Whats So Great About A Mountain Horses Gait?
Unlike trotting horses, mountain horses have a smooth gait which can be ridden without posting or bouncing in the saddle. There is no bounce because of the nearly even timed, patterns of the footfalls. The motion of a horse at a walk (or in the super-fast walk we call a gait) causes the human pelvis to move in the same rhythm as when we walk. It is a natural movement for the body as opposed to the trot, which is uncomfortable and has no corresponding equivalent to our body’s movement. Physically challenged people and people with knee and back injuries often find riding a gaited horse therapeutic, because the rhythm of the horse on their bodies is the same motion as walking, and their tendons and muscles are stretched and strengthened toward normalcy.
