Naturally Gaited - What Does This Really Mean?
By Gaye DeRusso
When gaited horses were first discovered, most just gaited. They then took these horses and bred them. If you bred one that just gaits to another that just gaits with similar gaits, there was a high chance it would come out gaiting. Back then, they were just looking for a smooth calm horse to ride, they didn't care about showing or color, as horses were a means of transportation and smoothness, and temperament was the most important.
As things changed, the horses were no longer required for transport since we had vehicles. Over time they became less for transport and more for entertainment and sport. They then began to show them, and they pushed the horses to extremes to make them more showy. So, the natural gait began to disappear, because when you put heavy shoes on to get the horse to pick its feet higher, it changed the gait. So, they wanted more pacey horses, because pacey horses won't start trotting when you put a heavy shoe on.
They wanted more high spirted horses, as they provided more excitement to watch in the show ring. So, the temperaments they use to breed for, also changed.
Then they wanted speed, and pacing horses can pace really fast, some about 30 miles per hour. The ones that just gaited and the trotters did not go that fast. So, they bred more pace into many of the breeds where they were looking for speed.
They wanted color over gait or temperament, so they bred ones that were not as calm or as well gaited but got some pretty colors. With some of these colors, they bred a recessive gene and got other issues. So no longer did they have calm, smooth, tough gaited horses. We now had more horses that were pretty, didn't gait as well but with lots of issues.
All of this happen in many of the gaited breeds. They were making more money off a pretty horse vs selling calm well gaited horses.
Most of the breeds out there now have a lot of gaited horses that just pace. There are some that have stuck to their good breeding programs and these are the ones that usually just gait. You will see them out in the field just gaiting. But they usually don't make as much money as those breeding for looks.
So, when someone says it naturally gaits, you have to take it with a grain of salt and ask them to clarify what that exactly means to them. Does that mean it naturally gaits a couple steps in the pasture or does that mean it gaits all the time and never falls into a trot or a pace?
If you want a horse that you don't have to work at to get it to gait, then one that just gaits all the time and does nothing else will be the easiest to gait under saddle. There are ones in every breed that do this, but they do not all do this. There are more horses that just pace or trot when loose compared to horses that just gait now a days. So, although they have more pretty colors, you now need to ride better to help them gait.
Of the breeds I have worked with, the Paso Finos are the ones I see that gait even at a slow walk. Then it is the Peruvians, as these 2 breeds have had better consistency of their breeders. Yes, they can have other issues, as some come way down in their pasterns but most just gait.
Now don't get me wrong there are many gaited horses that will just gait and have had great breeders, breeding them. But more have gone for the money in showing and the money in selling horses with color.
So, when you buy a horse and they tell you it naturally gaits, and it arrives and either paces or trots when loose. It does not mean they are lying; it just means what they meant and what you meant are 2 different things. They meant you don't have to use angles or heavy shoes to get it to gait but you have to ride it correctly and you thought no matter how you rode it, it would just gait.
The best thing to do is if you want the one that just gaits, have them send you video of the horse moving loose and see how well it gaits by itself. This is the true way to see how naturally gaited it is.
I have seen videos of people saying it fox trots when it is doing a saddle gait. I have seen people saying it’s a running walk when it’s a step pace. And I have seen horses hard pacing that the sellers are saying they are smooth. You have to educate yourself, and you have to understand what has happen to the market to understand what has happen to the breeding of these gaited horses. But if they can make $60,000 selling a pretty horse with gaits that are not so great, vs one that gaits great but only sells for $10,000, the businesses are going to go for the money, otherwise they may go out of business.
So, if you truly want a horse that just gaits, do not go for color, or looks, go for the calm one that just gaits, because that is where it all started. But finding those horses can be extremely difficult these days and if it’s pretty and has some color, well it’s probably going to cost more than you ever wanted to spend on a horse, and it still might not gait that well.
By Gaye DeRusso
When gaited horses were first discovered, most just gaited. They then took these horses and bred them. If you bred one that just gaits to another that just gaits with similar gaits, there was a high chance it would come out gaiting. Back then, they were just looking for a smooth calm horse to ride, they didn't care about showing or color, as horses were a means of transportation and smoothness, and temperament was the most important.
As things changed, the horses were no longer required for transport since we had vehicles. Over time they became less for transport and more for entertainment and sport. They then began to show them, and they pushed the horses to extremes to make them more showy. So, the natural gait began to disappear, because when you put heavy shoes on to get the horse to pick its feet higher, it changed the gait. So, they wanted more pacey horses, because pacey horses won't start trotting when you put a heavy shoe on.
They wanted more high spirted horses, as they provided more excitement to watch in the show ring. So, the temperaments they use to breed for, also changed.
Then they wanted speed, and pacing horses can pace really fast, some about 30 miles per hour. The ones that just gaited and the trotters did not go that fast. So, they bred more pace into many of the breeds where they were looking for speed.
They wanted color over gait or temperament, so they bred ones that were not as calm or as well gaited but got some pretty colors. With some of these colors, they bred a recessive gene and got other issues. So no longer did they have calm, smooth, tough gaited horses. We now had more horses that were pretty, didn't gait as well but with lots of issues.
All of this happen in many of the gaited breeds. They were making more money off a pretty horse vs selling calm well gaited horses.
Most of the breeds out there now have a lot of gaited horses that just pace. There are some that have stuck to their good breeding programs and these are the ones that usually just gait. You will see them out in the field just gaiting. But they usually don't make as much money as those breeding for looks.
So, when someone says it naturally gaits, you have to take it with a grain of salt and ask them to clarify what that exactly means to them. Does that mean it naturally gaits a couple steps in the pasture or does that mean it gaits all the time and never falls into a trot or a pace?
If you want a horse that you don't have to work at to get it to gait, then one that just gaits all the time and does nothing else will be the easiest to gait under saddle. There are ones in every breed that do this, but they do not all do this. There are more horses that just pace or trot when loose compared to horses that just gait now a days. So, although they have more pretty colors, you now need to ride better to help them gait.
Of the breeds I have worked with, the Paso Finos are the ones I see that gait even at a slow walk. Then it is the Peruvians, as these 2 breeds have had better consistency of their breeders. Yes, they can have other issues, as some come way down in their pasterns but most just gait.
Now don't get me wrong there are many gaited horses that will just gait and have had great breeders, breeding them. But more have gone for the money in showing and the money in selling horses with color.
So, when you buy a horse and they tell you it naturally gaits, and it arrives and either paces or trots when loose. It does not mean they are lying; it just means what they meant and what you meant are 2 different things. They meant you don't have to use angles or heavy shoes to get it to gait but you have to ride it correctly and you thought no matter how you rode it, it would just gait.
The best thing to do is if you want the one that just gaits, have them send you video of the horse moving loose and see how well it gaits by itself. This is the true way to see how naturally gaited it is.
I have seen videos of people saying it fox trots when it is doing a saddle gait. I have seen people saying it’s a running walk when it’s a step pace. And I have seen horses hard pacing that the sellers are saying they are smooth. You have to educate yourself, and you have to understand what has happen to the market to understand what has happen to the breeding of these gaited horses. But if they can make $60,000 selling a pretty horse with gaits that are not so great, vs one that gaits great but only sells for $10,000, the businesses are going to go for the money, otherwise they may go out of business.
So, if you truly want a horse that just gaits, do not go for color, or looks, go for the calm one that just gaits, because that is where it all started. But finding those horses can be extremely difficult these days and if it’s pretty and has some color, well it’s probably going to cost more than you ever wanted to spend on a horse, and it still might not gait that well.