Re: Disunited Trot

Jude Hall (Hall@CC.DENISON.EDU)
Fri, 20 Dec 1996 17:00:03 -0400 (EDT)

Hi Duncan - I enjoyed reading your post - re: the comment one always
hears about the rack being difficult for a horse to maintain. I think
that applies to the Saddlebred type of rack, which as you said, is
very high action and animated. I would think the energy spent in
high action is what makes the gait tiring.

The "old-timey" name for the rack is a singlefoot. I have a racking
horse and a TWH, they both rack, but it is a low ground covering
gait. It is as natural to them as a trot is to a 3 gaited horse.
The Saddlebred & TWH both have similar beginnings, my TWH
has Saddlebreds way back in her ancestry, the two breeds diverged,
the Saddlebreds being bred more selectively for high action and
the TWH used more for traveling type of gait. As you mentioned,
the Narragansett (sp? - its even harder to say!) Pacer was an
ambling breed common to both their ancestries.

Thanks for an interesting post.

Jude Hall
& Kentucky Redbud (Racking Horse)
& Pride's Pure Angel (TWH)

The foxtrot, running walk, the tolt of the Icelandic, the sobreandando and
>paso llano of the Peruvian, all the paso gaits of the Paso Fino alternate
>between 2 and 3 feet on the ground. They are all even four beat gaits
>except the sobreandando which is uneven four beat with timeing closer to
>the pace and the foxtrot which is a uneven four beat with timing closer to
>the trot. These are ideal - in practice they may be different. I am less
>familiar with the Saddlebred. There are video clips of the Saddlebred's
>rack (both fast and slow) at http://www.wmwoods.edu/asb/asb.htm (The server
>could not be reached this morning, but it still shows up on a search with
>Lycos) and clearly show moments with only one foot on the ground. It is a
>much more animated gait than the others. My understanding is that contrary
>to the other gaits mentioned above, it is very difficult for the horse to
>maintain. It is not clear to me whether this is because of the animated
>action or because the American Saddlebred does not have the correct
>conformation to do the gait. All the other breeds can do their gait for
>hours (assuming they are in condition). The TWH people appear to use the
>term rack more loosely to include any even four beat gait that does not
>include both a head nod and a overstride. With BOTH of those
>characteristics added it becomes the running walk.
>
>Since the true trot requires simultaneous footfall, and given accurate
>enough measurement this will not be found, I am not suprised at Tom Iver's
>observations. That makes the difference between a trot and a fox trot a
>somewhat subjective call. Ditto for the pace and the stepping pace. Again
>with accurate enough measurement a perfectly even four beat gait will not
>be found. Therefore the difference between those even four beat gaits and
>the uneven (fox trot and stepping pace) are also somewhat subjective.
>
>Virtually all the American breeds have some Naragansette Pacer (sp?) in
>their lineage. It was an ambling horse of (now) indeterminate gait.
>
>Duncan Fletcher
>dfletche@gte.net
>
>----------
>> From: Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>
>> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
>> Subject: Re: Disunited Trot
>> Date: Friday, December 20, 1996 8:48 AM
>>
>> If the diagonal trot is broken into a four beat gait it is known as a
>> foxtrot or rack depending on many things - including speed. The rack is
>a
>> true even four beat gait. That is the foots falls are all separated by
>the
>> same amount of time. There is an continuum of footfall patterns between
>a
>> true trot and a true rack. The slow rack and the fast rack are the
>fourth
>> and fifth gaits of a five gaited saddlebred. Along with the saddlebred
>the
>> following horses will rack:
>> Tennessee Walking Horse, Morgan, Standardbred and Paso. I have been told
>> that there is also an Arabain boodline that tends to be "gaited", i.e.
>has
>> the tendency toward being able to rack. I belive this is the Raffles
>> bloodline.
>>
>> While it is true that the horse only has one foot on the ground at any
>one
>> time, the rack is a smooth gait with no suspension. In a racking horse
>the
>> head of the rider traces out a stright line. Hence there is no increased
>> force on the legs cause by the absorbtion of the kenic energy generated
>by
>> the suspension of the trot. So as far as stress it is probably a wash.
>> The true rack is a fast gait. My walking horse can rack between 10 and
>15
>> mph - this is fairly common for a rack. If a troting horse has a
>> predisposition to do this gait there are two places that will most likely
>> happen. Pushing the horse on at a trot while maintaining contact can
>cause
>> a transition into the rack. Riding a fast trot down mild downhills can
>> also cause a transition into a rack.
>>
>> Truman
>>
>>
>>
>> Truman Prevatt
>> Sarasota, FL
>>
>
>