Whether you are working in a collected, working, medium or extended frame in a gait, there are certain qualities and attributes each gait should exhibit.

Tempo is the number of beats per minute.  Those who become involved with musical freestyles will quickly realize that it is extremely important to have music with the correct tempo for each gait of your horse.  If the horse's tempo is too slow, the horse will appear lazy and unresponsive.  If the tempo is too fast, the horse will appear tense and overly agitated.  Each horse will have a tempo that best suits it where it is moving forward with energy without becoming frantic.  Within a gait, whether working collected, working, medium, lengthened or extended the tempo should remain the same.  A tempo that increases or decreases as you extend or collect the stride is a serious fault.

Rhythmn is the way the beats are distributed within a stride.  They should be distributed evenly, without more emphasis on one beat than another.  Each gait has a different rhythmn that should be easily recognizeable from the sound of the footfalls alone.

Cadence is the amount of separation of the beats.  The better the cadence, the more separation between the beats.  Cadence is not the same as suspension.  Suspension is the height the horse springs into the air during each stride.  Cadence lets us hear each beat of the gait isolated from the others in a stride.  Suspension is visual, or sight oriented, cadence is auditory, or sound oriented.  You see suspension, you hear cadence.

The walk is a gait of four clear, distinct and evenly separated beats. It is a lateral gait and the footfalls follow the pattern in which the hind leg on one side starts the stride, followed by the front leg on the same side, then the hind leg on the other side, followed by the front leg on that side.  For instance: right hind, right fore, left hind, left fore.  Please note that the first beat of any gait is always a hind leg.  The horse is a rear propulsion vehicle.

A horse that is tense and rushing will sometimes exhibit a tendency to "pace" at the walk.  The lateral quality of the gait becomes exaggerated and the rhythmn becomes uneven.  Instead of the solid 1, 2, 3, 4 rhythmn of the correct walk, the horse will move in a 1-2. . 3-4 with more emphasis coming on beats 2 and 4. On a horse that paces severely, beats 1 and 3 will be almost impossible for the rider to detect, making the walk feel decidely 2-beat.  In a correct walk a horse will, as one dressage judge puts it, "V-up".  This refers to the fact that the hind leg and front leg should form a "V" before the front leg starts forward.  When the front leg starts forward too soon, the walk becomes too lateral or"pacey".  Conversely, a horse that is too heavy on its forehand because it drops from the withers will have a tendency to forge or even overreach, and will also be prone to stumbling.

                                                                   

For the horse lacking in rhythmn and cadence at the walk, groundpoles can be of great assistance.  They must be set for the horse's walk, however, and not for the trot.  Cavaletti set on the lowest or middle height at the proper distance apart can be a valuable training exercise.  As with any exercise, in the beginning, be careful not to overdo.  Walking groundpoles is more strenuous for your horse than it looks.

The trot is a diagonal two-beat gait.  The legs work in diagonal pairs meaning that the right hind and the left fore move together in a diagonal pair and the left hind and right fore move together in the other diagonal pair.  There should be a moment of suspension between the two beats.  A horse that is traveling too much on its forehand will generally have less suspension and cadence than a horse that carries itself well.  The trot is a very stable gait as it is symmetrical not only in the way the legs move, but in the rhythmn as well.

                                            

Problems in the trot are usually of a tempo nature.  Tenseness and weakness will cause the horse to speed up the tempo when asked to lengthen, rather than taking a longer stride.  A horse that has not developed proper self carriage will slow the tempo due to lack of impulsion when asked to collect, thereby avoiding the essence of the exercise.

As with the walk, groundpoles can be very effective schooling aids for the trot.  They must be set at the proper distance for your horse, however, or the time and effort will be wasted, if not detrimental.  They can be of tremendous help in introducing your horse to collection and extension, but the horse must be confident and secure in working through them at his normal distance before making changes.

The canter is the least stable of the gaits.  From a technical standpoint it is the most complicated as it is a three beat gait produced by a four legged animal.  It also has "leads" which require the horse to exhibit a great degree of ambidexterity or the ability to use both "hands" or sides equally.  Like the walk, it has plenty of opportunities for things to go awry.  A proper canter begins with the outside hind leg, (remember, all gaits begin in the hind end) followed by the inside hind and the outside fore, together in a diagonal pair (just like in the trot), then the inside fore leg and finally the moment of suspension when all four legs are off the ground.

Here we see beat #1 - the outside hind leg.

This is beat #2 - the inside hind and outside fore together in a diagonal pair.

Now we have beat #3 - the inside fore leg.

Finally, the moment of suspension with all four feet off the ground.

The gallop, unlike the canter, has four beats.  In the gallop the diagonal pair become separated with the inside hind coming down well before the outside fore leg as illustrated in the picture below left.

In the picture above right you see a four beat canter which differs quite dramatically, both in appearance and feel, from the four beat gallop.  In the four beat canter the diagonal pair are separated, just as in the gallop, but the front foot comes down before the hind foot.  A horse that "4-beats" at the canter is generally on its forehand and not active enough in the hindquarters.  It will many times also indicate a stiff back in the horse.

Cavalletti grids can help improve the "jumping quality" of the canter.  Care must be taken to be sure the horse maintains a steady tempo and rhythmn and does not rush and flatten out.  A balanced canter will have a true "rocking-horse" feel and will give the rider a definite uphill sensation.

A horse with three pure gaits has a much better chance of success in the dressage arena because the purity of the gaits indicates an inherent degree of balance and self carriage.  When looking at a prospective purchase most experts advise giving more importance to finding a horse that exhibits a good walk and canter.  Their philosophy is "you can always improve the trot, but the walk and canter have to be there."  The rider's responsibility is to become good enough to not interfere with (and hopefully enhance) the horse's natural movement.