What Gait is my Gaited Horse Doing?

If you have a gaited horse, you know exactly what I am talking about. If you are lucky enough to have a multi-gaited horse, figuring out what gait the horse is doing when you are in the saddle can be tricky. I have spent the past 8 years trying to understand gait in the gaited horse. It's easy to see the difference between a trot and a pace, but there are several gaits that fall inbetween that spectrum that is difficult to tell the difference until you train your eyes to see the footfall of the individual horse. Starting with still pictures is best, then graduate to video where you can see the gait, then go back and pause to stop the action and see the individual footfalls will help train your eye.

But how do you transfer that knowledge to the saddle? You have to know the gaits, the footfalls, and what the body does, and a big clue from the saddle is the motion of the head. Here is a video I took from Whisper's back when she went back and forth between the Stepping Pace and the Saddle Rack:



Most people who have gaited horses have them for their smooth gait. Frankly, most of these gaited horse owners don't give a damn what their horse is doing as long as it is smooth and doesn't jar their dental work! Then, when the horse falls out of gait, they mistakenly go to a bigger bit, or heavy shoes in front or back to try and get the gait back. How stupid and sad for the horse! Gaited horses change gait depending on the balance point of the rider; therefore, if the rider is too far forward, or more commonly, too far back in the saddle, the horse's gait will change. Hand position of the rider affects the head and neck position of the horse, and that also affects what gait the horse will do.

Gaited horses are becoming more and more popular as baby boomers are getting back into horses and want something smooth to ride. A gaited horse is marketed as being "easy" to ride, but it takes more skill and balance and an independant seat to ride a gaited horse properly. For more information on the different gaits of the gaited horse, go to Amazon.com and order the Bible of Gaited horses: " Easy-Gaited Horses" by the late Lee Ziegler. I was fortunate enough to get an autographed copy of Lee's book before she passed away from Lou Gherig's disease. Lucky for us gaited horse owner's, Lee left a great legacy in her book. It is also lucky for the horse, because she shows how to get gait without all the horrible bits, weighted shoes, etc. Thank you, Lee!