Understanding Horse Racing Gaits
Standardbreds Pace, or Trot; Thoroughbreds Canter, Run, or Gallop
Breeding gives the Standardbred the instinct for pacing and trotting; training completes the instinct. Race horses, Thoroughbreds, use a four-beat gait.
In his time, the pacer Dan Patch was the fairest of them all, losing only two heats in his lifetime, and never losing a race. He was born fast, and he paced lights out in the late 1890s and the early 1900s.
But like all pacers, trotters, and Thoroughbred runners, Dan Patch had to be taught to maintain his gait for a certain length of time, and to maintain a desired speed, easy, then faster and faster, around a race track. He was a quick learner and a great competitor.
What Is A Pacing Gait?
Pacing is generally the faster of the two Standardbred gaits.
Pacers have a lateral motion, that is they extend their right front and right rear legs at the same time in the same direction. That motion is followed by extension of the opposite side of their bodies - left front and left rear legs reaching forward at the same time.
Pacers have been referred to as "sidewheelers" because their gait, moving one side of the body, then the other, creates a lilting, rocking motion, one side to the other and back again.
Pacers are trained to maintain their gait to compete in their races, usually for a mile on a mile track, or for two trips around a half mile track. To aid them, pacers wear hobbles, or leather (or plastic) straps that fit loosely around the upper portion of the legs. Leather strips attach the hobbles on the two legs that move at the same time, thus teaching the pacer to keep his gait.
What Is A Trotting Gait?
Trotters also wear helpful gear on their legs. But their hobbles are stripped together diagonally. A trotter moves with front right and rear left legs extending in unison, followed by front left and rear right legs coming forward together.
A trotter's gait is body-centered; therefore he does not show the rhythmic rock action the pacer does. Also, a trotter's knee bending demonstrates a higher folding action than the pacer's. Trotters can move in line gaited, or passing gaited action. In a line gait, the trotters front and hind feet are in a straight line. When he changes to a passing gait, his hind feet touch the track outside the line of his front feet.
What Does Your Baby Do?
Watch the gaits of various animals. A giraffe paces. Camels pace. Now watch your baby crawl. He trots.
The Airborne Thoroughbred Gallop
A Thoroughbred canters in a gallop, or a faster gallop, called running. Racing horses have a different gait. They move with their legs striking out in a four-beat gait, and before the beat begins again, for an instant, all four legs are off the ground! Their beat is right rear down, the other three legs up; then it's left rear down, while the other three legs come up; right front down, etc.; left front down and up and he's airborne for that second before he begins again.
The Thoroughbred's gait is the most natural for the horse. Patience, training, and breeding help instill pacing and trotting gaits, as well as other desirable motions.
