The term amble or ambling is used to describe a number of four-beat intermediate gaits of horses. All are faster than a walk but usually slower than a canter or gallop. They are smoother for a rider than either the two-beat trot or pace and most can be sustained for relatively long periods of time, making them particularly desirable for trail riding and other tasks where a rider must spend long periods of time in the saddle.
Though there are differences in footfall patterns and speed, historically these gaits were once collectively referred to as the "amble." Today, especially in the United States, horses that are able to do an ambling gait are referred to as "gaited horses." Some breeds naturally perform these gaits from birth, others can be trained to do them. Some breeds have individuals who can both trot and amble.
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The amble was particularly prized in Horses in the Middle Ages due to the need for people to travel long distances on poor roads. The Old High German term for a gaited horse was celtari (Modern German Zelter), cognate to Icelandic tölt. English amble is a 14th century loan from Old French, ultimately from Latin ambulare "to walk".
As roads improved and carriage travel became more common, followed later by railroads, riding horses that trotted became more popular in Europe; the dominant uses of riding horses came to include light cavalry, fox hunting and other types of rapid travel across country, but of more limited duration, where the gallop could be used. The amble was still prized in the Americas, particularly in the southern United States and in Latin America where plantation agriculture required riders to cover long distances every day to view fields and crops.[1] Today, ambling or gaited horses are popular amongst casual riders who seek soft-gaited, comfortable horses for pleasure riding.
As a general rule, while ambling horses are able to canter, they usually are not known for speed, nor is it particularly easy for a horse to transition from an ambling gait into the canter or gallop. Thus, in history, where comfort for long hours in the saddle was important, ambling horses were preferred for smoothness, surefootedness and quiet disposition. However, when speed and quick action was of greater importance, horses that trotted were more suitable due to their speed and agility. When horses were used in warfare, particularly during the Middle Ages, it was not uncommon for a knight to ride an ambling horse to a battle site, then switch to a war horse for galloping into the actual battle.[1]
All ambling gaits have four beats. Some ambling gaits are lateral gaits, meaning that the feet on the same side of the horse move forward, but one after the other, usually in a footfall pattern of right rear, right front, left rear, left front. Others are diagonal, meaning that the feet on opposite sides of the horse move forward in sequence, usually right rear, left front, left rear, right front. A common trait of the ambling gaits is that usually only one foot is completely off the ground at any one time.[2] Ambling gaits are further distinguished by whether the footfall rhythm is isochronous, four equal beats in a 1-2-3-4 rhythm; or a non isochronous 1-2, 3-4 rhythm created by a slight pause between the groundstrike of the forefoot of one side to the rear of the other.
Not all horses can naturally perform an ambling gait. However, many breeds can be trained to produce them, and there are several breeds of horses who inherit the ability to perform these gaits either from birth or with a minimal amount of training. Some, though not all horses without natural gaited ability can be taught an ambling gait by being slightly restrained at a trot or pace. The length of the stride is kept long, but the rider asks the horse to alter its balance to break up the two strides in such a manner to produce a four-beat gait.
An ambling gait considered desirable in one breed is often penalized in another. For example, the Missouri Foxtrotter is specifically bred to perform the fox trot, a diagonal gait, while the Paso Fino is bred to perform lateral gaits and can be penalized for a diagonal gait, which in that breed is called Trocha.
Lateral gaits fall in the sequence right hind, right front, left hind, left front. They can be distinguished by whether the footfall rhythm is "even" or isochronous, four equal beats in a 1-2-3-4 rhythm; or non-isochronous, a slightly uneven 1-2, 3-4 rhythm created because the horse picks up and sets down its feet on each individual side slightly faster, creating a slight pause when switching to the opposite lateral pair of footfalls.[2] While lateral gaits are generally all very smooth, some gaited horse breeders argue that the even lateral gaits are somewhat smoother than the uneven lateral gaits.[3]
The Running Walk is an even four-beat lateral gait with footfalls in the same sequence as the regular walk, but characterized by greater speed and smoothness. The horse retains a regular 4-beat cadence but the running walk is characterized by an extreme overreach of the hind foot (often being placed as far as 24 inches ahead of where the front foot landed) and speeds of up to 10 mph. It is a distinctive natural gait of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
The slow gait is a general term for the slower forms of the classic amble and several slightly different gaits that follow the same general footfall pattern as the walk, in that lateral pairs of legs move forward in sequence, but the rhythm and collection of the movements are different. The common thread is that all are smooth gaits, comfortable to the rider. Terms for various slow gaits include the stepping pace and singlefoot. Some slow gaits are natural to some horses, while others are developed from the pace. All are very smooth; in particular, the stepping pace is said to have been used at times to transport wounded soldiers from battlefields. The stepping pace, sometimes called an "amble," is a slightly uneven lateral gait, with a 1-2, 3-4 sequence, while the singlefoot has an even 1-2-3-4 rhythm.
The rack or racking is a gait that is also known historically as the "Virginia Single-foot Gait," with many breeds of horses capable of producing this gait. It is most commonly associated with the Five-Gaited American Saddlebred. In the rack, the speed of an even lateral singlefoot gait is increased to be approximately that of the trot or pace, but instead of being a two-beat gait, it is a four-beat gait with equal intervals between each beat.
The rack, like other intermediate gaits, is smoother than the trot because the hooves hitting the ground individually rather in pairs minimizes the force and bounce the horse transmits to the rider. To achieve this gait the horse must be in a "hollow position". This means that, instead of a rounded back as seen in dressage horses and others that work off their hind quarters, the spine is curved somewhat downward. This puts the racking horse in the best position to rack without breaking into another gait. If the rider sits back or leans slightly back, this will encourage the hollow position. This allows the hind legs to trail and makes the rack easier for the horse. The downside of this is that this position weakens the back and makes the horse less able to carry the weight of the rider without strain.
The rack, at speed, can be as fast as a canter. The ride is smooth, and the rider appears to remain motionless as the horse moves. The horse itself maintains a fairly still head and most of the action is in the legs. At horse shows, one of the Slow Gaits and the Rack are required gaits for the Five-Gaited American Saddlebred, who also performs the walk, trot and canter. The gait is to some degree hereditary in five-gaited Saddlebreds. The rack is also a genetic trait in a breed called the Racking horse, and a variation is seen in the Icelandic horse.
The tölt is a four-beat lateral ambling gait mainly found in Icelandic horses. Known for its explosive acceleration and speed, it is also comfortable and ground-covering.[4] There is considerable variation in style within the gait, and thus the tölt is variously compared to similar lateral gaits such as the rack of the Saddlebred, the largo of the Paso Fino, or the running walk of the Tennessee Walking Horse. Like all lateral ambling gaits, the footfall pattern is the same as the walk (left hind, left front, right hind, right front), but differs from the walk in that it can be performed at a range of speeds, from the speed of a typical fast walk up to the speed of a normal canter. Some Icelandic horses prefer to tölt, while others prefer to trot; correct training can improve weak gaits, but the tölt is a natural gait present from birth.[5][6][7] There are two varieties of the tölt that are considered incorrect by breeders. The first is an uneven gait called a "Pig's Pace" or "Piggy-pace" that is closer to a two-beat pace than a four-beat amble. The second is called a Valhopp and is a tölt and canter combination most often seen in untrained young horses or horses that mix their gaits. Both varieties are normally uncomfortable to ride.[7] The Icelandic also performs a pace called a skeið, flugskeið or "flying pace".[8][9]
The Faroese Horse and the Nordlandshest/Lyngshest of Norway share common ancestry with the Icelandic horse and some individuals of these breeds have the capacity to tölt, although it is not as commonly used.
The Peruvian Paso and Paso Fino are two breeds which have smooth innate intermediate gaits.
The Paso Fino has several speed variations called (from slowest to fastest) the paso fino, paso corto, and paso largo. All have an even 1-2-3-4 rhythm. The Paso fino gait is very slow, performed mainly for horse show competition. Horses are ridden over a "fino strip", which is usually plywood set into the ground, so the judges can listen for absolute regularity of footfall.[3] The paso corto is similar to the singlefoot. The paso largo is similar to the rack and can be extremely fast, up to 25-30 mph.
Some Colombian Paso Finos, particularly if tired or stressed, may perform a diagonal gait known as "Trocha" or a slower version, "Pasitrote," both akin to the fox trot (see below).[2] Many Paso Fino trainers in the USA discourage their horses from using diagonal gaits, emphasizing the lateral gaits exclusively, though in Colombia, it is more often considered acceptable.[10]
The Peruvian Paso has an even lateral gait known as the Paso Llano, which has the same footfall sequence as the Running Walk, and is characterized by an elongated and lateral motion of the front shoulder known as "Termino." The faster ambling gait of the Peruvian Paso is called the Sobreandando and is a slightly uneven lateral gait somewhat closer to a stepping pace.[3] The Peruvian paso, when tired or stressed, may also fall into an undesired diagonal gait, the pasitrote, as well as a pace-like gait, the huachano.[11]
The Mangalarga Marchador has two lateral gaits: the "marcha picada", a lateral gait ranging in speed from a somewhat pace-like running walk to a pace similar to the Icelandic flying pace; and the "center march", which is very close to the classic running walk seen on flat-shod Tennessee Walkers. It also has a third, diagonal, ambling gait, described below.
The revaal or ravaal is a four-beat lateral gait associated with Marwari, Kathiawari or Sindhi horse breeds of India.
The diagonal gaits are usually slightly uneven, in a 1-2, 3-4 rhythm that gives the rider a slight forward and back sensation when riding. They are considered physically easier on the horse than the lateral gaits as less hollowing of the back occurs when the horse is in the gait.[12] However, proponents of laterally-gaited horses argue that they are also not quite as smooth.[3]
The fox trot is most often associated with the Missouri Foxtrotter breed, but is also seen under different names.[2] The fox trot is a four-beat broken diagonal gait in which the front foot of the diagonal pair lands before the hind, eliminating the moment of suspension and giving a smooth ride said to also be sure-footed. The gait is sometimes described as having the horse walk with the front feet and trot with the back. In a fox trot, the horse must keep one front foot on the ground at all times and display a sliding motion with the hind legs.[13]
The Mangalarga Marchador performs the marcha batida, a diagonal gait similar to the fox trot. The Peruvian Paso and Caballo Criollo Colombiano perform the trocha, which is also a four-beat diagonal gait, though it is often discouraged as a gait fault in these breeds. Another version seen in the Paso Fino is called the Pasitrote.
Horse breeds that have natural gaited tendencies include the following:[14]
In most "gaited" breeds, an ambling gait is a hereditary trait. However, some representatives of these breeds may not always gait, and some horses of other breeds not listed above may have ambling gaited ability, particularly with training.
At one time, even horses without natural ambling ability were trained to produce the gait on command. But historically, as the value of the ambling horse of the Middle Ages gave way to a preference for trotting breeds and the development of classical dressage by the time of the Enlightenment, training the amble became a topic of considerable discussion amongst horse trainers in Europe. The 1728 Cyclopedia discussed one form of the gait (the lateral type derived from the pace) and some of the training methods used to create it in a horse that was not naturally gaited:
Faulty methods
Proper method
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.