Handling a Horse

Horsey Moments

What do horses eat?

Happy Sinhala & Tamil New Year

GAITS

 GAITS...

Let's run through the basics!

A horse has a few basic gaits ...

• ·       Walk
• ·         Trot
• ·         Canter
• ·         Gallop 

And some horses have...

• ·         Pace

But there are fun in between gaits as well!!! These are usually called AMBLING GAITS or INTERMEDIATE GAITS. Some are...

• ·         revaal
• ·         foxtrot
• ·         racking
• ·         tölt 

WALK ...

The simplest gait and sometimes the hardest, the WALK has 4 beats... or 4 hooffalls.

Seems pretty obvious?

One hoof touching the ground 1 after the other. 

The TROT is the the first sample of SPEED that riders tend to get! (hopefully)

The hooves TROT on DIAGONAL PAIRS!!!

• Left hind and right fore
• Right hind and left fore

Its always a 2 beat.

CANTER!!

This is the one most Riders LOVE!!!!

The CLOSEST to FLYING you can get being GROUNDED!!! 

It's like a WALTZ!!!

3beats... 3 times you hear the hooves touching the ground!!

• Left Hind leg

• Right Hind leg & left fore leg

• Right Fore leg

 GALLOP!!!

Takes some level of CONTROL to HOLD a HORSEY that can go 40-48km/hour!!!

This is the SPEED you SEE each time you visit the RACE COURSE and you see horses POUNDING the TRACK!!!

It is SIMILAR to CANTER, but has a 4th beat... that means like the walk all 4 hooves touch the ground at individually!!!

• Outside Hind Leg

• Inside Hind Leg

• Outside Foreleg

• Inside Foreleg (leading leg)

• (Moment of suspension= flight)

There is a moment in a the canter and gallop where the horse is completely off the ground!!

And then gravity calls the horse down the start the canter/gallop cycle all over again!!!