Horses are a
staple of western fiction. When writing or reading about them, it’s helpful to
understand common terms about the way they move. Whether or not an experienced
horseman can see the animal, he or she can tell how fast the critter is moving
by the distinctive sound of hooves striking the earth.
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| Walk |
Walk
A walk is a
four-beat gait, meaning three hooves remain on the ground while the fourth
moves. The walk is a very comfortable gait for riders. It’s smooth, producing
only a slight swaying motion. At a walk, riders have no trouble keeping their
butts in the saddle.
Horses can walk
all day, even under saddle, but they don’t move very far very fast. The average
horse will cover three to four miles an hour at a walk; some move as slowly as
two miles per hour.
Trot and jog
Technically, a
jog is slower than a trot, but practically—at least in western riding—both
gaits are referred to as jogging. Jogging is a two-beat gait in which diagonal
pairs of legs move together: left rear with right front; right rear with left
front.
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| Jog |
Trotting primarily
is associated with horse shows (during which judges want to see that a horse
can move at variety of speeds on command) and harness racing. Racing trotters
often cover as much ground as quickly as other horses gallop. Some harness
races require horses to pace, in which the legs on each side move together
while the legs on the other remain on the ground.
The jog is a
horse’s natural working gait. If left to his own devices (and not escaping a
threat), a horse will move at a jog when he wants to cover distance quickly. Horses
can jog for a long time without tiring, but many riders can’t take the pace.
With a few notable exceptions, a jog can be extremely jarring and puts
enormous strain on the muscles in a rider’s legs, back, and abdomen. Working
cowboys who spend a good deal of time in the saddle may move their horses at a
jog, but pleasure riders generally try to avoid the gait if they value their
butts, which slap the saddle with each step until the rider learns to “move
with the horse.”
At a jog, horses
cover an average of about eight miles an hour. So-called “gaited horses” like
the Tennessee Walking Horse and the American Saddlebred don’t jog or trot.
Instead, their natural middle gait, a “running walk,” can cover as many as
fifteen miles in an hour. Because all four hooves move independently, a running
walk is a comfortable gait for riders. Both breeds are primarily pleasure, not
working, horses.
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| Lope |
Lope or canter
Lope and canter
are essentially the same gait, a three-beat movement in which three hooves are
off the ground while a rear leg supports the horse’s weight. At a lope, horses
can cover about ten to fifteen miles in an hour; some can reach speeds of up to
twenty-seven miles per hour.
Note: Horses under western saddle lope.
Canter is an English-riding term, possibly derived from Canterbury.
Gallop
The gallop, a
four-beat gait, is the horsey equivalent of run and averages about thirty miles
per hour. Horses bred for speed, like Thoroughbreds and racing Quarter Horses,
can gallop as fast as fifty miles per hour.
In the wild, horses gallop in order to escape a threat. Most horses can gallop for only a mile or two without risking serious injury or death. (Yes, some horses will run themselves to death at the urging of a rider.)
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| Gallop |
In the wild, horses gallop in order to escape a threat. Most horses can gallop for only a mile or two without risking serious injury or death. (Yes, some horses will run themselves to death at the urging of a rider.)
How far can a horse travel?
How far a horse
can travel in a day depends on the horse’s condition, the availability of food
and water, and the terrain he is asked to cover. At a combination of lope and
walk, a young horse in optimal condition can travel fifty to sixty miles a day in
good weather over flat terrain, as long as he is allowed to drink and graze
every couple of hours. The faster a horse moves, the more often he will need to
rest, eat, and drink.
Though it may
seem counter-intuitive, the longer a horse moves fast, the shorter the distance
it can cover in a day. Pony Express riders galloped about 10 miles (or about
half an hour) before changing horses and usually covered 60-70 miles a day, but
that was an exceptionally grueling pace for the rider. A good average pace is about
40 miles per day, which is the speed the U.S. Cavalry aimed for during the
nineteenth century. Over uneven terrain or in bad weather, a horse and rider
would do well to cover twenty miles per day. In the mountains, ten miles per
day would be a good pace.
Many cowboys
carried grain—usually corn or oats—in order to get more out of their horses. Grain
provides increased carbohydrate-based energy. Sweet feed, which contains
molasses, was not as common unless a horse was stabled. Horses love sweet feed,
but it’s not good for them except as a treat.
Remember, too, that most working cowboys preferred—and still prefer—to ride geldings over mares or stallions. As a rule, geldings are much more tractable than either stallions (which can be a handful at best and a nightmare if a mare anywhere in the vicinity is in season) or mares (who naturally establish a pecking order within a herd and can be cranky). In the wild, a mare runs the herd; stallions are tolerated only for breeding and protection.
