to stay comfortable, the gaited horse speeds up but stays in the same 4 beat gait as the walk, moving his legs swiftly, and and giving his rider an incredibly smooth ride.
The style in which the horse accomplishes this varies from breed to breed, as do the names that describe the gait.
Single-foot, amble, rack,corto, largo,toelt or running walk are some. Most gaited horses can stay in gait as fast as a slow trot before they break into a canter, some can gait as fast as a gallop.
Why trot?
Trotting might be uncomfortable to ride, but is considered the most efficient way for a horse to cover long distances at speed.
It also gives the horse a very balanced support on uneven ground, because the diagonal pair of legs move together.
During the part of the stride where all feet are in the air (suspense) at the trot, much ground is covered.
Rocky Mountain Horse
(Some gaited horses also utilize the hoove’s “spring” effect, even though they don’t have near the impact, or the bounce in the back.
This can be observed in horses with a very quick and light footfall, who seem to be able to keep up the fast rythm with no effort).
The Arabians, who are genetically the furthest away from gaited horse breeds, seem to have proved the theory of the trot being the most efficient gait in endurance racing.
But recently more and more Mustangs (whose “shuffle”, is really often a 4 beat gait, even though it looks like a trot), are showing up and doing well in even the toughest 100 mile endurance races, and horses from many gaited breeds can hold their own in a shorter endurance race, and do very well in competitive trail rides, from 25 to 100 miles.History of the gaited horse:
Whether a horse gaits or trots depends on genetics, and for many centuries the Europeans preferred gaited horses, only the poor bounced along on trotters. But the arrival of the horse drawn vehicles and the thrill of steeple – chasing and fox hunting over fences shifted the favor towards trotting horses. Many of the horses raised in Europe were bought by the armed forces, who selected the bigger trotting horses. The Spaniards were the last to breed gaited horses and sent many of them to the New World, where these smooth to ride horses were cherished and considered ideal because of the vastness of the country.
Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse
Paso Fino Horse
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