American Farriers Journal
American Farriers Journal is the “hands-on” magazine for professional farriers, equine veterinarians and horse care product and service buyers.
How the Trot & Pseudo-Trot Affect the Equine Hoof
The importance of the 4-beat gaits to your hoof-care work
Takeaways
- Understanding that the trot is a four-beat gait is important to riders because a horse cannot alter the position or swing of a leg that is in contact with the ground.
- The longer a stiff-backed horse remains in pleasure competition, the more out of antero-posterior balance the hooves tend to become.
- Horses that pseudo-trot often have abnormally shaped feet, and as a result, tend to have soundness issues that limit their useful lives and/or competitive careers.
This is the third in a series of the gaits that horses commonly use and how they affect hoof care.
Click here for Part 1: 13 Rules of Equine Movement
Click here for Part 2: The Equine Walk: “Mother of All Gaits”
Click here for Part 1: 13 Rules of Equine Movement
Click here for Part 2: The Equine Walk: “Mother of All Gaits”
Of all the horse’s gaits, the trot is both the most popular and problematic. In our last two installments, I emphasized that the walk is the most important training gait, but I’m aware there are many people who would counter that by insisting the trot is the most important gait for training, as well as exhibition purposes.
Whether their horse is a supple and powerful performer that becomes a better and more delightful ride as the years go on, or instead develops a stiff back, a broken neck and a whole plethora of hoof and soundness problems, depends upon what they mean by “trot.” The first take-home here for farriers is to realize that everything that goes “clip-clop” is not a trot.
The first step in understanding the trot or any…
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