Trotting Horse On A Rural Road

The simple country road comes to life as leaves wave in the breeze and a beautiful stallion approaches, breaking through patches of light and shadow with the grace of wild royalty. You sit along the roadside, chewing on a freshly plucked piece of straw, and admire the chestnut colored mane flowing in the wind, and the enormous muscles bending beneath the weight of each step. The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat. From the standpoint of the balance of the horse, the trot is a very stable gait, and the horse need not make major balancing motions with its head and neck. The speed of a regular working trot is averages 8 to 12 km/h (5 to 10 mph), up to 19 km/h (12 mph). The trot can generally be classified as "working", "collected", or "extended", depending on the amount of engagement and collection of the horse. By the rhythm, one may distinguish a true, two-beat square trot, when each diagonal pair of hoofs hits the ground at the same moment, from a four-beat intermediate ambling gait, such as the fox trot or the "trocha" sometimes seen in the Paso Fino. Passage is a slow, elevated, extremely engaged and collected trot. The horse moves like it is in slow motion, with a long moment of suspension between steps. A very advanced movement. Piaffe is an extremely collected trot in place, where the horse carries most of its weight on its hindquarters and does not move forward except for a few inches per stride at most.