I have had and worked with several different
types of gaited horses.
I don't claim to be an expert, but:
rack--4 beat gait; action is more vertical; very
smooth; when viewed from behind, the tail looks like waves of water traveling
downward; very little head bob, but more than a non-gaited horse; can be lateral
or diagonal, but more often lateral; if the horse isn't 'in his gaits well' it
will not be evenly cadenced
running walk--foreleg action is more reaching; head
bob is more pronounced; 4 beats, tends to be lateral gait; should be evenly
cadenced
singlefoot--very little action; this gait is a 'get
there comfortably' thing, and not showy; the tail thing is really obvious; can
be lateral or diagonal, although the Appalachian Singlefooter Horse Breeders
prefer diagonal; supposedly, there is a period when only one foot is on the
ground; it is a very evenly cadenced gait; this is the gait that most non-gaited
breeds do if they are going to do something 'odd'; it can be a very fast
gait
Missouri Foxtrot--I am not an expert here, I've
ridden one once; very smooth; pronounced head bob; unevenly cadenced; obvious
tail thing; they tell you they walk in front and trot in back (or is it the
other way around?), but that makes no sense to me.
Paso Fino and Peruvian Paso gaits--Again, I've
ridden a Peruvian once and seen several Paso Finos; lateral gait; very smooth;
they have names for several different pacing-type gaits; they tend to 'paddle'
their front feet; less pronounced head bob
If anyone can elaborate or correct me, like I said,
I'm not an expert. It's been a long time since I sold my Singlefooter mare. She
would rack when 'psyched up', running walk when shod heavy in front, singlefoot
in the pasture and on trail. My Morgan gelding's sire was also a registered
racking horse. He made the difference between rack and singlefoot obvious. He
did both beautifully. Both my mare and gelding did well in distance sports.
Hope this helps,
Maggie Pritchard--finally got thawed out enough to
ride!!!
