I had a registered qQuarter Horse mare that would single foot. I had never ridden or seen a gaited horse and didn't know what it was called. It was a "shuffle' and she could do it at all speeds. She also had a fast walk and was incredibly smooth at a trot and lope. Her name was "Shy," so I called it "The Shy Shuffle" before I found out what it was.
Great video.. and yes there are horses who are gaited throughout every breed. You see, back in the 1700's when the US was being settled, gaited horses in all breeds out numbered NON gaited horses 3 to 1. So that means there is three times more gaited BLOOD in all breeds going forward. So even though it's uncommon to have a quarter horse who gaits... it's possible and today it IS special! I am Gaited Horse Expert for 20 years and experience has shown many breeds who gait, race, pace, etc.
@mgrayce thanks for understanding! very interesting facts. i have now seen him do it in the pasture, of his own free will. so i am convinced it is 100% natural for him. i didn't create it. either he learned it or he was born with it. i need to get a newer, higher quality video up here...this is from years ago and his gait has improved.
@DoubleSCallsIt -- what that is called is that horses have a DNA Marker (ever hear of a recessive gene) for gait. It can be in a horse's bloodline forever and not show up until "wham" ...there it is. It's just like having a family full of brown eyed people for 50 years and all of a sudden a blue eyed child is born into the family. Ironically, being gaited was first considered a genetic defect or birth defect. But people liked how the gait felt so much they started breeding for it.. :)
So far, I've heard of two other Quarter Horses that do this (or something similar). I think it is a rack. The judge at our show said he was "a cute little racker" and my instructor, who knows a ton about gaited horses, said that it's a rack. So I guess I should rename it "Racking Quarter Horse"? :)
This is quite odd I've never seen or heard of a gaited quarter horse, they are not naturally gaited....and I've never heard of an indian shuffle. It looks like some form of rack to me.
That's cool! I didn't know quarter horses could do that. I bet that makes trail rides fun :)
There are gaited Morgans, and QH have Morgan in them, maybe that's where it came from. I have a slightly gaited Arab, she only does it when she really wants to go fast, and I won't let her, she'll get into this gait that's really fast and smooth as glass. I ride with Walkers and she blasts past them.
He is so cute. My Bar quarter horse had a very slow and smooth gate which was know as a trot back when I showed in the early 1970's. To me, the way a quarter horse moves today while trotting, looks uncomfortable for the horse and rider. I would say that your horse has some carry over characteristics,
It's definitely the Indian Shuffle. In the Indian Shuffle all 4 Legs moves slightly independently- It's a lateral gate but the timing is a fraction off of your traditional running walk or pace. If you watch his right front and rear legs work closest to the camera you will notice although they work together in movement, the rear strikes the ground sooner creating a fraction of a second difference that adds up and alters the gate. It's what makes the Indian Shuffle unique. He's cute :)
@crazyyjumpergurl it is cool! I love it. I feel like I have something special and different :) some people still don't believe me, though. I guess I'll just have to throw them on him so they can feel it, haha.
I showed Tucker in a gaited class yesterday. He placed second out of 3 horses. The other horses were Tennessee Walkers. The judge said he's a "cute little racker" and he looks really good once we get going. I don't think she was aware that he's a Quarter Horse...
I have an Appendix QH and he does what looks like a slow gait. I rode saddlebreds for a year and a half, so I know what it looks like, but I've never seen a QH do it before. In order for Dillon to do his gait he has to be excited (but for Dillon, that's everyday) and he has to be very collected. I think he thinks he's a saddlebred...lol
I have a gaited QH too and it is very simular to yours. Mine is a stallion and he is passing it on to the babies. I don't know of any one else that has these kinds of horses. He is a foundation Quarter horse. I love the gait.
@Chey8114 That's awesome! I think it's a good thing to be passing on. From what I understand, it's rare. I think it should be kept alive. Unfortunately, Tucker's a gelding :P
A true gait shouldn't have to be enhanced by ANY tools or tack. That goes for all gaited and non-gaited breeds. Just my two cents on that....
With Tucker; of course it's not a rack. No, he's not stepping under himself nicely. That's because we don't do this often. It's rare for him, so he doesn't really know what to do exactly. It's not a fast walk. I can guarantee that. I guess you'd have to feel it? It's definitely "a" gait. And it's not jigging, in case anyone thought that might be the case.
I honestly don't know what it is, but it's NOT a walk, trot, canter, or jigging. He can do this slowly or at the speed of a medium canter. Whatever it is, it isn't going to be as pretty as a truly gaited horse because he doesn't do it all the time. Thanks for commenting!
its looks like he isn't stepping under himself very nice and walking fast in my opinion.
Quarter Horses are heavier set horses. They mostly dont really have the same outline as a fine breed.
I dont know how to make a quarter horse 'rack' or 'slow gait' but i know how to make a saddlebred.
Put a saddleseat saddle on. Sit back, roll shoulders. Get a BIG hill, doesnt have to be steep Now put weights on his back feet and pull your hands apart (snaffle first) wiggle your butt and swing ur legs
horses have to have skinny chested and proper mucles. I wouldnt really be racking a horse. (this is not a rack of course!!) it is completely different muscles that must horse never use.
Sorry to sound rude but i really dont believe in the Indian Shuffle.
Sources- too many years of riding gaiting horses and training horses. Including quarter horses.
im sorry to say but dont get excited. its kinda a pace/trot/slow gaiting. people consider some qh's gaited but its not true. When they actually start really gaiting its going to be different. horses usually drop there butt and pull up there shoulders for a rack. (which is a 4 beat gait, not 2) A horse is either 5 gaited or 3 gaited.
HOWEVER, does your horse do this regulary? If you really want to know if your horse is truely gaited out on saddleseat saddle and follow these steps:
I asked the bloodline question on my Foundation Fox Trotter board and some lines mentioned were Joe Reed, Peter McCue, Joe Hancock. Also Doc O'Lena was mentioned.
Gait can crop up in certain bloodlines of QH. So it's not really that the horse is non-gaited. QH are not traditionally thought of as gaited. In the QH breed it has mostly been bred out, but I think it's really cool that gait can be so strong a trait that it crops out. Some TB's of the past were gaited according to a friend of mine who has researched fox trotter and saddle horse bloodlines. Count yourself blessed if your horse can do more gaits than the average QH!
There are gaited quarter horses (check blood lines). They can do a single foot or Indian shuffle. Your horse fell into a pace, that is normal with most latteraly gaited horses. You had him held in a nice gait until you came towards the camera, he lost gait for a few steps and fell into a pace. This was a great demonstration of a gaited quarter horse!
Oh, that was my friend,Leah, riding him. And when he was passing the camera, his back left leg tripped over a dirt mound or something. I think that broke the gait, actually, lol. Thanks!
I am part of the gaited ASB world and I also ride quarter horses. It all depends on the horse to wether you can train it to gait or not. And yes, some of them do it naturally. My sisters ASB was taught to do a slow gait and rack when he was really young. But I started riding a American Appendix a couple weeks ago and was very suprised when I asked him to trot he started racking, no one taught him that, he was just born with it.
so mostly it is almost like a horses jumping ability, some can do it, and some can't do it very well (or at all). And even if they know how to gait, some do it very poorly. Gaiting also has something to do with bloodlines, certian bloodlines make racking possible for a horse. And the last thing is the horses hip angle. I'm glad to say that YES your gelding is slow gaiting, and he is very cute =)
My quarter horse does a rack and I have a few other people that have ridden him and said he does it too. So I believe "non gaited" horses can gait, not something I have taught him and I started him myself.
I don't believe any non-gaited horse can be "taught" to gait. They're born with it or they're not. But I've heard that it is possible to train a horse to gait, so I'm really not sure about that one.
Oh, and he did trip on his rear left leg when he was by the camera. Maybe that's why he appeared sore.
He's not sore at all. He just isn't asked to do this very often. It was after a trail ride and I'm sure he was a little tired, but he was not sore.
I don't know much about gaits, so I videoed this and asked people on a horse forum. Many thought it was the Indian Shuffle? I'm still not positive. He can do this gait very fast, about the speed of a slow lope, but Leah had him pretty slow here.
if you speed him up a little it would be a rack i think. but yeah it looks like a passo gait. thats so cool. i wonder if quarterhorses can be taught to gait.
I had a registered qQuarter Horse mare that would single foot. I had never ridden or seen a gaited horse and didn't know what it was called. It was a "shuffle' and she could do it at all speeds. She also had a fast walk and was incredibly smooth at a trot and lope. Her name was "Shy," so I called it "The Shy Shuffle" before I found out what it was.
susanmeanslily 3 weeks ago
Great video.. and yes there are horses who are gaited throughout every breed. You see, back in the 1700's when the US was being settled, gaited horses in all breeds out numbered NON gaited horses 3 to 1. So that means there is three times more gaited BLOOD in all breeds going forward. So even though it's uncommon to have a quarter horse who gaits... it's possible and today it IS special! I am Gaited Horse Expert for 20 years and experience has shown many breeds who gait, race, pace, etc.
mgrayce 6 months ago
@mgrayce thanks for understanding! very interesting facts. i have now seen him do it in the pasture, of his own free will. so i am convinced it is 100% natural for him. i didn't create it. either he learned it or he was born with it. i need to get a newer, higher quality video up here...this is from years ago and his gait has improved.
DoubleSCallsIt 6 months ago
@DoubleSCallsIt -- what that is called is that horses have a DNA Marker (ever hear of a recessive gene) for gait. It can be in a horse's bloodline forever and not show up until "wham" ...there it is. It's just like having a family full of brown eyed people for 50 years and all of a sudden a blue eyed child is born into the family. Ironically, being gaited was first considered a genetic defect or birth defect. But people liked how the gait felt so much they started breeding for it.. :)
mgrayce 6 months ago
So far, I've heard of two other Quarter Horses that do this (or something similar). I think it is a rack. The judge at our show said he was "a cute little racker" and my instructor, who knows a ton about gaited horses, said that it's a rack. So I guess I should rename it "Racking Quarter Horse"? :)
DoubleSCallsIt 9 months ago
This is quite odd I've never seen or heard of a gaited quarter horse, they are not naturally gaited....and I've never heard of an indian shuffle. It looks like some form of rack to me.
Equestrian08 9 months ago
yeah, when we ride with gaited horses, he doesn't struggle to keep up, haha. That's neat about your own horse!
DoubleSCallsIt 10 months ago
That's cool! I didn't know quarter horses could do that. I bet that makes trail rides fun :)
There are gaited Morgans, and QH have Morgan in them, maybe that's where it came from. I have a slightly gaited Arab, she only does it when she really wants to go fast, and I won't let her, she'll get into this gait that's really fast and smooth as glass. I ride with Walkers and she blasts past them.
bladeofbattousai 10 months ago
He is so cute. My Bar quarter horse had a very slow and smooth gate which was know as a trot back when I showed in the early 1970's. To me, the way a quarter horse moves today while trotting, looks uncomfortable for the horse and rider. I would say that your horse has some carry over characteristics,
Hartdoxies 10 months ago
@cjhiRWIN : snazzy! thanks for that information!! i think he's quite cute myself :P
DoubleSCallsIt 1 year ago
It's definitely the Indian Shuffle. In the Indian Shuffle all 4 Legs moves slightly independently- It's a lateral gate but the timing is a fraction off of your traditional running walk or pace. If you watch his right front and rear legs work closest to the camera you will notice although they work together in movement, the rear strikes the ground sooner creating a fraction of a second difference that adds up and alters the gate. It's what makes the Indian Shuffle unique. He's cute :)
cjhiRWIN 1 year ago
That's really cool! I never knew that some Quarter Horses could do that!
crazyyjumpergurl 1 year ago
@crazyyjumpergurl it is cool! I love it. I feel like I have something special and different :) some people still don't believe me, though. I guess I'll just have to throw them on him so they can feel it, haha.
DoubleSCallsIt 1 year ago
I showed Tucker in a gaited class yesterday. He placed second out of 3 horses. The other horses were Tennessee Walkers. The judge said he's a "cute little racker" and he looks really good once we get going. I don't think she was aware that he's a Quarter Horse...
DoubleSCallsIt 1 year ago 2
Looks like the Indian Shuffle to me, most commonly found in the Appaloosa breed. Maybe he has some wild horse way back in his pedigree, lol
akitaakita2 1 year ago
@akitaakita2 haha, maybe. i'm not sure. it's not a big deal to me. i just think it's neat :)
DoubleSCallsIt 1 year ago
I'd say Indian Shuffle. That's the only thing it looks close to. And it is a rare gait but quite a few horses have it.
cowgirl22hannah 1 year ago
I have an Appendix QH and he does what looks like a slow gait. I rode saddlebreds for a year and a half, so I know what it looks like, but I've never seen a QH do it before. In order for Dillon to do his gait he has to be excited (but for Dillon, that's everyday) and he has to be very collected. I think he thinks he's a saddlebred...lol
pakatochip 1 year ago
I have a gaited QH too and it is very simular to yours. Mine is a stallion and he is passing it on to the babies. I don't know of any one else that has these kinds of horses. He is a foundation Quarter horse. I love the gait.
Chey8114 1 year ago
@Chey8114 That's awesome! I think it's a good thing to be passing on. From what I understand, it's rare. I think it should be kept alive. Unfortunately, Tucker's a gelding :P
DoubleSCallsIt 1 year ago
A true gait shouldn't have to be enhanced by ANY tools or tack. That goes for all gaited and non-gaited breeds. Just my two cents on that....
With Tucker; of course it's not a rack. No, he's not stepping under himself nicely. That's because we don't do this often. It's rare for him, so he doesn't really know what to do exactly. It's not a fast walk. I can guarantee that. I guess you'd have to feel it? It's definitely "a" gait. And it's not jigging, in case anyone thought that might be the case.
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
I honestly don't know what it is, but it's NOT a walk, trot, canter, or jigging. He can do this slowly or at the speed of a medium canter. Whatever it is, it isn't going to be as pretty as a truly gaited horse because he doesn't do it all the time. Thanks for commenting!
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
@DoubleSCallsIt it reminds me of the paso fino a little. how he moves quick.
MajiksGurl224 1 year ago
its looks like he isn't stepping under himself very nice and walking fast in my opinion.
Quarter Horses are heavier set horses. They mostly dont really have the same outline as a fine breed.
I dont know how to make a quarter horse 'rack' or 'slow gait' but i know how to make a saddlebred.
Put a saddleseat saddle on. Sit back, roll shoulders. Get a BIG hill, doesnt have to be steep Now put weights on his back feet and pull your hands apart (snaffle first) wiggle your butt and swing ur legs
GrandNational453 2 years ago
horses have to have skinny chested and proper mucles. I wouldnt really be racking a horse. (this is not a rack of course!!) it is completely different muscles that must horse never use.
Sorry to sound rude but i really dont believe in the Indian Shuffle.
Sources- too many years of riding gaiting horses and training horses. Including quarter horses.
GrandNational453 2 years ago
im sorry to say but dont get excited. its kinda a pace/trot/slow gaiting. people consider some qh's gaited but its not true. When they actually start really gaiting its going to be different. horses usually drop there butt and pull up there shoulders for a rack. (which is a 4 beat gait, not 2) A horse is either 5 gaited or 3 gaited.
HOWEVER, does your horse do this regulary? If you really want to know if your horse is truely gaited out on saddleseat saddle and follow these steps:
GrandNational453 2 years ago
@GrandNational453 i agree with the pacey/trot/slow gaitish thing, but god knows
MajiksGurl224 1 year ago
I asked the bloodline question on my Foundation Fox Trotter board and some lines mentioned were Joe Reed, Peter McCue, Joe Hancock. Also Doc O'Lena was mentioned.
librarydragon830 2 years ago
Gait can crop up in certain bloodlines of QH. So it's not really that the horse is non-gaited. QH are not traditionally thought of as gaited. In the QH breed it has mostly been bred out, but I think it's really cool that gait can be so strong a trait that it crops out. Some TB's of the past were gaited according to a friend of mine who has researched fox trotter and saddle horse bloodlines. Count yourself blessed if your horse can do more gaits than the average QH!
librarydragon830 2 years ago
I train Missouri Fox Trotters, Rocky Mountain Horses, Kentucky Mountain horses and Tenessee Walkers! No you can not train gait in ungaited horses!
camy186 2 years ago
I didn't think so, lol. It's just all so strange. I'm not a fan of gaited breeds and I really don't know much about them. Thanks for commenting!
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
There are gaited quarter horses (check blood lines). They can do a single foot or Indian shuffle. Your horse fell into a pace, that is normal with most latteraly gaited horses. You had him held in a nice gait until you came towards the camera, he lost gait for a few steps and fell into a pace. This was a great demonstration of a gaited quarter horse!
camy186 2 years ago
Oh, that was my friend,Leah, riding him. And when he was passing the camera, his back left leg tripped over a dirt mound or something. I think that broke the gait, actually, lol. Thanks!
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
Back right*** sorry.
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
I am part of the gaited ASB world and I also ride quarter horses. It all depends on the horse to wether you can train it to gait or not. And yes, some of them do it naturally. My sisters ASB was taught to do a slow gait and rack when he was really young. But I started riding a American Appendix a couple weeks ago and was very suprised when I asked him to trot he started racking, no one taught him that, he was just born with it.
xArbensxMusicx 2 years ago
so mostly it is almost like a horses jumping ability, some can do it, and some can't do it very well (or at all). And even if they know how to gait, some do it very poorly. Gaiting also has something to do with bloodlines, certian bloodlines make racking possible for a horse. And the last thing is the horses hip angle. I'm glad to say that YES your gelding is slow gaiting, and he is very cute =)
xArbensxMusicx 2 years ago
Ah, very informative! Thank you!! And I like to think he's purdy cute, too :P
DoubleSCallsIt 2 years ago
I think it is so awesome that he can do that.
xArbensxMusicx 2 years ago
My quarter horse does a rack and I have a few other people that have ridden him and said he does it too. So I believe "non gaited" horses can gait, not something I have taught him and I started him myself.
Dmfultrasweetchoice 2 years ago
I don't believe any non-gaited horse can be "taught" to gait. They're born with it or they're not. But I've heard that it is possible to train a horse to gait, so I'm really not sure about that one.
Oh, and he did trip on his rear left leg when he was by the camera. Maybe that's why he appeared sore.
DoubleSCallsIt 3 years ago
Comment removed
horsebackrider420 3 years ago
He's not sore at all. He just isn't asked to do this very often. It was after a trail ride and I'm sure he was a little tired, but he was not sore.
I don't know much about gaits, so I videoed this and asked people on a horse forum. Many thought it was the Indian Shuffle? I'm still not positive. He can do this gait very fast, about the speed of a slow lope, but Leah had him pretty slow here.
DoubleSCallsIt 3 years ago
He looks sore, and pacey. A poor imitation of a paso llano, IMHO.
KalamityKat56 3 years ago
if you speed him up a little it would be a rack i think. but yeah it looks like a passo gait. thats so cool. i wonder if quarterhorses can be taught to gait.
horsebackrider420 3 years ago