>>> I know this has probably been discussed several times on this board, but >>> what exactly is "stepping pace"? I know what the flying pace is. >>> Sometimes my horse feels like he is going from a tolt into pace, but I >>> cannot tell for sure. After I get him trimmed again and he is balanced >>> I will try to take a video and put it up for everyone to see what they >>> think, that is if I can figure out how to upload a video.
Videos are great and very helpful. It helps me to think of the possible mid-speed gaits as a continuum (a word that the late, great Lee Ziegler used) with hard pace at the lateral extreme, and hard trot at the diagonal extreme. The other gaits fall between the two extremes, some closer to pace, some closer to trot, and some in the middle. The stepping pace is definitely to the lateral side, but it is somewhat broken, not two-beat. Depending on how broken it is, it can be pretty smooth, or pretty rough...and sometimes it can be smooth at a slower speed, but rough at a faster speed. You might say that rack/tolt is the adjoining gait on the spectrum, closer to the middle of the range, but isn't squarely in the middle. Since the gaits are a continuum, your horse may (and probably will) find some spots where his gait of choice will morph slightly from one gait range into another. Since saddle rack and stepping pace are similar, and close to each other on the spectrum, it's not uncommon for a horse to shift between saddle rack and step-pace, depending on such subtle factors as terrain, fatigue, if he's going uphill or downhill, etc., even on the same trail, all other things being equal. Of course, saddle fit, other tack, trims, bell boots, extreme riding, bits and other factors can exaggerate those gait changes even more - usually not a good thing, unless you are correcting a pain issue from a bad trim or a poor saddle fit. If you are riding a step-pace, you will feel a side-to-side sway, that can sometimes be comfortable, but apparently it makes some people seasick. The closer it morphs to hard pace, the rougher the ride becomes, and the more jarring the side-to-side feel becomes. If it's a variation of step-pace close to saddle rack, the swaying sensation may be barely noticeable, and the gait may be very comfy. Most of the time, a step pacing horse's head will have sort of a v-shaped bob to it - the head will bob up to the left, down to the center, up to the right, down to the center...and so on. With the rack/saddle rack/tolt, you probably won't see much movement of the head at all, so that's a big clue to look for from the saddle. Here's the order of the gaits, as they morph from the lateral extreme to the diagonal: -hard pace -stepping pace -rack/saddle rack/tolt -running walk -(some people might put foxrack here, but most ignore it..) -foxtrot -true, hard trot Judy has a diagram - sort of an arc - that she uses to display the gait range. For some reason, it makes more sense to me to visualize them on a line, but that's just me. They are what they are, no matter what helps you visualize them. Karen Thomas, NC
