Gaiting Balance and Movement Study Guide for the Gaited and Trail Horses: Characteristics, Similarit

The two main goals of this Study Guide is to help owners, trainers, and students identify gaiting problems and help develop solutions for long-term sound health of the horse. This User Manual follows the nature of the horse's movements at liberty and strives for the same movements with the presence of a rider mounted on his back. The gaited horse does not require any special training. When at liberty, a gaited horse's natural way of moving without a rider is poetry in motion. Gaited horses can move with as much grace and skill as can be seen in any breed of horses. Just watch a stallion, led to a mare; He can piaffe and passage beautifully. (a piaffe is where the horse trots in place, whereas a passage is a high, graceful trot that appears to be in slow motion); he can execute highly complex movements without a rider on his back. Adding a mounted rider, however, interferes with the horse's natural way of moving. It's up to us to restore his natural way of moving when mounted.