The Natural Gaits of Horses

Horse gaits refer to the motions they make as they go from one place to another. It doesn't refer to fencing in any way. (That would be "gates".) In humans, gaits tend to be crawling, walking, hopping, skipping and running. Horses have many more ways of getting from here to there. There are two kinds of gaits in horses - natural and those taught by man. Let's look at the natural equine gaits.

Pronking

This is a one-beat gait that looks like the horse hopping with all four legs. It's called a one-beat gait because that's the sound a horse makes when pronking - BEAT... BEAT... BEAT. Not all horses will pronk, and some will only do it foals larking about in play. You will often see rodeo bucking horses do this as well as goats and certain species of antelopes.

Trotting

This is much easier to watch rather than describe. The horse moves in a two-beat way where only diagonal pairs of legs move in the same direction. Let's try and translate that. A horse's legs on one side of the body will move in the opposite direction that the other side of the body. If you were looking at the horse's left side, you sill see that pair of legs meet each other and then move away from each other.

Pacing

Many horses have to be taught how to pace, but there are horses who will do this naturally. This is another, slightly faster two-beat gait where the legs on the same side move in the same direction. So, if we're looking at a horse's left side and he's pacing by us, his legs will be working in unison, going in the same direction at the same time. This can be a very painful gait to ride. Some Standardbreds have been known to pace just as fast as other breeds of horses can gallop.

Ambling

This is also known as "pacing", which can make things confusing. Other terms include tolt, Indian shuffle and single-footing. This is a four beat gait similar to a walk but done very quickly and with minimal movement of the spine. Amblers are comfortable ride but as not as fast as trotters. Trotting horses were preferred for commercial carriages over paved roads.

Fox Trot

This is a gait that is more natural in some breeds of horse, like the Missouri Fox Trotter and the Rocky Mountain Horse. Many horses have to be taught this gait when under saddle, even though you often see them do a fox trot when goofing around in their pastures. In the fox trot, the horse walks with the forelegs and trots with the hind legs. The beats tend to form a pattern that has been called "a chunk of meat and two potatoes". The forelegs make longer strides than the hind legs.

Canter

This is a slow, controlled gallop that makes only three beats to astride. This is because two legs are hitting the ground at the same time during a stride. The horse will look like she's rocking up and down in a dancing way at the canter. It sounds somewhat like BA-BA-BEAT for one stride.

Gallop

This is the horse going flat out. Each hoof hits the ground at a different time, so it's a four beat gait. In comparison to the canter, the horse looks lower and stretched out, without any of the rocking motion of a canter. This is the horse's fastest gait and incredibly smooth to ride, although it will take your breath away.