Gaited or not Gaited

Question
Dear Expert:
What makes a gaited horse, and are horses used in equestrian jumping gaited or not gaited?
Thank You,
Adam

Answer
Hello Adam,

Every horse has gaits.  The normal four are: walk, trot, canter  and gallop.  Those horses that are shown in the "gaited" classes have other gaits called rack and rack on. I believe that Tennessee Walkers and American Saddlebred are two of those breeds.  Then there is the pacer occurring mostly in Standardbred, but in other breeds as well.  So we have:

walk              4 beats in regular rhythm

trot               2 beats in regular rhythm, diagonal legs moving in syncronicity.

canter             3 beats with a pause, left front leading or right front leg leading, like in Hunter shows and dressage

gallop             4 beats with a pause as in race horses

pace               like a trot only same sides are moving together like a camel. Gives sort of a rolling movement.

rack               a fast running walk. rack on is even faster.

I hope this helps to clear things up.
Best wishes,
Dorothy