Equine 2: Horse Gaits and Movements

Terminology of Movement 1. A gait is an equine’s way of going or moving its legs during movement 2. A beat refers to the time a foot or two feet simultaneously hit the ground. 3. A step is the distance between the imprints of the two front legs or the two hind legs

4. A stride is the distance between successive imprints of the same foot 5. Directness, also called trueness is the line in which the foot is carried forward during the stride. 6. Spring is the manner in which weight settles back on the supporting leg at the completion of the stride. 7. Balance refers to the ability of the equine to coordinate action, go composed and in form

Components of a Stride 1. A stride has two phases Stride stance is the weight bearing phase Stride suspension or swing is the non-weight bearing phase

2. The speed of a horse is affected by: Length of stride, rapidity or frequency of stride and overlap time Overlap time is the time on the ground versus the time off the ground

Natural Gaits (no training) 1. Walk is a slow, even, four-beat gait The sequence of hoof-beats is first – left hind, next, left fore, then- right hind, and finally – right fore Both feet on one side strike the ground before the feet on the opposite side strike the ground

Walk

2. Trot is a two-beat gait where the diagonal fore and hind legs act together A period of suspension when all four feet are off the ground occurs between each beat There are different styles of trotting: road horse trot is fast-stepping, hackney trot and heavy harness trot are high-stepping forms of trotting

Trot

3. Canter or lope is a three beat collected gait where the equine carries more weight on its haunches or rear quarter Sequence of hoof-beats for canter is first – right rear hoof, next- left rear and right front striking the ground at the same time and last- left front hoof. Canter is performed in slow, animated, rhythm.

Canter

4. Gallop or run is a fast, four-beat gait Sequence of hoof-beats is first- one hind foot, next- the other hind foot, then- the diagonal forefoot followed by the remaining forefoot A period of suspension follows the four beats. Racehorses use the gallop or run gait

Other Gaits 1. Pace is a two-beat, lateral gait used for speed with the fore and hind legs on the same side moving together. The gait has a rolling motion. 2. Slow gait or stepping pace is a show gait that uses a lateral, four beat gait where the front foot on the right is followed by the hind foot on the right

3. Rack (sometimes called the single foot) is an even, fast four-beat lateral gait that is hard on the equine’s forelegs due to increased amount of concussion from the excessive leg movement. Rack is easy on the rider

4. Running walk is the fast walk of a Tennessee walking horse where the horse travels with a gliding motions as a result of extending its hind leg forward to overstep the forefoot print. 5. Back is actually trotting in reverse

Gait Defects 1. May interfere or cause injury to the equine 2. Forging is the striking of the toe of the hind foot against the sole of the forefoot. 3. Interfering is when the foot of the striding leg strikes the supporting leg and usually occurs between the supporting front leg a striding front leg or between a supporting hind leg and a striding hind leg

4. Winding is twisting the front leg around in front of the supporting leg as each stride is taken and is common with wide-chested horses 5. Other gait defects include scalping, speedy-cutting, cross-firing, pointing, swelling, trappy, pounding and rolling

Center of Gravity, Conformation and Gaits 1. Most commonly located in the middle of the rib cage just caudal to the line separating the cranial and middle thirds of the body 2. Because the center of gravity is located more cranially, the forelimbs bear 60-65% of the equine’s weight resulting in more stress and lameness in the forelimbs

3. Conformation for structure of the horse can be generalized to say that basically an equine that stands straight is likely to move straight and true.