What's The Difference Between A Step Pace and A Fox Trot
By Gaye DeRusso
Feeling the gaits, takes time and patience. Anytime you try something new there is always a learning curve. Each gait has a certain feel to it. The flat walk and running walk you will feel yourself move back and forth in the saddle. The flat walk will have more back and forth, and the running walk has a little less motion to it. The fox trot you will feel an up and down motion and the saddle gait you will feel a wiggle in the saddle, or it may be completely smooth. The step pace you will feel an up and down motion in the saddle, or you may feel your horses is leaping slightly side to side. Each horse will feel a little different depending on its stride and ability but usually in time you can distinguish between the gaits.
The 2 gaits I feel that are the most confusing are the fox trot and the step pace because both can be smooth but have a slight bounce in the saddle. We usually are not trying for a step pace as it is not as good long time for your horse’s body due to the inversion in the horses back and neck. And if your trying to get the best gait, it is helpful to know which one you are doing.
The best way to tell when you’re not sure is to get video of the gaits and analyze them. Although your friends may think they know the gaits, some give you the wrong information. By giving you the wrong information, you will be practicing the wrong gait and developing the wrong muscles in your horse. The fox trot is a 4-beat diagonal gait (opposite legs- left front then right hind, right front then left hind) and the step pace is a 4-beat lateral gait, but it is not a true 4 beat as the legs on the same side are closer together, (right hind then right front, and left hind then left front) so it is very close to a saddle gait, you just need more separation in the legs to get the saddle gait.
If you cannot video you can sometimes tell by just going faster, if your fox trotting and go past the gait, your horse will usually trot, and you will feel the hard bounce up and down and you can easily post to it. The step pace if you go past it will turn into a pace, and you will also feel a hard bounce, but it will have a side-to-side motion to it and it is hard to post to.
If your horse keeps step pacing and you are trying to get the fox trot, using enough poles can usually get your horse trotting and then you just slow the horse down and you should have your fox trot. Slow it down till it feels like a quarter horse jog. You can also try rounding the horse's back and bringing its head down but that does not work in all of them to convert them to the diagonal fox trot.
If you do some lateral work such as shoulder in or leg yield it can separate the horse’s legs more so you can go from a step pace to a saddle gait, but it will not usually get you into a diagonal gait of the fox trot. So that is why it is helpful to know what exactly your horse is doing, because if you don't know you can't correct it the right way to get the gait you want.
Once you get a really good feel of the gaits you may feel the difference but even for us trainers at times these two gaits, the step pace and the fox trot can feel similar and both can be smooth with a soft bounce.
So, if you are unsure, take out that phone, put it on the fence and ride by it several times. Then look at it and if you cannot tell, send it to me and I can tell you which one you are doing. Because when you work hard day after day to get the correct gait, you don't want to be wasting time working on the wrong one.
By Gaye DeRusso
Feeling the gaits, takes time and patience. Anytime you try something new there is always a learning curve. Each gait has a certain feel to it. The flat walk and running walk you will feel yourself move back and forth in the saddle. The flat walk will have more back and forth, and the running walk has a little less motion to it. The fox trot you will feel an up and down motion and the saddle gait you will feel a wiggle in the saddle, or it may be completely smooth. The step pace you will feel an up and down motion in the saddle, or you may feel your horses is leaping slightly side to side. Each horse will feel a little different depending on its stride and ability but usually in time you can distinguish between the gaits.
The 2 gaits I feel that are the most confusing are the fox trot and the step pace because both can be smooth but have a slight bounce in the saddle. We usually are not trying for a step pace as it is not as good long time for your horse’s body due to the inversion in the horses back and neck. And if your trying to get the best gait, it is helpful to know which one you are doing.
The best way to tell when you’re not sure is to get video of the gaits and analyze them. Although your friends may think they know the gaits, some give you the wrong information. By giving you the wrong information, you will be practicing the wrong gait and developing the wrong muscles in your horse. The fox trot is a 4-beat diagonal gait (opposite legs- left front then right hind, right front then left hind) and the step pace is a 4-beat lateral gait, but it is not a true 4 beat as the legs on the same side are closer together, (right hind then right front, and left hind then left front) so it is very close to a saddle gait, you just need more separation in the legs to get the saddle gait.
If you cannot video you can sometimes tell by just going faster, if your fox trotting and go past the gait, your horse will usually trot, and you will feel the hard bounce up and down and you can easily post to it. The step pace if you go past it will turn into a pace, and you will also feel a hard bounce, but it will have a side-to-side motion to it and it is hard to post to.
If your horse keeps step pacing and you are trying to get the fox trot, using enough poles can usually get your horse trotting and then you just slow the horse down and you should have your fox trot. Slow it down till it feels like a quarter horse jog. You can also try rounding the horse's back and bringing its head down but that does not work in all of them to convert them to the diagonal fox trot.
If you do some lateral work such as shoulder in or leg yield it can separate the horse’s legs more so you can go from a step pace to a saddle gait, but it will not usually get you into a diagonal gait of the fox trot. So that is why it is helpful to know what exactly your horse is doing, because if you don't know you can't correct it the right way to get the gait you want.
Once you get a really good feel of the gaits you may feel the difference but even for us trainers at times these two gaits, the step pace and the fox trot can feel similar and both can be smooth with a soft bounce.
So, if you are unsure, take out that phone, put it on the fence and ride by it several times. Then look at it and if you cannot tell, send it to me and I can tell you which one you are doing. Because when you work hard day after day to get the correct gait, you don't want to be wasting time working on the wrong one.