Horse Riding Training

THE WALK

The walk has four beats. Your horse picks up each foot and puts it down separately. If your horse took his first step at a walk with his right front leg, the footfall sequesce would be right front, left hind, left front, and then right hind. If the first step he took was with the right hind, the next foot to move would be his right front, left hind, and left front. If the hind foot moves first it moves the front foot on the same side. If a front foot moves first it will pull the diagonal hind foot.

Next time you are walking take your time and watch the footfall of your horses feet.

THE TROT

A trot is a two beat gait, with the horse’s feet moving in diagonal pairs. The right front and left hind strike the ground at the same time; then the left front and right hind will strike the ground at the same time.

When you talk about a horse’s” Diagonal,” you are speaking about which diagonal front and hind foot pair is moving at the same time.

CANTER

There are three beats to a canter: two of your horses feet move together in a diagonal pair and strike the ground at the same time, and the other two feet hit independently. When you are cantering around an arena on the “CORRECT” lead, the first footfall in each stride’s sequence would be your horses outside hind. The next beat is the diagonal pair of inside hind and outside front feet moving and hitting the ground simultaneously. Finally, the inside front foot will strike the ground to complete the sequence. For a moment before the next sequence starts – all four feet are in the air.

BACKING UP – TWO BEAT

There are two beats in a back up. The footfall sequence in a back up is the same as in a trot.   Follow the trop patteern.

The gaits I have described are the gaits most horses should be able to do. However, there are horses – the “gaited” breeds like Tennessee Walkeers, Missouri Fos Trotters, Paso Finos, Peeruvian Paso, and Saddlebreds that will do variations of these gaits. There are also times due to a horse’s physical problem, rider error, or rider choice that the footfall and beats of therse gaits may also be altered.

At Najorka Performance Horses  http://centralflareiner.com we work with horses to understand human error.  Or help the human think like a horse.

Josie and Rover cantering