Comments on: One gait-keeper gene allows horses to move in unusual ways

By: Liz Ditz

Liz Ditz — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:50:18 +0000

“All horses have three natural gaits: the standard walk; the two-beat trot, where diagonally opposite pairs of legs hit the ground together; and the four-beat gallop….”

The canter is a 3-beat gait with laterality:

The Right-Lead Canter:
(1st beat) left hind leg
(2nd beat) right hind / left fore
(3rd beat) right fore leg

The Left-Lead Canter:
(1st beat) right hind leg
(2nd beat) left hind / right fore
(3rd beat) left fore leg

The gallop develops out of the canter and the 2nd beat is separated into two separate beats:

The Right-Lead Gallop:
(1st beat) left hind leg
(2nd beat) right hind leg
(3rd beat) left fore leg
(4th beat) right fore leg

The Left-Lead Gallop:
(1st beat) right hind leg
(2nd beat) left hind leg
(3rd beat) right fore leg
(4th beat) left fore leg

In some equestrian circles, the expected speeds are expressed in meters per minute. A general rule of thumb for a 16 hand Warmblood or Thoroughbred type would be:

- 150 mpm (“forward” walk)
- 250 mpm (medium trot)
- pace of 300 mpm (medium to fast trot)
- pace of 325 mpm (slow canter)
- pace of 350 mpm (canter)
- pace of 375 mpm (fast canter)
- 400 mpm (slow gallop)

In 3-day eventing, the base cross-country pace is the gallop.

Preliminary eventing speed = 520 mpm
Intermediate speed = 550 mpm
Advanced speed = 570 mpm

By: SPS

SPS — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 18:19:24 +0000

In addition, some horses that do not gait naturally can be trained to rack, etc — there have been quite a few purebred Arabians trained in 5 gaits.

TW, this is a good point — however, it’s not the natural running walk that is the problem, it’s the human desire for an extreme far beyond natural that “inspires” the abusive training and soring. Natural TWHs are lovely horses and do not require mistreatment to deliver a wonderful smooth ride.

By: TW

TW — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 02:14:02 +0000

For the dark side of showy horse gaits and the assholeness of humans just look up the practice of soring in the Tennessee Walkers and other training methods.
Some gaits while they make for a smoother ride for the human come with a price of damaging stress on the horse’s back.

By: Lori M.

Lori M. — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:01:50 +0000

There has been some discussion of this article among gaited circles, including in groups on FB. Many point out earlier research on prehistoric horses being gaited. Here is an interesting article about the origins of gaited horses:

http://www.gaitedhorses.net/Articles/OG/OriginsOfGait.shtml

It just doesn’t make sense that this mutation would be maladaptive if it has indeed been around as long as the research of prehistoric horses suggests. I would like to see if this same mutation, identified in the study, is found in donkeys because there are indeed gaited donkeys who could not have acquired the mutation passed from horses. It must be a very ancient mutation.

By: Shari

Shari — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 13:45:58 +0000

I have two, 5 gaited Icelandic horses, they walk, trot, Tolt, canter, Pace and they can both Gallop like a bat out of hell.
I have to question, you saying, gaited horse’s can’t pace from gallop. That is how Pace racing goes,,, the Icelandic is in full gallop and drops down into Pace. Anyone from Iceland should know that.
I have also seen them Pace and go right into a gallop smoothly.
Also ridden pace, gallop to pace, canter to a pace, pace to gallop and so on….

Nor are they in any pain or handicapped in any way, due to being gaited.
So your research is a start but I think there is more to it that what you have found so far.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:41:11 +0000

I believe (and may be wrong) that the issue isn’t the inability of the animals to gallop, it’s that they have difficulty transitioning from a tolt/amble to a gallop. That is, an animal that trots can transition from stationary, walk, or trot to a gallop, but a gaited animal can (normally) only transition from stationary or walk. Under some escape circumstances this would be a disadvantage.

By: Susanna

Susanna — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 21:17:57 +0000

As a breeder of gaited Morgans, I enjoy this article but agree with the other gaited horse owners here that mine have been able to gallop from day one. Most of mine can do the extra gaits and trot also although I have two mares that do not trot, only walk, gait ( tolt type gait called rack in America and also foxtrot and stepping pace- lateral and diagonal versions of smooth gaits), canter and gallop. so that part of the theory I dismiss. It is easier on horses to trot in deep mud or sand so I think they started breeding for more trot when roads are better developed and the horses are pulling wagons and carriages instead of only being ridden like in very wild country.

By: Katy

Katy — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:56:30 +0000

Do all of the different “alternative-gait” breeds have the same shortening mutation in DMRT3? I was struck by the fact that while all these breeds report the same mutation in the same gene that apparently bestows their extra-gaitedness, their extra gaits (e.g., tölt, pace, running walk, rack) do not all look the same. I wonder what kinds of influences dictate what specific extra gait an animal with this mutation will develop? Could it be other aspects of their physiology?

By: Phyllis Lewis

Phyllis Lewis — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 19:55:40 +0000

Down through the ages there have been smooth gaited horses. These were once the norm until working ability of a horse for pulling became more critical as oxen fell out of favor and carriage horses became a status symbol. The higher the head and the trot, the flashier the movement and looks, the more standing you had. The average gaited horse was ridden, not driven then. There are records of knights keeping both their war horses and a palfrey, a gaited traveling horse of lighter weight.

Modern gaited horse breeds are known for their versatility in usage. They do it all, farm work, showing, jumping, trail, roping, barrel racing, you name it, they can do it all and be the most comfortable ride you have ever had.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:52:00 +0000

Interesting article and interesting research but I very much disagree with the conclusions.
I believe also that gaited horses have been about since ancient times and were much more common than they are now, maybe in fact they were the norm and it is the animals without the extra gaits which are the mutation.

Horses which used trot as their first choice of gait were selectively bred when horses were used in great numbers for carriage driving. Because of that simple reason the gaited horses became more of a speciality market and the gaits have survived best in places such as Iceland where, due to the terrain, the horses were ridden rather than driven.

I have seen some gaited Shetlands too, despite what it says in the article, so it would be interesting to see what proportion of that breed still carry the gene.