Even people who are very far from horse breeding know that the horse can run differently. Every kind of running of this animal is called a gait. There are only three main types of gaiters - a step, a lynx and a gallop.
However, there is also a fourth gait, which is a special kind of lynx. It is called a foreigner's walk.
The name itself contains the difference from the usual running - otherwise, not like everyone else. So not all horses can run, so this gait is worthy of a separate story. Foreign horses have always been appreciated for their unusual and very beautiful style of running. They will be discussed in our article.
What is a foreigner's walk?
A foreign horse walker moves with a special gait. When running with a normal lynx horses move their legs diagonally: right front - left rear, left front - right rear.
The order of movement of limbs at a usual lynx is the following: the right-back leg goes first, followed by the left front, then - left-back and, at last, right front.
- When running with a foreigner's walk, both the front and the rear limbs of the horse move forward from one side - the right front - the right rear, the left front - the left rear.
It looks simply bewitching.
Foreigners gently shake the rider while running, there is no usual shaking in the saddle.
- Therefore, this gait is considered to be the most convenient gait for fast riding.
Horses are the most valued horses, whose foreigner's walk is of innate quality. There are few of them, and many horses are specially retrained for this style of running.
- Over the past few decades, foreign horses, called Standardbred, have gained worldwide fame.
This is a lightweight breed of horses, designed to participate in equestrian competitions. The second name of this horse breed is "American trotter". Animals of this breed often choose a foreigner instead of a lynx, so they are hardly called trotters at the moment.
Distinctive features of foreign walkers
- Since the gait of these horses differs from the running style of most of their relatives, there are other differences between foreigner and "normal" horses. These include the following features of these animals:
- The easiest way for a foreigner to run in the forward direction is to turn them around;
- Within 24 hours, a foreigner can easily travel a distance of one hundred and twenty kilometers;
- The look of a horse running a foreigner is very beautiful and fascinating, and the knocking of its hooves when moving with nothing can be confused - it is so embossed and smooth;
- The average speed of an average foreigner is three meters per second.
The history of the emergence of a separate breed of these unusual horses
As a separate breed, the aliens were bred in the United States of America. Breeding work ended at the end of the nineteenth century. The ancestors of the American Standardbred were the English thoroughbred racehorse and Norfolk trotter. In addition, these horses also carry the blood of American trotters (derived from Arab horses) and Dutch trotters.
- The founder of this breed is a purebred American stallion named Messenger.
His congenital foreign pedigree was consistently passed on to his numerous offspring, and, as we have already mentioned above, the foreigner from birth is much more valuable than the reeducated one.
- In addition to this wonderful stallion, a great contribution to the creation of the breed of American foreign walkers made a tribal horse of Anglo-Arab breed named Morgan.
It was with his help that this trotting gait was fixed among the offspring.
- Remembering the history of the emergence of standard-brands, it is necessary to mention Belvander - a purebred Norfolk trotter.
It was the daughter of this stallion and grandson of Messenger who became the parents of the legendary dark-anxious horse named Hambletonian Tenth, from whom more than a thousand three hundred foals were born, who later became the basis of the breeding flock of this breed. The descendants of this fertile stallion still take an active part in various equestrian competitions.
Interesting facts about these unique animals
Sports horse breeders have noticed that if the horse is horseshoed in such a way that its front horseshoes are lighter than the rear ones, it often switches to a foreigner's walk itself. Conversely, if the rear horseshoes are lighter than the front ones, they will run with a regular lynx.
Lynxes of Russian breeds (Oryol and Russian) do not like a foreigner, so this gait is not necessary for thoroughbred domestic animals.
In winter, when studded horseshoe shoes are often used, horses can inflict injury to themselves in the heels of the front limbs, hooking them with spikes.
The first record-breaking foreigner was a stallion named Kambest. He ran a distance of 1600 meters per minute and 46.2 seconds, that is, at an average speed of 55 kilometers per hour.
The European Trotting Association (ERA) prohibits the participation of foreigners in races all over Europe.
Traditional horse racing is popular in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.