PREMADASA RIDING SCHOOL

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GAITS

 GAITS...

Let's run through the basics!

A horse has a few basic gaits ...

  • ·       Walk
  • ·         Trot
  • ·         Canter
  • ·         Gallop 

And some horses have...

  • ·         Pace

 

But there are fun in between gaits as well!!! These are usually called AMBLING GAITS or INTERMEDIATE GAITS. Some are...

  • ·         revaal
  • ·         foxtrot
  • ·         racking
  • ·         tölt 

WALK ...

The simplest gait and sometimes the hardest, the WALK has 4 beats... or 4 hooffalls.

Seems pretty obvious?

One hoof touching the ground 1 after the other. 

The TROT is the the first sample of SPEED that riders tend to get! (hopefully)

The hooves TROT on DIAGONAL PAIRS!!!

  • Left hind and right fore
  • Right hind and left fore

Its always a 2 beat.

 

CANTER!!

This is the one most Riders LOVE!!!!

The CLOSEST to FLYING you can get being GROUNDED!!! 

It's like a WALTZ!!!

3beats... 3 times you hear the hooves touching the ground!!

  • Left Hind leg

  • Right Hind leg & left fore leg

  • Right Fore leg

 GALLOP!!!

Takes some level of CONTROL to HOLD a HORSEY that can go 40-48km/hour!!!

This is the SPEED you SEE each time you visit the RACE COURSE and you see horses POUNDING the TRACK!!!

It is SIMILAR to CANTER, but has a 4th beat... that means like the walk all 4 hooves touch the ground at individually!!!

  • Outside Hind Leg

  • Inside Hind Leg

  • Outside Foreleg

  • Inside Foreleg (leading leg)

  • (Moment of suspension= flight)

There is a moment in a the canter and gallop where the horse is completely off the ground!!

And then gravity calls the horse down the start the canter/gallop cycle all over again!!!

 




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