Gaited horses are horse breeds that have selective breeding for natural gaited tendencies, that is, the ability to perform one of the smooth-to-ride, intermediate speed, four-beat horse gaits, collectively referred to as ambling gaits.[1]

In most "gaited" breeds, an ambling gait is a hereditary trait.[2][3] This mutation may be a dominant gene, in that even one copy of the mutated allele will produce gaitedness.[2] However, some representatives of these breeds may not always gait. Conversely, some naturally trotting breeds not listed above may have ambling or "gaited" ability, particularly with specialized training. Many horses can both trot and amble, and some horses pace in addition to the amble, instead of trotting. However, pacing in gaited horses is often, though not always, discouraged,[1] though the gene that produces gaitedness appears to also produce pacing ability.[2] Some horses do not naturally trot or pace easily, they prefer their ambling gait for their standard intermediate speed.[1] A mutation on the gene DMRT3, which controls the spinal neurological circuits related to limb movement and motion, causes a "premature 'stop codon'" in horses with lateral ambling gaits.[3][2]

Such breeds include the following:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Breeds that Gait." Equus, issue 359, August, 2007, pp. 52-54
  2. ^ a b c d Andersson, Lisa S; et al. (August 30, 2012). "Mutations in DMRT3 affect locomotion in horses and spinal circuit function in mice". Nature. 488 (7413): 642–646. Bibcode:2012Natur.488..642A. doi:10.1038/nature11399. PMC 3523687. PMID 22932389.
  3. ^ a b Agricultural Communications, Texas A&M University System (5 September 2012). "'Gaited' Gene Mutation and Related Motion Examined". The Horse. Blood-Horse Publications. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  4. ^ Rau, Burkhard; Litzke, Lutz-Ferdinand; et al., eds. (2012). Der Huf: Lehrbuch des Hufbeschlages (in German) (6th ed.). Stuttgart: Enke. ISBN 9783830410744.
  5. ^ Dutson, Judith (2005). Storey's Illustrated Guide to 96 Horse Breeds of North America. Storey Publishing. pp. 106–108. ISBN 1-58017-613-5.
  6. ^ Natsag, Bayar. "Joroo mori". Youtube.
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