What are Gaited Horses?

Thoroughbreds are not considered a breed that can "gait" as the breed is now since they lack the gaiting set of genes. Perhaps in the future thoroughbreds will be crossed with gaited hroses to make for a more comfortable ride. But if you are curious as what a gaited horse is in the present times, read on.

EDIT: The Trail Rider magazine claims that some thoroughbreds do seem to learn at least one gait.

Gaited horses are horses that can perform certain gaits, or ways of moving. These gaits are different than the usual walk, trot, canter and gallop. These gaits have gone under many different names over the centuries, such as the amble or the Indian shuffle, but in modern times they are often called the slow gait, rack, running walk, foxtrot and the pace.  This pace is different from pacing seen in harness racing.

Naturally gaited breeds include the Icelandic horse, the Sorraria pony, the Tennessee Walker, the Rocky Mountain horse, the Missouri Foxtrotter (pictured), the American Saddlebred, some strains of mustangs, the McCurdyPlantation horse, the Racking horse, the North American Single-footing horse, the Marawri of India, the Rahvan of Turkey and several South American breeds such as the Peruvian Paso and the Paso Fino.

The Rise of the Trotter

In the days when people had to ride for hours every day, horses and ponies with comfortable gaits were a must. These horses were bred so that their spine stayed as still as possible while their legs were moving. This not only became more comfortable for the rider, but also more comfortable for the horse. Gaited horses and were among those sent over to North America on Christopher Columbus’ second boat ride in 1493.

But then roads were developed. In the 1800s, speed was of the essence. It was discovered that many horses trotted faster than they ambled. These trotting horses were strong enough to pull wagons at a steady pace for many miles. They could not go at a flat out-gallop, because the horses would wear out in a few miles. But horses could go much further with less risk of injury if they kept up a good trot.

Trotting breeds took over in the 1800s to the point that even riding horses such as the developing Thoroughbred trotted rather than ambled. But some ambling horses remained and were nurtured by a diminishing number of people who still rode for many hours a day. One notable exception was the Icelandic horse, which are all born gaited. Iceland banned importing any horses in 930 AD.

What’s Old is New Again

Horses are now ridden recreationally more than ever, although there are some areas in the world that still rely on the horses for transportation over rugged terrain, such as rocky parts of Kazakhstan and the great cattle ranches of South America. Interest in horses that didn’t hurt the rider’s behinds rose after World War II.

There is now a great interest in revitalizing gaited breeds from all over the world and teaching other horses such as retired Standardbred race horses these gaits in order to make them more adoptable. Theoretically, any horse can be trained to do these gaits, but those breeds with a genetic predisposition to gait will learn faster.

Sadly, some horse shows encourage exaggerating gaits withartificial devices like chains, growing hooves absurdly long or painting the hooves with chemicals that cause a burning sensation.  Horses trained like this may win a few ribbons, but are crippled for life.

Image: Missouri Foxtrotter stallion Quick Trigger by Kayla Oaks for Wikimedia Commons