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In this video we see the jog, the trot, the lope and the canter, and we will see Texas trying to go slower
and losing cadence and therefore four beating for a few strides. She catches it herself, which took a lot of work on my part both on the longe line and in the saddle, and returns to the proper cadence.
The Jog and the Trot are distinct two beat gaits, any deviation from the two beat cadence results in a gait which is a combination of a walk and a trot and not a true gait. *Note in the section of video where Texas is jogging to the left, she has stiffened in the front and is bent to the outside and therefor is performing a stiff legged jog on the forehand.
The lope and canter are distinct three beat gaits with a hesitation after the third beat. The first beat is the outside hind leg which is the push off leg, then the outside front and inside hind move together as the second beat. The third beat is the inside front “lead” leg and beat.
The desirable movement of a Western Pleasure horse, specifically in the lope, is “slow legged” which can not be seen very well in this video as videos tend to speed up the horse’s gaits. A slow legged horse will seem to float effortlessly at the lope and trot. “Deep hocked” is also desirable and is when the horse rounds his back and brings his hind legs deep underneath him, pushing off the back end and raising and lightening the front end. You can see when a horse is deep hocked by looking at the hocks while moving and noting if they come further behind the horse than the butt (undesirable trailing hocks) or if the hocks go no further back then the point of his butt. Another desirable trait is “flat kneed” and is when the horse throws his legs forward with little or no bending of the knee. Texas has all of these qualities when in condition and in training.
Because our horses are deep hocked and slow, it appears to others that our horses are “broken” or “lame” at the lope. The lope being a three beat gait with a hesitation, with the horses reaching underneath themselves and not trailing the hocks behind and the horses moving very slowly, the hesitation stage is longer and is the part of the cadence where it appears to be “broken”. It is not.
I have added two photos of Texas taken while showing which display these traits. Note in the photos how far and deep Texas is reaching underneath herself from behind, how round her back is and how raised and light she is in the front. She is higher at the withers than in the back end, travelling upwards. I have added another photo which shows Texas in showmanship and how she is actually built downhill with her butt about two inches higher than her withers. This conformation flaw kept me in the saddle many, many hours with a lot of wet saddle blankets to correct and have her move as she does in these photos.
The most important factor in the gaits are that they are true gaits of the proper cadence. Judges are looking for correct gaits with consistent rhythm and cadence and flow. The days of four beating and peanut rollers are long gone.
The video mentioned may not appear on facebook with this article.
In this video we see the jog, the trot, the lope and the canter, and we will see Texas trying to go slower
and losing cadence and therefore four beating for a few strides. She catches it herself, which took a lot of work on my part both on the longe line and in the saddle, and returns to the proper cadence.
The Jog and the Trot are distinct two beat gaits, any deviation from the two beat cadence results in a gait which is a combination of a walk and a trot and not a true gait. *Note in the section of video where Texas is jogging to the left, she has stiffened in the front and is bent to the outside and therefor is performing a stiff legged jog on the forehand.
The lope and canter are distinct three beat gaits with a hesitation after the third beat. The first beat is the outside hind leg which is the push off leg, then the outside front and inside hind move together as the second beat. The third beat is the inside front “lead” leg and beat.
The desirable movement of a Western Pleasure horse, specifically in the lope, is “slow legged” which can not be seen very well in this video as videos tend to speed up the horse’s gaits. A slow legged horse will seem to float effortlessly at the lope and trot. “Deep hocked” is also desirable and is when the horse rounds his back and brings his hind legs deep underneath him, pushing off the back end and raising and lightening the front end. You can see when a horse is deep hocked by looking at the hocks while moving and noting if they come further behind the horse than the butt (undesirable trailing hocks) or if the hocks go no further back then the point of his butt. Another desirable trait is “flat kneed” and is when the horse throws his legs forward with little or no bending of the knee. Texas has all of these qualities when in condition and in training.
Because our horses are deep hocked and slow, it appears to others that our horses are “broken” or “lame” at the lope. The lope being a three beat gait with a hesitation, with the horses reaching underneath themselves and not trailing the hocks behind and the horses moving very slowly, the hesitation stage is longer and is the part of the cadence where it appears to be “broken”. It is not.
I have added two photos of Texas taken while showing which display these traits. Note in the photos how far and deep Texas is reaching underneath herself from behind, how round her back is and how raised and light she is in the front. She is higher at the withers than in the back end, travelling upwards. I have added another photo which shows Texas in showmanship and how she is actually built downhill with her butt about two inches higher than her withers. This conformation flaw kept me in the saddle many, many hours with a lot of wet saddle blankets to correct and have her move as she does in these photos.
The most important factor in the gaits are that they are true gaits of the proper cadence. Judges are looking for correct gaits with consistent rhythm and cadence and flow. The days of four beating and peanut rollers are long gone.
The video mentioned may not appear on facebook with this article.