I'm familiar with this gate from a big 16h Arab I campaigned in the 80's,
The Fiddler. (Everyone thought this horse was a Thorobred at first glance,
but he was a purebred Arab). You see this gate in the big "scopey" horses.
The smaller ones can do it too. But, anatomically, they just don't have the
reach the big ones do so it's kind of choppy. It's like me, 5'2", trying
to out-walk my son, 6'2".
When you ride this gate, it is like a shift into 'overdrive' from the
extended trot. You don't post this gate, per se, because the diagonals are
not in rhythm. You just sit back a little and stay in rhythm with the hind
legs and ALMOST post, so you, as a rider, don't interfere with the horse's
front end rhythm. It's a hard gate to ride at first, you really need to
keep your hips and back loose.
I can vouch for the efficiency aspect, because the only other horses which
can keep up with you are another 'overdrive' trot or a hand gallop. There
is NOTHING like the thrill of your horse 'hooking-up' with another horse
who can do this gate. Talk about covering ground in a hurry, but in a safe
and sane manner. It's much more harmonious and fluid than the gallop. And,
riding it, you can feel that your horse is taking much less of a pounding
than the hand gallop because the weight is more on the rear quarters not on
the forehand.
The down side to this gate is you definitely need good protective boots on
the front or the horse will strike splints on the inside and outside of
both front legs. (Found this out from experience, DUH!).
Of course this gate is only good for relatively open terrain. But it is an
easy transition back to the working trot from here.
Linda Van Ceylon
lvanceylon@vines.colostate.edu