THE FIVE-GAITED SADDLE HOKSE. 223 



that walk-trots, the aim has been to get an animal with 

 inherited inclinations to carry weight under the saddle 

 with a sense of responsibility. 



"It is interesting to note that not only in the cornbelt 

 (where saddle horses are not so common as in the south- 

 ern states) but also in the range countries where day-in 

 and day-out saddle work taxes the riders, there is a desire 

 to learn of the nicer points of horseback riding, the re- 

 finements of equitation. These are more readily taught 

 in the riding school than through the printed page, and 

 yet they must be taught in some way. Inquiries fre- 

 quently come for information as to how to use a saddle 

 horse that has been educated after the southern methods, 

 or in other words how to get a horse to go the gaits 

 to which he has been trained. We have had occasion to 

 try to enlighten readers on the subject, but recurrence 

 to it again seems necessary. In a recent issue we en- 

 deavored to describe the gaits of a trained saddle horse, 

 and the subject will stand yet further elucidation, to- 

 gether with some practical suggestions on changing the 

 gaits under saddle. A horse that 'gangs his ain gait' can 

 hardly be called a satisfactory saddler. No horseman 

 should rest content until he has taught his mount to 

 change his gait at a given signal, so that he may com- 

 mand any pace at will. 



"First, let us get the names of the gaits straight before 

 we straighten out the gaits themselves. It must be ad- 

 mitted that the term 'single-foot' aptly describes the 

 'four-beat' gait, or that action in a horse in which each 

 foot has a separate fall on the ground; but 'the powers 

 that be' — the men who breed and train horses, and who 

 conduct the American Saddle Horse Breeders' Association 

 — years ago abandoned the use of that term and substi- 

 tuted the word rack. This is not so pretty a name, but it 

 is shorter, it is correct, and it has the greatest weight of 

 authority for its use. The single-foot and the rack are 

 one and the same gait, but it is better to use the word 

 rack in describing it. 



"The word 'lope' is a contraction of gallop. There are 

 three words used to describe this action according to its 

 speed. When a horse is fully extended going fast it is 

 called a run; when he is going at moderate speed it is 

 called a gallop, and when the similar movement is exe- 

 cuted slowly it is called a canter. Yet another distinction 

 may be introduced, and that is a hand-gallop. This comes 

 between a canter and a gallop, but it is more nearly like 

 a canter. But there is much more of a difference in these 



