Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
![]() | This article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||
|
I'm no horse expert, but shouldn't the gallop or run be listed as a fourth gait after the canter? Daniel Quinlan 02:30, Aug 11, 2003 (UTC)
There is no unanimity among various speakers of English. Some people seem to use canter to refer to the three beat "run" and gallop to refer to the four beat "all out run". Other speakers don't use one or the other term at all. Check out the Littauer book I cited. "Gallop" comes into English from old French, and ultimately traces back to a word that means "to run." "Canter" is a contraction of the expression "Canterbury gallop," the slow pace at which pilgrims made their way toward Canterbury. So there is some historical grounds for saying that "canter" should mean slower and "gallop" should mean any "run" or a fast "run." Anyway, any horse book that I've already seen speaks of three gaits. And there are "three-gaited horses" and "five-gaited horses." The five-gaited horses do the original 3 plus two other gaits, neither of which is a "fast canter."
The important thing is that there are several different ways that horses can order the movements of their legs. I'm looking for one of my books that may describe the other two gaits that five-gaited horses do. Harnes racing horses either trot or "pace. In the pace, both legs on the left side move, then both legs on the right side move.
It is these mechanics that we need to get down clearly. What people, as individuals, prefer to call the gaits is an "ee-thur" "eye-thur" kind of question, I think.
Patrick0Moran 03:50, 11 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I've read in various places that canter and gallop are two separate gaits. I tried a modification to the article to distinguish a bit more between the two. I'm finding sources that point either way on the net:
vs. (first two are about Icelandic horses, the latter is a comment from a Spanish reader regarding the first link I listed above)
From this, I'm left to conclude that 3 vs. 4 is a matter of perspective, opinion, language, culture, or some combination of those. I'm going to see if I can make appropriate changes to the article to present a NPOV. Daniel Quinlan 06:26, Aug 11, 2003 (UTC)
Well, I'm done that, I hope the result is to everyone's liking. Now, someone just needs to merge the information found in gaits into this article; it looks like the majority of the articles linking to gaits are about human gaits or are at least not about horse gaits (a few are about horse gaits, though). Daniel Quinlan 08:54, Aug 11, 2003 (UTC)
I think there may have been some sense that the word "canter" is elegant, and "gallop" is crude. Also the language is changing. (I expect to hear a BBC announcer say something like, "She writed her name on form," any day now.)
There are lots of people who express opinions on the WWW, not all of them qualified to make authoritative determinations. In principle, I would rather go with a recognized authority like Margaret Cabell Self. In her book Horsemastership, she says: "The correct term for the canter is the gallop and until a few years ago only the term gallop was used in international competition. However many people think that a canter is the slow form of a gallop and in the most recent book on the Olympic Games put out by the British Horse Society the term canter is used." She then goes on to give 5 subcategories of the gallop.
Her book was written in 1952, so there has been plenty of time for the language to change. I think the right thing to do is to concentrate on the description of the gait and its sub-divisions, and then say that there are different choices of terms made for these several variations and the gait(s).
Patrick0Moran 02:14, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)
I just added
I'm unclear as to when the various feet leave the ground. Does the left hind foot leave the ground before or after the left front foot hits the ground? Does the right hind foot leave the ground before or after the right front foot hits the ground? In other words, is there ever a point in time when there are three feet touching the ground? AxelBoldt 21:10, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)
The etymology of canter is as you say from Canterbury - and amazingly at one time people did actually think a canter was just a slow gallop - happily for art lovers everywhere Muybridge and his motion picture experiment disproved the four foot 'rocking-horse' flyer and showed us that a gallop and a canter are two distinct gaits.
Modern authority (i.e. the British Horse Society) is quite clear that the gallop is distinct from the canter and the BHS examines the transition between the canter and gallop as two separate gaits. GavinCorder (talk) 14:37, 14 January 2010 (UTC)
Piers Anthony in one of his books refers to a five-beat gait used by a unicorn in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat a rider. Is this actually possible or is this a totally made-up idea? --Phil | Talk 13:51, Jul 22, 2004 (UTC)
§ There is something called a "disunited canter" in which the horse somehow scrambles the normal sequence. I'm not sure what the sequence could be, but it is very uncomfortable for the rider and probably for the horse. I think the horse pushes off with a front leg, let's say the left leg. There is a moment when almost all the horse's weight is on the front left leg. Then the horse lands on the right front and the right rear leg, as though it were one beat of the pace. With momentum going forward it now has only one choice of what to land on, the left rear foot. If it were to land next on the right front foot it would be in position to get a normal canter going, but it can't do that because it's just used its right front foot and can't reach forward with it in time, so it lands on all it's got left, which is the left front foot. Then it lands on the right front and right rear, which is what it did the first time around. If it were to pace the legs used would be right, but it is not putting right front and right rear and then left front and left rear down exactly together because it is still trying to canter. So in all the confusion you actually might get five individual beats going as the horse joggles back and forth trying to regain its balance. I'm just guessing. Somebody would have to use high-speed motion photography to really figure it out I guess. But it feels like you are riding a washing machine in spin cycle with an unbalanced load. P0M 14:55, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC)
No, a "disunited canter" is the same as "cross-firing" (see canter). A disunited canter will produce 3 beats. A five-beated gait is totally made up, and not seen in any equids today. They will only put each foot down once in a a stride, its just the variables of the stide (length of time each foot is down, and sequence of footfalls) that changes the gait. So unless you know of a five-legged horse, their isn't a five-beat gait. --Eventer
WP:V Only two gaits are natural to wild horses: the walk and the gallop. The trot and the canter have been developed in horses through domestication, breeding, and training. (Similarly, back at horse, there's the line The canter is not a natural gait, but a restrained form of a gallop.) Where did that come from?
First, the trot is a basic horse gait. Even day-old foals can and do trot, so it's not taught. The trot is the basic "going somewhere" gait for a horse.
The canter is a natural gait, too. The normal horse gait for fast movement is a canter; the gallop is more for emergencies, and most breeds can't sustain it for very long. Young horses do canter.
There's a gait tutorial for young riders here: , and it says the usual, that walk, trot, canter, and gallop are all natural gaits.
See this note from Temple Grandin on herding wild mustangs at trot and canter..
There are some subtle intermediate forms possible between the canter and the gallop; see . It's possible, although difficult, to gradually change from one to the other. But that's something done at the higher levels of dressage only, and has to be taught. Most horses will explicitly transition. But, since at the higher levels of equitation, those intermediate forms are seen, there's a tendency to use one term for both gaits. AT that level, you're teaching the horse to dance.
More cites are available if needed, from Xenophon to Podjasky to the British Pony Club Manual.
That "canter is not a natural gait" line is now all over the web, all copied from Wikipedia. --John Nagle 23:26, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
Ryan Barks : I have always been taught that there are 4 types of gaits walk, trot/special gait, lope/canter, and gallop/run. Everything else is semantics I think. Your basic garden variety horse will do all of these gaits in the pasture nearly from birth. The "straight goinig" breeds (quarter horse, thoroughbred, morgan, arabian, appaloosa, etc) walk, trot, canter, gallop. Call them what you will, those are the movements. The so called "gaited horses" will naturally walk, gait (running walk, paso largo, foxtrot, etc), canter, and gallop. through training some will lose the canter and only walk, gait, gait faster, and eventually gallop.
I do not claim to be an expert myself, but I know people who definitly are. My father has been in the gaited horse business for nearly 20 years.
this is an interesting discussion because as I understand it there was some debate for years on what happens to a horses feet when running. with the invention of slow motion photography we knw know that there is a suspension phase. Some people say a gallop is a 4 beat gait. I still say it is three. Listen to a horse run on a hard packed surface. It is three beats, like a canter, just a different rhythm. Techincally from seeing it in slow motion there are four separate footfalls, but you dont hear them that way. A trot is two, a pace is two, but a different two. A "gait" is four. A walk, is, well a walk is a walk.
I didn't put in the merge tag, but it's an interesting question. Fundamental question is if we should have all the gaits in one article, merging the other articles in, or go the other way and be sure there is a separate article for each gait and link a brief summary here to the main article (I think most do have separate articles, though not necessarily linked here). Anyone else who wants to comment? Montanabw 20:32, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
I think that the running walk and the flat walk (from the Tennessee walkers) should also be put in- these wonderful horses have gaits all their own. (see Tennessee Walking Horse on this site).
Katibug 10:44 PM Oct 1 06
This article, conveniently, but inadvertantly I'm sure, contains an excellent example of a horse moving in an "incorrect" gait: the cartoon-like rotoscope (the second one down) of the gallop is not a proper gallop.
Look at the photographic rotoscope above the white, cartoon-like one I am referencing. In a correct (natural) gallop the horse never has both legs from one side down at the same time. The cartoon-like illustration shows the near (closest to the viewer) hind foot stepping down, then the far hind steps followed by the far front, then the near front.
A "disunited" gait occurs when the rider or the horse (or both) is off balance upon starting the gait, when the horse is mis-cued by the rider or when the rider wants the horse to gallop (or canter) incorrectly for a short while as an exercise. The gait is wrong because it causes the horse to be off balanced, and horse and rider could both fall if they try this gait on a circle, therefore, horses at liberty rarely if ever travel disunited.Taosein 21:17, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
It says that the leading leg is the front left while it is the inside front leg, the leading leg changing depending which reign the rider is on.
Your comment would be more credible if you could spell "rein" correctly. That said, will review text and clarify if needed. Montanabw(talk) 18:48, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
In biomechanical terms, amble and walk are walking gaits, trot and pace are running gaits, canter and gallop (separate or together) are leaping gaits. I propose to reorganize this article accordingly. --Una Smith (talk) 02:27, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
Just thinking out loud..... do cows canter? Dogs? I guess they do, we just don't call it that. Which reminds me of this cute video. (Love the tempi changes!). : ) --AeronM (talk) 03:24, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
I have read in some places that the reverse/backing up is considered a gait, and differentiated from the walk in that the footfalls are not the same.... any thoughts on whether or not to add to article? --AeronM (talk) 20:54, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
Gavin, you completely misunderstand me. I DO agree it is standard technical terminology within the international Sport Horse disciplines, particularly dressage. But it is a term of art. The conversation above began over someone, not me, who claimed the term "rein back" was used in WESTERN riding and NOT in English, when in fact, the opposite is true (you and I agree there) And the whole thing arose over the question of whether backing up is a "gait." What I am trying to explain is the term "rein back" is discipline-specific, a horse might back up when it is loose, but it does not "rein back" as here are no reins involved! "Rein back" does not refer to the footfall pattern of backing. It refers to the specific act of horse backing up under the control of a rider in the saddle. Further, outside the sport horse/international disciplines, the term "rein back" is less common, and the simple term "back" is used in its place. Does this clarify my position to you now?? Montanabw(talk) 05:19, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
And PS back atcha, Saddle Seat riding is in fact an "English" discipline, broadly speaking (At least to the same degree as Americans speak "English" at least! LOL!). The USEF rules (Rule EQ-116, to be precise) define the saddle used for the discipline as "Flat English-type. Forward seat, Western and side saddles are prohibited." Now it is definitely NOT one of the sport horse disciplines, obviously, but English in its roots nonetheless. It developed primarily in the United States for use on Saddlebreds and gaited horses, but the saddle is unquestionably derived from "English" styles from tree to stirrups to girthing system, and in fact if you go back 100 years to the older English "show" saddles that placed riders back in the saddle (as opposed to the modern "forward seat") and compare them to the early Saddle Seat designs prior to the modern "Lane Fox" cutback, they were virtually identical. I will agree that you sure as heck can't jump in one, but it IS within the broadest reaches of English disciplines -- the rider posts the trot, uses a double bridle, carries the reins in both hands, etc. Technically, one could even legally ride saddle seat in an older-style dressage saddle, and some people used to, though one does not see this at all today. Montanabw(talk) 05:19, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
Oh, and PPS: As for "parochial," remember that one of our top dressage riders, Debbie McDonald, hails from Idaho, I can drive to the Sun Valley area in a day. But there is regional use: When most American riders outside of the US east coast speak the word "rein back" out loud (as opposed to writing, where it is technical terminology), they are in fact viewed as a wee bit pretentious. (The competitive dressage world does put on airs: there is a term, "Dressage Queen" or "DQ" that describes some of the divas that inhabit it.) Montanabw(talk) 05:19, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
The Lesotho horses are trained and raced using a gait called "tripling". Guess that it is a form of ambling. See: http://away.com/tripideas/lesotho-horseback-riding-300456.html Cgoodwin (talk) 03:00, 15 December 2008 (UTC) and also The State of the Basotho Pony in Lesotho
I found the descriptions of the different "ambling gaits" to be rather confusing. What exactly is the difference between a rack and a running walk? I rode a few of both walking horses and saddlebreds when I was young, but not enough to make a real comparison. Of the horses I rode, the saddlebreds seemed to come up higher in the front end when they were "gaiting" at a fast speed, but that could have been attributable to individual action, and not gait differences between the breeds. I also find the phrase "speed of a pace" confusing. Just about any standardbred can pace a mile in under two minutes and I think the record (which has probably been broken, since I worked with them) was 1:53 or something. But, just like a horse can trot in place, I would think it's possible for a horse to pace in place, which would make his speed 0 MPH. So I'm not sure what actual speed "speed of pace" would be referring to. I think that most people who look up this section want to find out the actual DIFFERENCES between the different breeds' gaits. (I know I did.) Are there differences (besides lateral and diagonal)? Or are they basically the same gaits with different names? This section does not make that very clear. Could someone familiar with this subject please clarify? Equusma (talk) 22:09, 29 June 2012 (UTC)
Why is there a citation needed tag on this page? There are lots of them now, about 20. Is it OK if I remove the banner?
The discussion at Talk:Gait (dog)#RM may affect this article's title. — SMcCandlish ☺ ☏ ¢ ≽ʌⱷ҅ᴥⱷʌ≼ 13:10, 22 April 2015 (UTC)
So, I've seen another type of "run" which is not described here. As a kid growing up on the Family Ranch, we always had stock horses that we used to handle cattle. All of them were "registered" as Quarter Horses (in the "Model Quarter Horse Association) back when they were accepted into, or rejected from, the registry by "type." In terms of actual breeding, one was a granddaughter of Easter Cloud; one was a Traveler descendent; a couple were Three Bars get -- so there was some variety in the breeding; but, as I recall, they also had the same "Dead Run" gate...
Anyway, the stride was "two-beat" -- launched by both hind feet simultaneously pushing off -- and landed, with the horse fully extended, on the two front feet simultaneously hitting the ground -- almost like they were jumping a creek. To start the next stride, the two hind feet would come forward past the front feet almost even with the horse's nose (right rear passing to the outside of right front; left rear passing to the outside of left front) to land and push off again. It is very much like the stride pictured in the painting at http://travelphotobase<dot>com/v/USNM/NMFC167.HTM, in the "collected" part, and very much like the stride pictured in the first image at http://postalmuseum.si.edu/research/topical-reference-pages/the-pony-express.html when stretched out. To someone standing off to the side, it looks like the horse is "leaping" or "bounding" repeatedly -- only with not much "up and down" movement. To someone riding the horse when it takes off, it feels like you just touched off a rocket strapped to your tail! The croup and withers of the horse actually "lower" a good six inches or more when they "stretch out" and horses doing this seem to "streak" across level ground. This is, obviously, a "sprint" gate. I don't know that I've seen any horses, other than the ones I grew up with, do it -- but it is not like I have paid a lot of attention...
I did find a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtb41cnknEA&list=PLnOgoTJvdFtrJ3aneYUTS12tI6XlGMpJf) of one of the old 1938 Zorro Serials. The opening sequence, which shows several different horses running, but has been cut to look as though it is all the same horse, does show one horse that appears to use this stride. Now, I am not saying that the rear hooves or the front hooves land at *exactly* the same time; but they are close enough that you only hear two beats when listening in the real world. On the YouTube Video clips, you have to make liberal use of the Pause/Play to see that the front and rear feet (on at least one of the horses) are actually moving in pairs and the rear feet are simultaneously passing the front -- as described above...
When I was a kid, the old-time cowboys I worked with called this a "Dead Run"; and, no, they did not use that to mean "gallop" or "high lope."
My $0.02 Worth! (And that's Inflation!)
147.222.200.75 (talk) 01:27, 30 August 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 4 external links on Horse gait. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 03:36, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
What does beat mean in this context? --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:57, 14 August 2019 (UTC)
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 08:56, 21 June 2020 (UTC)
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.