The Imus 4-Beat(tm) saddle seats measure smaller from cantle to pommel than they actually are when being ridden. This is because of the flexible tree bars and the web suspended seat - the webbing causes the seat area to slightly 'cup up' when the saddle is sitting on a saddle stand. However, when the rider sits in the seat, the bars flatten back out to their true, original size. This gives the rider a snug, secure feel when in the saddle - if the seat size is truly too small, then the rider doesn't feel 'snugged in,' but rather feels as though they're being pushed out of the seat.

Many gaited horses – indeed, it seems the the majority of them  – will perform a pace or stepping pace as their preferred gait. While it’s always our intent to encourage natural gait action, it is best to try to bring the strongly lateral horse as close to the center of the gait spectrum as possible, and this for its own long-term welfare.

A horse that paces is moving one set of lateral, or same side, legs in perfect unison, creating an even 2-beat gait, with a moment of suspension between one set of feet picking up and the opposite set striking the ground. The motion of the pace is from side to side, and because of the suspension, there’s also some up and down movement. No fun for the rider!

The stepping pace is nearly identical to the pace, except that the hind foot sets down a split second before the same side forefoot. This eliminates suspension, and the resultant concussion, that occurs in a straight pace.

Sometimes a step pace is a smooth gait for the rider. But any horse executing it will be going in a strung-out manner that places too much weight over the front end, and discourages proper balance and collection. In other words, the horse will land heavily on each front leg, while each hind leg will be hyper-extended behind it before the weight comes off, placing excessive stress on the hocks and stifle joints. This frequently results in problems with the soundness of these structures. It also encourages a ventroflexed – hollow backed – frame, making the horse hard to fit for saddle, and weakened throughout its topline. Since the horse’s back muscle (the longissimus dorsi) is the largest muscle in its body, we should keep it strong and healthy for as long as possible.

Pace isn’t only unfortunate for the horse, however. The most common complaint I receive, by far, is from people who have horses with extremely uncomfortable pace gaits under saddle. Many of these poor souls despair of ever being able to retrain these horses, yet are emotionally attached to them.

Many people do not realize there is a problem with the pace or step pace, and believe it is a correct saddle gait. One highly respected mainstream equestrian magazine ran a feature article on the subject of gaited horses, and every photo in the article showed horses, with widely grinning riders, performing fast pace or step pace gaits!

One of the most common questions I hear from gaited horse owners is whether it is all right to canter, or to trot, their gaited horse. In regard to both questions, the answer is, "that depends."

Someone who rides a laterally oriented horse may do well to encourage the horse to canter, as it will teach it how to break up that addictive, lazy habit of pacing or step pacing, and teach it the basics of working off the haunches and rounding up through the back. The stronger and better conditioned the horse, the less likely it is to pace. It's unlikely that an animal with a very strong tendency toward pace would learn to trot before establishing a more square gait, and this would not be as productive as cantering, in any case.

On the other hand, a horse with a strong natural tendency to trot will have difficulty learning to gait if allowed to do so, while encouraging the diagonally oriented animal to canter often leads to a specific gait problem that is difficult to fix, once the habit has been started.

The greatest frustration for those owners of gaited horses that are ‘clued in’ to their animals is often finding a saddle to correctly fit the horse. It’s not uncommon for people to go through a half dozen saddles (or more) in their quest to help their horse to perform comfortably. I am commonly asked why this is so. Since this is spring, and the start of a new riding season, it seemed an appropriate time to respond to that question. It is my sincere hope that many of you, upon reading this article, will be spared the frustration so commonly associated with finding the right saddle for a gaited horse. If you know of someone dealing with a saddle issue feel free to forward this article on to them, or to print it out and share. (While gaited horses do have unique action through the back, owners of non-gaited horses with strong athletic abilities, very short backs, and/or unusual toplines also may benefit from the information contained herein.) 

A gaited horse is one that possesses the innate ability to be ‘quadridextrous,’ or to move all four legs independently of one another at speed, while a non-gaited horse can only move pairs of legs together when going faster than a walk. The traditional method for training a gaited horse to saddle has been to encourage it to stiffen up and hollow its back, and raise its neck and head. This effectively raises the animal’s center of gravity, making it easy for the trainer to shift his or her weight, see-saw on the reins, and throw the horse off balance. When this is done with certain timing, it results in some sort of 4-beat shuffle as the horse attempts to regain its balance. The rider then keeps the horse somewhat off balance, pushes for speed, and voila! – a smooth saddle gait has been obtained in very short order. The horse’s conformation, the way it has been trimmed, padded, shod, bitted and otherwise mechanically altered, combined with the rider’s seat, leg and hand position, all help to determine what gait the horse will perform. Repetition of this kind of riding helps to confirm the gait, so that the horse learns to habitually travel in a particular manner and at a certain gait when under saddle.