# What was this horse doing?



## Pippity (9 March 2013)

I've just got back from riding a particular horse for the first time, and there was an oddity I'm hoping people can help me with.

Between walk and trot, he'd settle into a gait that I've never felt before! It was four-beat, about the speed of a jog trot, and amazingly smooth - smoother than his walk. After about five seconds of that, he'd go into trot without any further aids.

There was nobody around to ask what his legs were doing and, sadly, I'm not a good enough rider to be able to tell just from the brief feeling I had!

I've got no idea what his breeding is, so I can't tell if it's something he's doing naturally, or a bad habit he's been allowed to fall into. (He's about 14.3hh, built like a fairly dainty Welsh D, but no feather.) 

I dealt with it today by pushing him straight on to trot from walk and trying to avoid the strangeness in between. Was I right?


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## numptynoelle (9 March 2013)

Is there any chance he could have been an Icelandic horse? They can come anywhere between 12.2 and 14.2 and what you describe sounds like a tolt - it's a special gait they have and it's famed for being super-smooth 

Have a google and see if any of the piccies on there match up. It might also be worth having a gander at the breed society webite http://www.ihsgb.co.uk/

I could be completely and utterly wrong, but that would be my first guess


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## Pippity (9 March 2013)

Looking at the pictures, I don't think he's Icelandic. His mane and coat aren't thick enough and his neck's a bit skinny. I suppose he could have some Icelandic in him, although I'm not sure how common cross-breeds are. I really should have remembered to take a picture of him! I'll grab a snap when I'm up tomorrow and see if that's any help.


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## Dry Rot (9 March 2013)

_Ambling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about the four-beat intermediate gaits of horses. For more information on how horses move, see Horse gait.
An Icelandic horse performing a rapid ambling gait known as the tölt

Ambling is any of several four-beat intermediate horse gaits, all of which are faster than a walk but usually slower than a canter and always slower than a gallop. They are smoother for a rider than either the two-beat trot or pace and most can be sustained for relatively long periods of time, making them particularly desirable for trail riding and other tasks where a rider must spend long periods of time in the saddle.

Though there are differences in footfall patterns and speed, historically these gaits were once collectively referred to as the "amble." Today, especially in the United States, horses that are able to do an ambling gait are referred to as "gaited horses." Some breeds naturally perform these gaits from birth, others can be trained to do them. Some breeds have individuals who can both trot and amble._

Now how did I know where to look that up? I'm a veritable mine of useless information!


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## putasocinit (9 March 2013)

Basuto ponies in lesotho do the same, they can go for miles and miles at thos gait and it is extremely comfortable, not sure what it is called.


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## Pippity (9 March 2013)

I suppose I'm going to have to see if I can find out his breeding to figure out if I should be letting him do it or not!

I hope I should be letting him do it - it was so comfy!


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## Ancient Hacker (9 March 2013)

In S Africa the gait is often referred to as a "triple". It is reputedly comfortable,  but in my experience it just feels really weird. I can imagine, though, that if you're travelling long distances on a pony as transport you may value such a gait - a lot faster than a walk, but no need to rise to the trot.  It'd be interesting to know what breed the op was riding.


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## tase1965 (10 March 2013)

Maybe pacing?  Many years ago I rode an ex pacer without knowing - the most comfortable trot ever, didnt need to rise or anything..  Being rather green I didnt realise until all my friends set off at a fast canter and I overtook them still in trot


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## Tammytoo (10 March 2013)

My first thought was pacing.  Your horse could have been a Trotter who has been retrained, but can still slip back into pacing.  Seen from the ground, the horse moves both left legs and then both right legs at trot, rather than left fore, right hind and right fore, left hind.  It's very comfortable to sit to!

Trotters look rather like chunky thoroughbreds who have some feather but not much.


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## Enfys (11 March 2013)

Look up racking, that is a four beat gait. Very comfortable as there is no up and down motion. Perhaps you were on a TWH or similar, I found this on You Tube (where else?) showing a normal racking pace, rather than the speed racking. See how still the rider is .....

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you+tube%2c+racking+horse&view=detail&mid=FD6443413324BBD50712FD6443413324BBD50712&first=61&FORM=NVPFVR

Pacers, that trot laterally, have a distinct side to side motion, very uncomfortable in my experience. One of my mares is gaited and I tell you what, it will take an awful lot to get me to buy a non-gaited horse again - ever.

This is the tolt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rWeWymJDw


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## Pinkvboots (11 March 2013)

Agree pacers are not comfy to ride used to ride them years ago, they are easy to spot as the legs on both sides go forwards at the same instead of the normal off side fore to nearside back.


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## Pippity (11 March 2013)

Well, this is the pone in question, in his full winter fuzz. (Hopefully. If this has worked...) Apologies for the very dodgy photo and the lopped-off head. I'd blame it on my naff phone but I suspect I'd get the same kind of result with a Leica SLR.

I know he's a bit of a fugly, but he's a sweetheart so I forgive him his shoulder.







I spoke to his owner and she's got no idea of his breeding or whether he's done a weird not-trot before. He did it a smidge again yesterday, but not once I'd got him going forward properly. I think I'll just put it down to my rubbish riding and try to push him through it.


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## Gloi (11 March 2013)

Pippity said:



			I spoke to his owner and she's got no idea of his breeding or whether he's done a weird not-trot before. He did it a smidge again yesterday, but not once I'd got him going forward properly. I think I'll just put it down to my rubbish riding and try to push him through it.
		
Click to expand...

Be nice to see his face 
I wouldn't be trying to push him through it. If he's got it I'd train it and make the most of it.


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## stencilface (11 March 2013)

We have one that does this between walk-trot and a similar thing between trot-canter.  He is welsh x TB and has always been a little weird!  He has not been trained to do this in any way, it is his way of evasion and not going forwards properly.  He is difficult to get into canter sometimes, not because he's not forward going, but because he can't cope with it and has a bit of a meltdown - he's 27 this year!


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## Crosshill Pacers (11 March 2013)

When I first started retraining my pacer under saddle, if I didn't push her on strong enough from walk to trot, she would do a sort of racking walk like they do in hopples when they walk on and off the track at the races. It's ridiculously comfortable, but then I also think the pacing gait is ridiculously comfortable!

From the picture, the horse doesn't look like a Standardbred but then he might be a part-bred?


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## Pippity (11 March 2013)

Gloi said:



			Be nice to see his face 

Click to expand...

His face was in frame when I pushed the button but...  What can I say, dinner is far more interesting than me!

I suspect that, whatever it is he's doing, it's like Stencilface's - his method of evasion. Once he's going forward properly in walk, he goes straight into trot without weirdness in between.

To be honest, with him being an RDA horse, I don't really want to encourage him in anything 'out of the ordinary'. His disabled riders are currently working up to an assisted dressage test, and anything that makes it harder for them is a bad idea.


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## Enfys (11 March 2013)

Maybe he was just dis-united?

I had a 13h Heinz years ago and he used to do a strange, yet comfortable sliding walk/trot, quite fast. I daresay much of it was due to me being only 12 or so and really not bothering/knowing how to bring him together. He did it when he was a bit tired and especially when he was going downhill. Working gaited horses downhill is a common practise as it encourages them to get their back legs under them.


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