A non-gaited horse is one that naturally performs only the three standard gaits: walk, trot, and canter (or gallop). These are the gaits shared by roughly 70% of horse breeds worldwide, and they’re the same movement patterns seen in wild horses, zebras, and even the Przewalski’s horse, a species that split from modern horses around 45,000 years ago. If a horse doesn’t have an extra, intermediate-speed gait like a running walk, rack, or tölt, it’s non-gaited.
The Three Standard Gaits
Every horse, gaited or not, walks. The walk is a four-beat gait where each leg moves independently, one at a time. It’s the slowest and most stable way a horse moves, with at least two hooves on the ground at any moment.
What defines a non-gaited horse is what happens when it speeds up from a walk. Instead of shifting into a smooth, lateral gait like a gaited breed would, a non-gaited horse breaks into a trot. The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait: the right front leg and left hind leg move together, then the left front and right hind. At faster trot speeds, there’s a brief “suspension phase” where all four hooves leave the ground between each beat. This creates the characteristic bounce that riders either learn to love or learn to post through (rising and falling in the saddle in rhythm with the stride).
The third gait is the canter, sometimes called a lope in western riding. It’s a three-beat gait with a specific footfall sequence: the horse pushes off with one hind leg, then the opposite hind and its diagonal front leg land together, and finally the remaining front leg (the “lead” leg) touches down. A moment of suspension follows before the cycle repeats. At full speed, the canter opens into a gallop, where those paired legs separate into individual beats, making it a four-beat gait.
Diagonal Movement vs. Lateral Movement
The core mechanical difference between gaited and non-gaited horses comes down to how the legs pair up at intermediate speeds. A non-gaited horse trots by moving diagonal legs together: front left with back right, front right with back left. This diagonal pairing is biomechanically efficient for covering long distances at moderate speed, but it produces significant vertical motion. The horse’s body rises and falls with each beat, and the rider feels that as a bounce.
Gaited horses, by contrast, tend to move their legs in lateral pairs (same side together) or in broken, overlapping sequences that keep at least one hoof on the ground at all times. Mathematical analyses of these ambling gaits show they dramatically reduce the vertical oscillation of the horse’s center of mass. That’s why gaited horses feel so smooth under saddle, and why they’ve historically been prized for long-distance trail riding and endurance work.
Research on vertical movement patterns confirms this difference in measurable terms. At the trot, the head, withers (the ridge between a horse’s shoulder blades), and pelvis all rise and fall together twice per stride, with peaks during push-off into suspension. Warmblood horses, a classic non-gaited type, show the greatest range of vertical motion at the trot, while Icelandic horses (a gaited breed) show the least.
Why It Comes Down to Genetics
Whether a horse is gaited or non-gaited isn’t just training or conformation. It’s largely determined by a single gene. A 2012 study published in Nature identified a mutation in the DMRT3 gene, now nicknamed the “gait-keeper” gene, that controls how neurons in the spinal cord coordinate limb movement. This gene affects both left-right coordination and the timing between the front and hind legs.
The distribution is strikingly clear-cut. Every gaited breed tested carried the mutation at high frequency, while all non-gaited horses were homozygous wild type, meaning they carried two normal copies of the gene. Horses with one copy of the mutation can perform intermediate lateral gaits like the tölt. Horses with two copies can also pace, a fast two-beat lateral gait. Non-gaited horses, lacking the mutation entirely, default to the diagonal trot as their intermediate gait and transition naturally from trot into canter or gallop as they accelerate.
The mutation also affects gait transitions. Gaited horses with two copies of the DMRT3 mutation find it harder to shift from a trot or pace into a gallop, which is why some gaited breeds can sustain their lateral gaits at speeds where a non-gaited horse would have already broken into a canter.
Common Non-Gaited Breeds
The majority of the world’s horse breeds are non-gaited. Some of the most recognizable include Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Arabians, Warmbloods (such as Dutch Warmbloods, Hanoverians, and Oldenburgs), Appaloosas, Paint Horses, Andalusians, Lusitanos, Friesians, Morgans, Clydesdales, and most pony breeds like the Welsh Cob, Connemara, and Shetland. Even some of the most ancient breeds, such as the Exmoor and Sorraia, are non-gaited, suggesting the diagonal trot is the ancestral default for horses.
For comparison, well-known gaited breeds include the Tennessee Walking Horse, Missouri Fox Trotter, Icelandic Horse, Paso Fino, Peruvian Paso, and Rocky Mountain Horse. The American Saddlebred is an interesting case: it can be shown as either three-gaited (walk, trot, canter) or five-gaited (adding the slow gait and rack), depending on training and breeding.
What This Means for Riding
If you ride a non-gaited horse, the trot is the gait you’ll spend the most time learning to manage. In English riding, riders “post” the trot by rising out of the saddle on one beat and sitting on the next, which absorbs the bounce and makes it comfortable for both horse and rider. In western riding, riders typically sit the jog, a slower, less bouncy version of the trot. Either way, developing a good seat at the trot is one of the fundamental skills of riding a non-gaited horse.
Non-gaited horses dominate most competitive equestrian disciplines. Dressage, show jumping, hunter classes, eventing, reining, cutting, barrel racing, and polo all use non-gaited breeds almost exclusively. The trot is a required gait in dressage tests at every level, and judges evaluate its rhythm, suspension, and impulsion. Show hunters are judged on the quality of their canter. These sports are built around the biomechanics of the standard three gaits.
Gaited horses, on the other hand, tend to excel in trail riding, endurance, and breed-specific show classes where their smooth intermediate gaits are the whole point. The choice between gaited and non-gaited often comes down to what you plan to do. If you want to compete in mainstream English or western disciplines, a non-gaited horse is the standard. If you want a smooth, comfortable ride over long distances and don’t need to compete in trot-based sports, a gaited horse may suit you better.
Posting, Sitting, and Comfort
The bounce of a non-gaited horse’s trot is the single biggest practical difference most riders notice. New riders often find it jarring, and it’s the reason posting was invented as a riding technique. But that vertical motion isn’t a flaw. It reflects the efficient energy transfer of diagonal limb coordination, and many riders come to prefer the clear rhythm and expressiveness of a good trot. A well-trained non-gaited horse with balanced, rhythmic gaits can be extremely comfortable, especially at the walk and canter, which are naturally smoother than the trot.
The canter, in particular, is often described as the most comfortable gait on a non-gaited horse. Its rolling, three-beat rhythm is easy to sit, and the moment of suspension gives it a rocking-horse quality that many riders find addictive. It’s one reason canter work is a favorite part of lessons for beginning and experienced riders alike.