pics of different gaits..

[Jasfino]

Its raining here today and I'm bored. Boyds post got me thinking about all the different pics hubby has taken of me and Jasper.. and how they all look different. I am beginning to get it all sorted out in my head .. ( I think).. and I have found it helps to count the beats if I can while riding in order to figure out what those feet are doing at times. He is always smooth no matter what he does.. so it does make it hard sometimes to figure out just whats going on. Here's some pics.. Ive been thinking about.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Jasfino/new%20baby/expertpics008.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Jasfino/new%20baby/expertpics009.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Jasfino/new%20baby/expertpics010.jpg

These pics are in a sequence as they came out on my camera. 1 lateral, 2 diagonal, 3 lateral ????

[lisa l aka marci]

the first one looks more like a trocha (to me - not 'square' on the opposite sides), the 2nd looks trotty, the 3rd looks more like gait......

That's to the untrained eye!

Isn't it a pain when the horse is so smooth you can't tell what it is doing???

[Jasfino]

If I can figure out what all this horse does.. I will have earned a phd. in horse gaits..

[Boyd R]

The first one looks perfect. the next two, His back should be lifting as his diagonal front is coming down. In my opinion and studying video of Porcy and Noche.

[Jasfino]

I know he is slipping up and going in and out of gait. I havent had the chance to ride him much at all this summer.. with my grandma being ill and keeping my grandson. I had so many plans for us. But.. I do like to try to look at the different pics and try to figure out just what he is doing. The more we study, the more we learn. :D

[Jasfino]

Here's a couple more taken on a different day. The lights in the arena are off.. but you can still tell what he's doing.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Jasfino/expertpics2028cropped-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y175/Jasfino/new%20baby/jasperandsidney041.jpg

[Polly Aulton]

I would have said trocha/fox trot in the first photos and run-walk/corto in the bottom. But what do I know...I'm still trying to understand square. :lol:
Polly

[motorgypsy]

Polly square is just a term used to try to explain the evenness of the paso fino gait. It is not literal like squaring up. A pacey gait is not "square" because you will have the two side feet hit the ground at different times, a pause, and then the other two side feet hit the ground at different times. A trotty gait or trocha is not "square" because you will have the two diagonal feet hit the ground at different times, then a pause, then the other two diagonal feet hit the ground at different times. So the sound of both of these is the same, two beats, a pause and two more beats, but when you watch them you can see the difference.

With the correct paso fino gait, an isochronal gait, all four feet hit evenly. There is no special sequence, it doesn't matter which foot the horse starts with, but the feet must hit the ground perfectly evenly and will make the same even sound a sewing machine makes as the needle moves up and down evenly. This is what is called a "square" gait for want of a better word since most people don't like isochronal and even doesn't explain it very well. When you listen to an army marching you are hearing an isochronal beat. When you listen to a child skip this is not an isochronal beat.

[cowboy ed]

certified pitty pat, with an emphasis on the forehand..... ;-)

[Jasfino]

Jasper and I had a talk last nite over carrots and treats, and he told me that in the future.. any footfall pattern that he did that I couldnt figure out we'd just call the "jasfino"...for now.. :D

I like the pittypat though.. :D I need to ask him about that one.

[TrueStepPaso]

MGs....thanks for that explaination...THAT really made sense to me! :D

[Candice Burger]

What cowboy ed said.

All of the frames, to me, show a horse not quite in a true paso gait. None to me show a horse that is trocha. All pasos have frames of diagonal support/suspensions. It is the WHERE the leg supports are and WHERE the suspended feet are that determine if it is more diagonal or more lateral.

I'm not much of one to draw, so I'll see if I can find what to look for.

If the horse was truly trocha in the second pic, the diagonal supports would be more square. The hind less forward and the front less back. The suspended feet would be more in "sync" for a diagonal movement. Here the front is going down to land and the rear has lifted up and begun it's foward flight. More diagonal would be the hind would be up and under and the front would have not started down. Yeah, it's not quite paso but it ain't trocha. Horses with diagonal tendencies tend to have very "clear" diagonal frames--you "see" it. Same for horses with lateral tendencies--the lateral or pace frame is easier to "see".

He's doing a nice little pitty-pat that isn't quite where he needs to be in a true paso gait. That's why he is still smooth. It's not rhythmic and to offend the senses of cowboy ed, isochronic. Uneven footfall does not mean he will be rough.

[motorgypsy]

If you watch the vidios of true trocha it is a very uneven diagonal four beat gait. A true broken trot but very fast paced with a lot of support and very smooth. Nothing like the four beat fairly even but a "little bit on the trotty side" our guys will do on occasion.

[Jasfino]

I think your right Polly. I thought fox trot as well in that first pic sequence. It lines up with Lee Zeiglers analysis on page 134 of her book.. for those who have it to reference.

Am I the only person in the world that has a paso that thinks he's a foxtrotter??? :D :D