Equine Sciences Extension Program
Horse Locomotion - Introduction
Table of Contents
A basic understanding of how horses move can be very useful in riding, training, analyzing and caring for your horse.
A gait can be defined as a particular way of going, either natural or acquired, which is characterized by a distinctive rhythmic movement of the feet and legs. The natural gaits which we would see in the wild state are walk, trot, pace and gallop. Under domestication some have been modified and are called acquired gaits. These are the slow lope, running walk, rack, stepping pace, and fox trot.
We can also classify gaits according to how they ride. For instance hard gaited and easy gaited. Both of these are affected by conformation, breed and training. For example, steep shouldered horses are usually hard gaited while long sloping shouldered horses are usually easy gaited.
The breed effect may be seen; for example, between walking horse breeds and other breeds. Young horses are usually rough gaited until they learn to carry the rider’s weight.
The essentials of a satisfactory way of going is straight-line action, long strides, regularity of gait (meaning free, fluid and regular), and briskness of gait.
Each of the gaits have a particular foot placement called beats. The first beat of a gait is always started with the hind legs.