12 February 2009 ~ 6 Comments

Posted in Ask The Experts,Behavior at 12 February 2009

Gaits

Dear Stella,

Can a horse back up at canter? And I heard that some horses can have up to five different gaits – is that true?

From, EC

Dear EC,

The answer to your first question is no – but then why would you want to? As for horse gaits – that’s a tricky question, as people define gaits differently. Some people say there are three basic gaits: walk, trot and canter (with gallop being a variation of a canter) while others consider the gallop a separate fourth gait. But here are some additional gaits: pace, slow gait, rack, tölt and fox trot. The Pace is a two-beat gait where the two legs on the same side of the horse move together. The slow gait developed from the pace, but is more at a walk speed. Racking is a 4-beat pacing gait common to the American Saddlebred. The tölt is considered the fifth gait of the Icelandic Horse. The fox trot is a four-beat diagonal gait specific to the Missouri Foxtrotter. The Paso Fino horse has its own distinctive gaits, too.

Love, Stella

6 Responses to “Gaits”

  1. HorseCrazy 16 September 2010 at 1:29 pm Permalink

    First Commant!!!

  2. ponygirl 22 September 2010 at 7:51 pm Permalink

    second commant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • ponygirl 5 August 2011 at 5:48 pm Permalink

      im ponygirl (the same pony girl) but i cant get into my account!! i tried to get a new password and i tried the old one but nothings working!! it says that it sent the email, but we cant find it!! i really need to get into it because i need to use my points before pony closes

      • ponygirl 5 August 2011 at 5:56 pm Permalink

        Please help bobbie or who ever else can help me :(

        Oh, and i ride saddlebreds which are 5 gaited but i only know 3 of the 5 gaits

  3. horselover1146-Brianna and Kingston 8 March 2011 at 9:14 am Permalink

    Stella is wrong. You can get your horse to back up at the canter. I did. And yes horses that are gaited, such as Tennessee Walking Horses, American Saddlebreds, and Kentucky Saddlebreds perform 5 gaits.

  4. ponygirl 6 August 2011 at 2:53 pm Permalink

    aren’t morgans gaited as well?


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