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Equine Sciences Extension
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Horse Locomotion - Introduction
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.
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