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Can you post on a gaited horse?

14K views 37 replies 13 participants last post by  Oldhorselady 
#1 ·
I have my pinto mare, who I have been trying to figure out her legs since I got her a year ago.....

She has been started this summer just mostly riding around for short periods of time and getting used to carrying a rider. Now I have started arena work with her having her hold a walk and a trot for more than the few steps she was before. She is doing great, but I am not sure if her trot is a trot! You can sit it very easily and it is not easy to try and post. She is holding her neck low like a jog and very relaxed. But I just don't think it is in a normal two-beat gait. I am going to try and have someone, who is not a horse person, video tape her today.

In the past, while I tried to figure out her legs just from watching her run in the pasture and short lunging sessions, it seemed as if her front and hind legs weren't in sync with eachother and had their own agendas. Vet said she just needed to get coordinated, strengthen and learn to balance. She is some type of draft/paint cross and maybe her mechanics are just messed up?

So, I am wondering, if you have a gaited horse, how do you tell if it is in fact gaited if you don't know what breed it may be?
 
#2 ·
I have a rocky mountain gelding and in the past had a Missouri fox trotter. It is really hard to post a gait as the movement is not up and down and doesn't help lift you out of the saddle as does a trot. There are Many different types og gaiting and few of the look the same but you can tell them from a trot by watching how many feet are on the ground at a time. A trot will always have two feet on the ground at one time where a gait will have either 1 or 3. A trot is an up and down motion and a gait is more side to side or front to back, but.much less up and down. Makes it hard to post.

Hope that helps...if you could video tape her we could look and probably tell.

Cheers
Les
 
#3 ·
I have a rocky mountain gelding and in the past had a Missouri fox trotter. It is really hard to post a gait as the movement is not up and down and doesn't help lift you out of the saddle as does a trot. There are Many different types og gaiting and few of the look the same but you can tell them from a trot by watching how many feet are on the ground at a time. A trot will always have two feet on the ground at one time where a gait will have either 1 or 3. A trot is an up and down motion and a gait is more side to side or front to back, but.much less up and down. Makes it hard to post.

Hope that helps...if you could video tape her we could look and probably tell.

Cheers
Les
Thanks! Yes, that makes sense...there really isn't a rythm really to post to. What if it's almost like a trot but the hind and front legs don't land quite at the same time? It's like the legs are moving almost in the two-beat gait together, but one touches down just slightly ahead of the other? Then maybe it's still a balance thing?
 
#4 ·
That's how some gaited horses move - 4 beats. Many (most?) don't trot and aren't encouraged to. Why get a gaited horse if you want a trotter?

Anyway sounds like she's trying to do a running walk.
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#5 ·
That's how some gaited horses move - 4 beats. Many (most?) don't trot and aren't encouraged to. Why get a gaited horse if you want a trotter?

Anyway sounds like she's trying to do a running walk.
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Interesting....I will try and video later so I can see what her legs are doing. It doesn't matter if she is gaited or not to me, I just would like to know which she is so I know what her legs are doing! It is very comfortable to sit though. I will say though, when she goes back to a walk, it is quite animated though, like her hips just swing out. Hmmmm....everyone who has seen her is baffled.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Personally I have all of my gaited horses trot. They have been at least four gaited with my Rocky having five as he has a fast gait and a slow gait. I think they learn to balance themselves better when they learn how to trot and so far all of their gaits have improved after learning to trot. Granted it does take some work to get them back to gaiting effectively after learning to trot but all it takes is patience and time.

If it is smooth and the horse is balanced well I don't know that you need to change anything. It may be a gait or just your horses way of moving...the big thing is balance and making sure they are not interfering with themselves.

Cheers!
Les
 
#7 ·
Ok, thanks guys....I don't see gaiting in the video from today. I just see bad conformation and it looks as if her hind legs are crossing over at times and maybe she is base narrow? So, she must clip herself and throw herself off balance or something. Here are the videos if you are interested anyway....



Video of her walking from last year....

 
#9 ·
2 things stand out to me. First is that she has a nice soft WP style jog. I can see how that would be easy to sit. Lots of riders and horses work hours trying to get a jog like that! Secondly it looks like to me she is pulling with her front end and not driving with her back end. Was she injured at some point...she looks to me like she is short stepping with her right hind which is causing her HQs to kind of swing back and forth. She doesn't look out of synch or like she is interferring with herself at all though. How is she at a lope? Pretty mare though!

Cheers!
Les
 
#10 ·
2 things stand out to me. First is that she has a nice soft WP style jog. I can see how that would be easy to sit. Lots of riders and horses work hours trying to get a jog like that! Secondly it looks like to me she is pulling with her front end and not driving with her back end. Was she injured at some point...she looks to me like she is short stepping with her right hind which is causing her HQs to kind of swing back and forth. She doesn't look out of synch or like she is interferring with herself at all though. How is she at a lope? Pretty mare though!

Cheers!
Les
Thanks Les-
Yes, she is a VERY laid back and comical horse....maybe the draft in her. She has just been started under saddle and really has no cares in the world, aims to please.

I adopted her as a two year old last December. Came from a questionable environment. I was told her sire was a black and white spotted draft and dam was a buckskin paint. When I had the vet do a pre-purchase exam on her due to the noticable back end wobbles....the vet said she may have been just going through a growing spurt and with her being part draft could be how she is. Owner said she had no injuries and just needed to grow into her legs.

She has filled out quite a bit since then and her legs have gotten better somewhat. No more bunny hops when she lopes and no more clipping her front feet with the hind. Her tripping over herself is not as frequent. So, I am hoping that continuing to build strength and balance along with her maturing will solve most of the issue. I don't expect her to be a perfect show horse, I love her how she is, but I want to be sure that I will be safe riding her and I'm not hurting her. I have not loped her yet since I want to establish a strong foundation in the trot. I'm in no hurry. I'm also not an extremely advanced rider in the lope so I want to be sure her and I are both ready with minimal acrobatics.

Thanks for the nice words. She is a joy to have.
 
#11 ·
I have owned about 8 gaited or 1/2 gaited horses and they all gaited. They all will trot, too in the pasture at liberty. I see it every week in my back yard. Funny, but my KMHSA, who has "UNKNOWN" 4 and 5 generations back (dam side) has yet to trot under saddle, and I've owned her since 2008. My 6yo KMH gelding has trotted under saddle, and it's not pleasant. One of the last times was when we were crossing a creek numerous times at a CW event and I was using this obstacle to settle his nerves. I had to post it, though I've trained myself to sit some pretty rough trots and can do so when required.
Two of the TWH's I've owned would occasionally trot under saddle. I've maintained that a TWH or TWH cross will take out their anger under saddle by performing a trot or a "broken washing machine" gait. Certainly preferable to bucking or bolting! When "Tyke" (1970-1998, RIP, TWH/Qh cross) didn't like what you were doing, he would trot. He often trotted when being ridden for lessons and he didn't care for the work, such as jumping cavaletti with a novice.
I suspect bc of his size, that there is a LOT of TWH in my 6yo KMH gelding. Periodically, he trots during schooling, so I just post. He came to me with some fragile confidence and they'll be plenty of time to discourage the trotting in lieu of ambling...or, maybe, "run-walking."
During the amble or the running walk you could post it, but the pace is so quick you would soon wear out. Better to just enjoy a comfortable gait. It doesn't hurt them to have to you sit it, unlike a young or out of shape older horse, or posting bc your horse hasn't warmed up yet.
 
#12 ·
That's good to hear. You may try doing some exercises with her to help build her balance and her hindquarters. I am a "get out of the arena / RP" kind of guy so I usually go to the woods to work on different issues plus it gets your horse better broke. My Rocky had issues with loping as the people had him before wanted him as a gaited show horse so he was NEVER allowed to lope or trot...only gait. Poor guy, his feet went every which way whenever I would put pressure on him. I got him over that by starting on the lunge line in the arena until he had it figured out and was smooth in both lope and trot.

Then I took him outside and lunged him across ditches, on sidehills, over obstacles, up and down hills. whatever I could think of to help his balance and get him to drive with his hindquarters. The first few sessions were pretty ugly but he figured it out pretty quick and really muscled him up and really helped his balance. I am sure there are arena exercises you could do too but I tend to go the outdoors as it is more fun for both. Once she is comfortable on the line and her balance has improved, I would ride her over the same obstacles, concentrating on getting her to drive with the back end by sitting straight in the saddle and driving her with your seat and legs. Doing all of this really helped Leaf's balance and got him to the point where I can really ride him pretty much anywhere. Good luck and have fun!

Cheers!
Les
 
#14 ·
That's good to hear. You may try doing some exercises with her to help build her balance and her hindquarters. I am a "get out of the arena / RP" kind of guy so I usually go to the woods to work on different issues plus it gets your horse better broke. My Rocky had issues with loping as the people had him before wanted him as a gaited show horse so he was NEVER allowed to lope or trot...only gait. Poor guy, his feet went every which way whenever I would put pressure on him. I got him over that by starting on the lunge line in the arena until he had it figured out and was smooth in both lope and trot.

Then I took him outside and lunged him across ditches, on sidehills, over obstacles, up and down hills. whatever I could think of to help his balance and get him to drive with his hindquarters. The first few sessions were pretty ugly but he figured it out pretty quick and really muscled him up and really helped his balance. I am sure there are arena exercises you could do too but I tend to go the outdoors as it is more fun for both. Once she is comfortable on the line and her balance has improved, I would ride her over the same obstacles, concentrating on getting her to drive with the back end by sitting straight in the saddle and driving her with your seat and legs. Doing all of this really helped Leaf's balance and got him to the point where I can really ride him pretty much anywhere. Good luck and have fun!

Cheers!
Les
Excellent advice and I am planning on doing just that. We just moved to San Diego from the Central Valley of CA a few weeks ago. I've been trying to get my two acclimated to their new surroundings. They are not used to hills since it was totally flat where we came from. So, this is so exciting now! We have trails everywhere through the hills all the way to the beach. I will continue with things like you mentioned and hopefully it will help!
 
#16 ·
Blkgryphon...I think she is just trotting, at least for now. I took her out on trails today. She did wonderful. Six border patrol officers came whizzing around the corner on their 4-wheelers with masks and helmets on and I braced for the worst. She was cool as a cumcumber. She went up and down some hills and through woods on narrow trails with canopy overhead. Did great. Found some places to lunge her that were sloped....I noticed her legs even more then. :( Almost like that rt hind one is a peg leg and stiff or pops and gives out maybe. Noticed her stifles pop as we went down hills. :( So, I will continue on this journey with her. Whether it is conformation or neurological, it doesn't matter. She will be a great walking, lightly trotted trail horse for me. Only time will tell if it improves. But, it has improved somewhat since last year, so now that we have trails and hills she will strengthen and finish growing and I will see a change.
 
#19 ·
I am hopefully reviving this thread..since I have moved on to trail riding my mare. I have come to notice that when she picks up the pace at a walk that it is VERY rough. I feel like I am riding in a car with someone that is learning how to drive stick shift! Her hips are swaying all over the place. Her head is low like a western pleasure horse for the most part, not upright and hollow backed. In asking and researching, I have heard that this is a common trait riding gaited horses until they get into their gait. And, since I am still trying to figure out what kind of goofy horse I have, I am wondering if this would sound familiar to people who own gaited horses? Her jog/gait is smooth as butter, but her walk....oy! If anyone has seen any of the videos that I've posted, with her in the jog...you can see it when she comes down to the walk, I think.
 
#21 ·
Camel walk is a pace. What you described for the back end sounds like it could be a pace and they can do that at any head angle. But, head up and hollow backed is not proper for gaiting, usually that leads to them pacing.

If you can get a video of your horse we can take a look to try and determine what is going on.
 
#22 ·
Camel walk is a pace. What you described for the back end sounds like it could be a pace and they can do that at any head angle. But, head up and hollow backed is not proper for gaiting, usually that leads to them pacing.

If you can get a video of your horse we can take a look to try and determine what is going on.
Lol...this gets me more confused as I go! I will try and get a video on the next trail ride. I'm new at the gaiting thing and learning, I thought.:shock:
 
#23 ·
From what I understand though....the pace looks like a two-beat gait? If so, I don't think that is it. I think she is still doing a four-beat gait during this. I think it still may just be her...at the jog she can, at times, put her rear foot just after her front foot touches the ground, instead of at the same time. So, her walk is probably messed up too.:oops:
 
#25 ·
Oldhorselady, your little lady isn't messed up, she's in great hands with you lol... I didn't know jazz was gaited when I bought her. Wasn't until she was being worked at 2.5 years old that I noticed she was doing this odd thing before she trotted. I asked my trainer why is jazzy race walking like my neighbor does? I was laughing BC it just looked so funny! She rudely explained jazz was gaited and it was "bad". So that night I bought a book on gaited horses, got totally confused bt new i loved this gaited "thing", so i fired the trainer and spent 3 days trying to count hoof beats!! 1.2.3.4.

And she still throws in a new gait/shuffle/beat every so often, just to keep me confused enough!
 
#26 ·
Oldhorselady, your little lady isn't messed up, she's in great hands with you lol... I didn't know jazz was gaited when I bought her. Wasn't until she was being worked at 2.5 years old that I noticed she was doing this odd thing before she trotted. I asked my trainer why is jazzy race walking like my neighbor does? I was laughing BC it just looked so funny! She rudely explained jazz was gaited and it was "bad". So that night I bought a book on gaited horses, got totally confused bt new i loved this gaited "thing", so i fired the trainer and spent 3 days trying to count hoof beats!! 1.2.3.4.

And she still throws in a new gait/shuffle/beat every so often, just to keep me confused enough!
Thanks Herdof2. I hope to get some kind of real answer in 2013...lol! If I could say that that is definately what it is, it would make me very happy. Everyone who sees her is just at a loss. She has several possibilities right now...gaited, green, injured as a foal, growing, neurological and the mix she is crossed with making her odd. The vet(s) ruled out neurological. Even though it still sits in the back of my mind, I'm thinking 'no' as well. She passes all the tests. She has improved since last year. She used to bunny hop all the time at the canter and even trot. It was like she didn't know what to do with her legs. She no longer bunny hops. So, I continue on this journey.
 
#27 ·
Well if she can flat walk she can running walk. What you could be getting is a horse that is totally confused in her gaits so trying to do a couple different things at the same time, that usually leads to crossfiring and a rough ride. Now, if she is gaited you want to stop trotting her and just work on her gait as that wont help. The other thing is gaiting takes building up the proper muscles, if those muscles are not strong it leads to going into/out of gait.

Show one of your friends the video you posted and point out what a proper 4 beat gait looks like. Hop on your mare and dog walk, that's a slow walk, have your friend watch and see what her feet are doing. It should look just like the flat walk but slower, front foot should barely get out of the way before her back foot lands. Also watch to see if the back foot lands behind, same place or in front of where her front foot was. Walkers should put their back foot in front of where their front foot landed, this is called overstep.

If it looks like she is gaiting then it's time to start working on her gait. First, dog walk her until you both are sick of it then dog walk some more. This is to build up the proper muscles for gaiting, gaiting is work and they need to be conditioned to do it. While working her dog walk I would do two things. Buy a couple books on training walkers to read and look for a walker trainer that can give you some lessons on one that is set in their gait already. I also suggest sending her to a walker trainer for a month or so as neither of you know what a gait is by the sounds of it. You can do it on your own but it will take a lot longer and you may never getting her 100% gaiting right.
 
#28 ·
Oy, I have a lot to learn...wow. There is someone who owns a Rocky Mountain at our barn...maybe she should help. We just moved down here and I'm still learning everyone here, so eventually I should find someone with a gaited horse. Does a Rocky Mountain Horse have the same type of gaits you are describing? Oh, there is another owner who has Icelandics here....

I had a trainer look at her the other day when I was trying to trot her, but she just stays at a job really....VERY smooth. The trainer was baffled, but maybe she is not experienced with gaited horses? I have recently seen her riding someone else's Tennessee Walker for training though.
 
#30 ·
You live in my neck of the woods. If you have a trailer there is a gaited horse trainer that does lessons in Anza , it would be worth the drive to get some professional help. I also have my first gaited horse and even though I have been riding all my life, gaited horses are different. It helped 100% to have a trained set of eyes on the ground. Let me know if you want her name.
 
#33 ·
Wow, today I rode Snickers and she trotted beautifully! I was able to post it without any problem. The only thing I did today that had been different, was try a new bit. She normally carries herself with her neck stretched and low....today was no different, but she was very light and better than she even normally is. Maybe the bit helped her position her body better?
 
#34 · (Edited)
Saddlebreds are gaited, and also trot. You post the trot on them. Crosses of TWH and other gaited breeds may also do a trot that could be posted to.

And it is possible to post on a horse that does a gait but no trot, as posting at a walk is a leg strengthening exercise.

Also rider positioning and interference will factor into a horse gaiting too.

Getting saddle further back to open up her shoulders, as well as bringing legs off of her, and widening hands might get a better gait. And "shaking" her head might settle her into it.

Judging from the looseness of her movement, I would say she could do a singlefoot easily.
 
#36 ·
i love a horse that single foots. I have crappy knees/back and cannot post without extreme pain. I would love to have a nice horse that gaits again, but not to tall !.
That's how I feel too now. You definately don't HAVE to post on her. She is as smooth as butter and only 14.1hh! She really is an easygoing joy. She is the only horse I've ever stood up on, turned around on bareback and can slide off her butt. And to be such a good girl without training except for me! A miracle.

However, I am beginning to think that she has a hip issue....either a deformity or an injury she sustained as a foal. It doesn't seem painful to her, but more annoying. She tries so hard and when her body doesn't do what she wants or gets tangled up, she crow hops and starts over. But it's not consistent either. Sometimes she is very smooth and coordinated. I will have the vet re-evaluate her again this spring. Otherwise continue to hopefully strengthen her a little more.

I'm hoping you can see this video. You can really see it the second time she canters in it.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...292617222912&set=vb.1378144969&type=3&theater
 
#37 ·
oh that looks like a lameness issue, not a gaited. she is really pretty. I would say it is her stifle or hip or pelvis area, has she been nerve blocked to see if it is in her lower leg or upper leg? it could be lower leg, and she has learned how to move without it being as painful .
 
#38 ·
oh that looks like a lameness issue, not a gaited. she is really pretty. I would say it is her stifle or hip or pelvis area, has she been nerve blocked to see if it is in her lower leg or upper leg? it could be lower leg, and she has learned how to move without it being as painful .
I haven't had any treatments yet since it has been more mysterious than anything since I adopted her. When I got her I had a vet evaluate her since she looked kinda 'off' as a butt high two year old. I thought neurological since her hind end seemed what I called 'loose'. Vet said it was because she was butt high and a young draft cross growing into her legs. She used to hop a lot when slowing down from the trot or canter when I got her. She doesn't do that anymore. I started her as a three year old this summer. That was when I noticed in her trot that her hind legs were plaiting and her gait was wierd, even though very smooth. I've had a chiro, massage therapist, vet, trainers and horse friends scratching their heads. I have been trying to strengthen her muscles with trails and hills and exercising her slowly. She has improved, but, obviously, she is not normal. But under saddle she has really come along. Maybe she is holding her body in a better position than when she is just out running around on her own. Maybe she does it to please me. I wish she could talk! If I ever felt she was in pain, I wouldn't ride her or continue. But she really is very willing and seems happy. She never shows signs of lameness outside of when she is running around and has the downward transition. I will have another vet evaluate her again this spring when she needs shots.
 
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