What is a gait analysis?

So many times in my riding career, when I was out and about competing, I’d hear lots of the same things:

• Horse needs to be rounder;

• Deeper frame;

• More bend;

• Get them off your leg;

• Ride with more forwardness.

And while these do go a long way in helping our horses develope, it we focus purely on these as our gold standard, it means that we end up compromising our horses:

• soundness,

• quality of gait,

• longevity of riding career,

• competitive potential, and

• overall comfort when being ridden.

I have seen a number of horses developed to these “gold standards”, and ended up watching their strides shorten & become irregular, to the point of causing the horse to become unsound and causing long term lameness issues.

I have even seen horses that have had to be euthanased because their quality of life has significantly reduced due to developing them under these “gold standards”.

Just because a horse is in a rounded frame or on the bit, doesn’t mean it is working soundly!

How then, you ask, can I ensure my horse is working with and for soundness? How can I make sure I am riding my horse in a way that will help protect their riding career longevity?

That is where the gait analysis comes in.

The gait analysis can spot:

• how much our riding is interfering with the quality of the horses movement and their overall soundness;

• an indication of what lameness issues are most likely to come up in our horses future if they continue to work in the same way;

• shows us how we can change their exercise program so that we can not ony ride them for soundness but increase their expression of movement; and

• it can show us what exercises to revisit when the training plateaus, so we can revisit and then continue the progression through the training scale.

At Equestrian Movement, we actually strive to ride horses in a way that the horse itself WANTS to be ridden, and that the action of riding and movement FEELS good.

When the quality of how we ride is judged on head carriage instead of self carriage, quite often we end up seeing horses that are, at best, ridden in discomfort, and at worst, ridden in pain and in a way that they will break down and have to retired or meet an untimely end to their life.

The purpose of a gait analysis is to keep us accountable - that the riding is happening FOR the horse, not to the horse.

So if you want to take steps towards a horse that is sound, happy and working really well in self carriage, click the image below to view our virtual gait analysis package.

Your horse will thank you for it.