Re: Disunited Trot

Duncan Fletcher (dfletche@gte.net)
Fri, 20 Dec 1996 11:46:05 -0800

The foxtrot, running walk, the tolt of the Icelandic, the sobreandando and
paso llano of the Peruvian, all the paso gaits of the Paso Fino alternate
between 2 and 3 feet on the ground. They are all even four beat gaits
except the sobreandando which is uneven four beat with timeing closer to
the pace and the foxtrot which is a uneven four beat with timing closer to
the trot. These are ideal - in practice they may be different. I am less
familiar with the Saddlebred. There are video clips of the Saddlebred's
rack (both fast and slow) at http://www.wmwoods.edu/asb/asb.htm (The server
could not be reached this morning, but it still shows up on a search with
Lycos) and clearly show moments with only one foot on the ground. It is a
much more animated gait than the others. My understanding is that contrary
to the other gaits mentioned above, it is very difficult for the horse to
maintain. It is not clear to me whether this is because of the animated
action or because the American Saddlebred does not have the correct
conformation to do the gait. All the other breeds can do their gait for
hours (assuming they are in condition). The TWH people appear to use the
term rack more loosely to include any even four beat gait that does not
include both a head nod and a overstride. With BOTH of those
characteristics added it becomes the running walk.

Since the true trot requires simultaneous footfall, and given accurate
enough measurement this will not be found, I am not suprised at Tom Iver's
observations. That makes the difference between a trot and a fox trot a
somewhat subjective call. Ditto for the pace and the stepping pace. Again
with accurate enough measurement a perfectly even four beat gait will not
be found. Therefore the difference between those even four beat gaits and
the uneven (fox trot and stepping pace) are also somewhat subjective.

Virtually all the American breeds have some Naragansette Pacer (sp?) in
their lineage. It was an ambling horse of (now) indeterminate gait.

Duncan Fletcher
dfletche@gte.net

----------
> From: Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: Re: Disunited Trot
> Date: Friday, December 20, 1996 8:48 AM
>
> If the diagonal trot is broken into a four beat gait it is known as a
> foxtrot or rack depending on many things - including speed. The rack is
a
> true even four beat gait. That is the foots falls are all separated by
the
> same amount of time. There is an continuum of footfall patterns between
a
> true trot and a true rack. The slow rack and the fast rack are the
fourth
> and fifth gaits of a five gaited saddlebred. Along with the saddlebred
the
> following horses will rack:
> Tennessee Walking Horse, Morgan, Standardbred and Paso. I have been told
> that there is also an Arabain boodline that tends to be "gaited", i.e.
has
> the tendency toward being able to rack. I belive this is the Raffles
> bloodline.
>
> While it is true that the horse only has one foot on the ground at any
one
> time, the rack is a smooth gait with no suspension. In a racking horse
the
> head of the rider traces out a stright line. Hence there is no increased
> force on the legs cause by the absorbtion of the kenic energy generated
by
> the suspension of the trot. So as far as stress it is probably a wash.
> The true rack is a fast gait. My walking horse can rack between 10 and
15
> mph - this is fairly common for a rack. If a troting horse has a
> predisposition to do this gait there are two places that will most likely
> happen. Pushing the horse on at a trot while maintaining contact can
cause
> a transition into the rack. Riding a fast trot down mild downhills can
> also cause a transition into a rack.
>
> Truman
>
>
>
> Truman Prevatt
> Sarasota, FL
>