Chapter 5: Anatomy in Horses
Listings
Chapter 7: Behavior in Horses
All horses move naturally with four basic gaits: the four-beat walk, which averages four miles per hour; the two-beat trot or jog, which averages 8 to 12 miles (13 to 19 km) per hour (faster for harness racing horses); and the leaping gaits known as the canter or lope (a three-beat gait that is 12 to 15 miles (19 to 24 km) per hour), and the gallop. The gallop averages 25 to 30 miles (40 to 48 km) per hour. The world record for a horse galloping over a short, sprint distance is 55 miles (89 km) per hour. Besides these basic gaits, some horses perform a two-beat pace, instead of the trot. In addition, there are several four-beat "ambling" gaits that are approximately the speed of a trot or pace, though smoother to ride. These include the lateral slow gait, rack, running walk, and tölt as well as the diagonal fox trot. Ambling gaits are often genetic traits in specific breeds, known collectively as gaited horses. In most cases, gaited horses replace the standard trot with one of the ambling gaits.
More details of horse gaits.
