Horse Gait - Classification

Classification

Gaits can be roughly categorized into two groups: the "natural" gaits that nearly every horse will use without special training, and the "amble," or the "ambling" gaits, a collection of several other smooth footfall patterns that may appear naturally in some individuals but which usually occur only in certain breeds, and often require special training of the horse before a rider can request them on command.

Another classification system, applicable to quadrupeds in general, uses the categories of 1) walking gaits (including ambling), 2) running or trotting gaits, and 3) leaping gaits.

The British Horse Society Dressage Rules require competitors to perform 4 variations of the walk, 6 forms of the trot, 5 leaping gaits (all forms of the canter), halt, and rein back but not the gallop. The British Horse Society Equitation examinations also require proficiency in the gallop as distinct from the canter.

The so-called "natural" gaits, in increasing order of speed, are the walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Some people count these as three gaits by considering the canter a variation of the gallop, even though the canter is distinguished by having three beats, whereas the gallop has four beats. All four gaits are seen in wild horse populations. While other intermediate speed gaits may occur naturally to some horses, these four basic gaits occur in nature across almost all horse breeds. In some animals, the trot is completely replaced by the pace or by an ambling gait. More often, horses who possess an ambling gait are also able to trot.