NEW PROMISE FARMS - ApHC & TWHBEA

FACT: Gait is movement. Equines are one of several species who are totally movement oriented. A newborn foal must stand and walk to find that essential first meal of the mare's colostrum. The foal must achieve this within an hour after it is born. Failure to do so is fatal unless medical treatment succeeds in enabling the foal to stand and walk. An equine's existence depends on its ability to walk for the rest of its life. Even the most protected and pampered of domestic horses dies when it becomes unable to walk due to disease, injury or old age and veterinary medicine cannot correct the problem. Because the horse is totally dependent on movement to survive everything about the horse: It's bone structure, height, weight, tendon and ligament attachments, body proportions, vision, hearing, intelligence, temperament, nervous system, reflexes, metabolism, hoof shape, hoof quality, etc. etc. influences its gaits. Therefore gait is an extremely complex polygenic!

FACT: There are at least 19 different gaits in the world-wide equine gene pool. Thirteen of these gaits occur in the gene pool of the Southern gaited breeds which includes: Saddlebreds, Standardbreds, Walking Horses, Foxtrotters, Racking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses, Kentucky Mountain horses, Rocky Mountain horses, American Walking Ponies, Appalachian Singlefooting horses, North American Singlefooting horses, Florida Cracker horses, Montana Travel'r horses, Walkaloosas, Tiger horses, some lines of the Brazilian Mangalarga Marchador, crossbreds involving any of these including mules and hinnies, plus any and all other related breeds or types

FACT: It is possible for a single horse to inherit 10 different gaits and do all 10 at liberty. I currently own a 4 year old TWH mare that does.

FACT: There are only two 2-beat gaits: Trot and pace. A majority of Walkers, Foxtrotters, Rackers and many Standardbreds can and do both trot and pace naturally at liberty. This is true of all the Walkers I currently own.

FACT: There is one 3-beat gait: Canter or lope. The other 16 equine gaits are 4-beat gaits. Fifteen of these 4-beat gaits use the walk sequence of leg movement.

FACT: The true 2-beat pace is the rarest gait because the pure lateral support is so unstable the slightest disruption of the horse's balance causes the horse to split the set down of the lateral pairs thus converting the pace into one of the 4-beat lateral gaits: flying pace, huachano, sobreandando, stepping pace or amble.

FACT: The trot is the most common middle speed gait used by quadrapeds because the diagonal support is so stable, balanced and versatile. The pure trot is a 2-beat gait, however splitting the set-down of the diagonal pair occurs far more often than we realize. The resulting four-beat trot is almost universally ignored until the gait has obviously changed to a trotty rack, flying foxtrot, marcha, pasitrote, trocha, foxtrot, or foxwalk.

FACT: A four-beat canter or lope is quite common, but the 4-beatedness hinders flying lead changes. There is a direct correlation between lateral gait tendencies and 4-beat canter/lope but this is not universal. Some strongly pacey horses cannot canter/lope at all. Because the true canter/lope is a diagonal sequence gait encouraging the trot tends to correct the canter/lope.

Inheritance that cannot be attributed to a single gait gene, or a simple set of gait genes.

Now, getting to the question of gait inheritance. The genetics of the gaits of equines are unknown and unknowable at this time. Here's why: No genuinely scientific research of gait inheritance in equines has ever been done. A truly scientific study of inheritance of gait requires the following:

1. Accurate documentation of the full range of gaits done by each horse as determined by consistent and biomechanically valid gait definitions that are independent of style and speed though the speed range of each should be included.

2. The documentation should include a measure of each horse's gait preferences based on the frequency and duration of its use of each gait, including any age-related changes.

3. This database would have to differentiate between the gaits the horses choose to do at liberty and those the horses acquire as a result of training, illness or injury.

4. The database would also have to include all identifiable variable influencing the horse's choice of gaits, both at liberty and in-hand, on the lunge, ground driving, and under saddle or pulling in harness.

5. Gathering and tracking all of this information for multiple generations of several thousand or tens of thousands of horses might eventually yield the inheritance patterns of particular gaits.

At the present time we do not have the data to do such a study. Furthermore, we cannot collect such data because:

1. There is no consensus about gait definitions, nor the differences between gaits. We often get drastic differences of opinion about gait from multiple people looking at the same horse! A majority vote by confused observers is not valid science.

2. Common usage of gait names has changed drastically in the last 80 years. For example, the running walk of 1920 is now called either a "foxtrot" or a "flat walk" and the foxtrot from that era is now called a "trot." The "running walk" gait name is now applied to the stepping pace, flying pace and rack. Add to this such vague terms as "saddle rack," "saddle gait," "fiddle fadge," "singlefoot," etc. and nobody really knows what gait anybody else is talking about.

3. We do not have enough data about the gait behavior of deceased ancestors of today's gaited horses to determine why our modern horses inherited the gaits they have.

Here is the actual gait behavior and inheritance of several real live TWH that I have analyzed in person:

Mare # 1 is TWHBEA registered, bred and foaled in Montana in 1974 and still living. She stands 14.3 and weighs 950 lbs. At liberty she did flat-foot walk, running walk, 4-beat trot, 4-beat canter and gallop. This mare cannot rack. She was taught to stepping pace under saddle within just two sessions by using 2 lb. action devices on her hind pasterns. She was ridden 1,000+ miles at a 4-5 mph flat walk during 6 years she used the stepping pace under saddle. She never did the stepping pace at liberty but always chose to running walk or 4-beat trot and preferred the running walk when she was not thinking about what gait she was doing. When her rider finally learned how to get out of her way her natural running walk reasserted itself under saddle within 3 weeks.

Her flat-foot walk was 3-5 mph with a total stride length of 72", an overstride of 18" and a head nod of 18". Her running walk was 5 - 6 1/4 mph with a total stride length of 80", an overstride of 24" and a head nod of 14". Her trot was only 7 mph. She broke to a canter from running walk, stepping pace or trot at approximately 7 1/2 mph but could extend that into a 25+ mph gallop. This mare began doing a stepping pace and pace at liberty only after developing severe ringbone on both front pasterns. She was very smooth at all gaits, especially the flat-foot walk.

Stallion # 1 was TWHBEA registered, bred and foaled in Montana in 1973, died in Colorado in 1985. He stood 15.3 and weighed about 1,100 lbs. He inherited a flat-foot walk, 2-beat trot, foxtrot, canter and gallop. He was trained to running walk after being forced to pace with 2 lb weights on his rear pasterns and being flicked on the rear heels with whips by his rider. This stallion was never allowed to flat walk under saddle. His running walk was 6-7+ mph with a 78" stride, a 30" overstride and very minimal head nod. He broke to a canter at about 8 mph but could take only one lead because of an old shoulder injury. The injury made this stallion rough riding for a gaited horse.

Mare # 2 was the 1982 daughter of mare # 1 and alleged to have been sired by stallion # 1, though it's more likely she was a pasture accident by one of his sons instead. She stood 15.1 and weighed 1,000 lbs. She inherited flat-foot walk, running walk, 2-beat trot, canter and gallop. She did a running walk the day she was born, then taught herself to trot, but much preferred to gallop and do roll backs, spins, sliding stops, or rear and walk on her hind legs. She seldom gaited at liberty. However, her running walk re-appeared under saddle when she was ridden on a loose rein. She had absolutely no gait training because her owner and the cowboy who started her knew absolutely nothing about gaited horses. I rode her once and found that she has a very smooth 4-5 mph flat walk that forced the Morab gelding we were riding with to trot. When she broke to a trot herself a light check and release of the reins was sufficient to drop her into a perfectly even running walk that was probably 6-7 mph. No measurements of her stride or speed were ever made. she inherited her sire's style and her dam's smoothness at both flat walk and running walk. This was the most successful gait combination for producing running walk of any I have data for.

Stallion # 2 was TWHBEA and CRTWH registered, bred and foaled in Montana in 1971. He spent 23 years in Alberta, Canada, then spent the last 7 years of his life in Arizona where he died in 2003 at age 32+ after siring his last foal at age 30. He has sired several foals that running walk as well as or better than he did. He was collaterally related to both mare # 1 and stallion #1. This stallion stood 14.3 1/2 and weighed 1,000 lbs. He had massive bone for his size but was so well proportioned he did not look as massive as he was. This stallion inherited flat-foot walk, running walk, foxtrot, 2-beat trot, 3-beat canter and a slow gallop. He could not pace at all. The Quarter horse trainer who started him tried to train him to trot under saddle but he had such a strong preference for the running walk it didn't take. This stallion did a running walk any time, anywhere for anybody whether the rider knew anything about gaited horse or not with any kind of tack, or none. His gait behavior was the same no matter whether he was in-hand, on the lunge, driven or ridden. His flat walk was 3-4 mph, with a 72" total stride length, 14" overstride, and a 14" head nod. His running walk was 5-8+ mph with a 80" total stride length, 8" overstride and about 12" of head nod. His foxtrot was the same speed range as his running walk and extremely smooth. He broke into a rocking chair canter at 8 mph but in his old age could gallop only 12-15 mph. He was very smooth at all gaits including the flat walk.

Mare # 3 is TWHBEA registered, bred and foaled in Mississippi in 1992. She stands 14.2 hands and weighs about 850 lbs. She has an excellent pedigree including some very well known Celebrations winners from the 1940's and 1950s, but no one has used any of her immediate ancestors for anything but pasture mowing and breeding since that time. She inherited a plod walk of only 2-3 mph, a foxwalk of 3-4 mph, a jog-trot of 4 mph and an extremely slow canter - when she could be forced to move that fast at all. She had very minimal overstride. The mare could not pace nor rack and did not really have a 4-beat middle gait. She had severe stifle problems in both hind legs and was mentally, physically and metabolically unsound. Despite these drastic problems she was bred to stallion # 2 via AI.

Gelding # 1, the son of stallion # 2 and mare # 3, was bred and foaled in Massachusetts in 1998. He was TWHBEA registered and stood only 13.3 at 3 years old. This colt did a running walk for the first 2 months of life, then taught himself to do a 2-beat trot at 2 1/2 months of age and quit doing the running walk entirely, though he occasionally foxtrotted a few steps. His flat-foot walk is only 3 mph. He trots 4-6 mph, but sometimes lapsed into a few strides of foxtrot or foxwalk when slowing down. His 3-beat lope is only 7- 8 mph. He enjoys galloping and doing flying lead changes and sliding stops but is not very fast. He could not pace, nor rack. I don't know what gait he does under saddle.

Mare # 4 is TWHBEA, RHBA and CRTWH registered, bred and foaled in Tennessee in 1991. She was trained in TN and shown in at least one Plantation class as a two-year old. She's 15.0 hands and weighs 950 lbs. She's very quick, fast and quite smooth at all gaits including flat walk, which for her is 4-5+ mph. She walks, trots and paces in-hand and has been known to side pass at a 2-beat pace as an evasion tactic. She does 2-beat and 4-beat trots of 5-7 mph with occasional steps of foxtrot on the lunge line. She slops between stepping pace, pace, running walk, foxtrot and rack under saddle when she's calm. When she's hysterical she does an evenly timed speed rack of 10-15+ mph with a huge head nod. She does not know how to maintain even 4-beat timing nor do any moderate speed gait consistently when calm. She often falls flat on her side when attempting to canter. She can gallop 25+ mph. Her total stride length at flat-foot walk is 72" with a 12" overstride.

Mare # 5 is the TWHBEA registered daughter of mare # 4, sired by a 16 hand big-lick show champion in Tennessee, foaled in Arizona in 2000. The sire's gait behavior is unknown to me. This mare stands 15.1 1/2 hands at 4 years old and weighs 1,000 lbs. She has inherited 10 different gaits: Flat-foot walk, stepping pace, pace, flying pace, rack, running walk, 4-beat trot, foxtrot, 4-beat canter and gallop. She has been observed doing all 10 gaits at liberty and on two different occassions did all 10 within 2 circles on the lunge line. She did a naturalized mini-big-lick at one month of age, then added the 4-beat park trot to her repertoire by 4 months of age. At 20 months old she had a gorgeous thoroughbred type 3-beat canter at liberty. At 24 months she was unable to canter at all but fell out into flying pace every time she tried. She was then trained to trot on the lunge, with NO action devices or artificial aids. She has never been shod. She resumed her previous gait behavior of flipping between trot, stepping pace, flying pace and pace at liberty. Putting the trot back into the mix restored her 4-beat canter, as the trainer had expected it would. She slopped between trot, stepping pace and running walk when ground driving. She was started under saddle in the spring of 2004 and has been ridden only 24 times so far. She has a flat-walk of 4-5 mph, which is smoother than expected. She flipped between trot and stepping pace on the few occassions she's been allowed to do a middle gait under saddle. She has hit an evenly timed running walk under saddle when excited, but has been unable to find even timing at a middle gait when calm. This mare has been trained sound, naturally and totally gimmick-free all her life.

Mare # 6 is the TWHBEA and CRTWH registered daughter of mare # 4 (the mare who does an evenly timed speed rack when hysterical) and stallion # 2 (the paceless stallion with the very strong preference for a perfectly even running walk in all circumstances). She was bred and foaled in Arizona in 2002, currently stands 14.1 hands and weighs 800 lbs. She did running walk, stepping pace, 3-beat canter and gallop the day she was born. She taught herself to trot a few days later. She found a perfectly evenly timed but very slow rack at only 5 weeks old. As a yearling she practiced spins, rollbacks and flying lead changes at canter and gallop while playing tag with her older half sister, the 10 gaited mare # 5. As a weanling she developed a preference for pace and stepping pace both at liberty and on the lead but unlike her sister this did not effect her canter. At 18 months old she was frolicking with her sister when videotape captured her accelerating through a gait progression of flat walk, running walk, 2-beat trot, 4-beat trot, perfectly evenly timed rack thence to a true 3-beat canter, all within half a dozen strides. A few minutes later she went directly from flat-walk to canter.

This filly is now 28 months old and does a flat walk of 3 mph breaking to stepping pace at only 4 mph. She breaks to either 3-beat or 4-beat canter at about 7 mph. She occasionally hits a few strides of evenly timed running walk, evenly timed rack or trot during transitions. She has had 3 lunge lessons during which she offered to plod walk, stepping pace, hop, skip and canter. She likes to gallop and do roll backs, spins on her hindquarters and flying lead changes. She is fond of jumping up and down in various airs above the ground when excited. She has never been ridden, has never been shod, and is also being trained totally naturally, sound and gimmick free.

If trot and pace cancel or neutralize each other and evenness with speed is the key to producing perfect running walk why did crossing a strongly gaited running walker with a speed racker produce an ideal 19th century 5-gaited Saddle horse? We don't know what gaits this filly will do under saddle when she's mature and fully trained. She shows promise of becoming a wonderful trail horse no matter what gait she does. This filly is a distant collateral relative of Kentucky Rainbow, the pure-gaited running walker who was the star of Eldon Eadie's "Running walk of the TWH" video. This bloodline consistently produces excellent trail horses but their gait behavior is as varied as any other line of Walkers. Kentucky Rainbow was owned by Mr. Eadie but was NOT bred by Mr. Eadie. Kentucky Rainbow was bred by the Lamportes who have been breeding Walking Horses in the vicinity of Edson, Alberta, for 30 years.

None of the TWH that I know the gait heritage of fit anybody's genetics of gait theory. Furthermore, no two of them inherited the same gait behavior, not even the full siblings I have had opportunity to observe. Therefore, I am forced to conclude that all the genetics of gait theories are pure speculation based on flawed and inadequate data.

WRITTEN BY: Allanna Jackson, Lakeside, Arizona, author of Back Yard Walkin' Training Tips, editor of Biography of the TWH, authorized, revised edition, editor of the Walking Horse Journal magazine.