The tradition goes on: Jaden Aadland, the fifth generation on the Johnson/Aadland ranch, here with father Steve, enjoying a gentle, smooth-gaited horse.

In the early 1890s, a stocky cowboy, saddle slung on one shoulder, stepped off the train at a station bordering the Crow Indian Reservation in south-central Montana. A Danish immigrant, Magnus Johnson, already had under his belt a decade of hard cowboying in central Montana, where he supplemented his income by training horses for miners. His mission this day was one he’d accomplished several times earlier, that of buying unbroken horses from the Crow Indian tribe.

Magnus had repeated this horse-buying mission several times. He’d choose approximately 20 head, make his deal, then pick a special one for himself. His selection was always a smallish, solidly built horse, with a little “attitude,” the kind that would make succumbing to the fatigue of a 60-mile ride extremely unlikely. The other essential was a “single-foot gait,” probably what we’d call an amble or a running walk today.

Using the corrals at the Crow Agency headquarters, he’d spend a couple of days training his chosen mount, then round up his 20 head, and aim them toward home, 200 miles away — a feat of horsemanship on a green animal almost unimaginable today.

To Magnus, my wife’s grandfather, the choice of a gaited horse for a long ride was automatic and unquestioned, just as it was to his son, Elmer, my father-in-law. To the tough cowboys of the northern plains in those days before highways and horse trailers, smooth-gaited horses weren’t something new or novel, they were standard fare — a fact all but lost in the sea of hype put forth by various breed associations laying claim to the term “Western horse.”

A contemporary of Magnus’ came west to assuage the sorrow caused by the deaths, on the same day, of his mother and of his wife. Accustomed to the Thoroughbreds of his foxhunting companions in New York, Theodore Roosevelt marveled at the toughness and ground-covering ability of the Western cow ponies he found near his ranch on the Dakota/Montana border. On his far-reaching hunting trips to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and southern Canada, he found one trait in common (in addition to their toughness) among many of the indigenous cow ponies: They were smooth-gaited.

In his book, The Wilderness Hunter, Roosevelt writes, “Sometimes we racked, or shacked along at the fox trot which is the cow-pony’s ordinary gait [italics mine].” Later, he tells of riding with his ranch foreman at a “rack, pace, single-foot, or slow lope” and goes on to assert that the trot is disliked by “all peoples who have to do much of their life-work in the saddle.”

Fueled by family stories and by the writings of many who observed horses in the early West, such as Francis Parkman, Washington Irving, Andy Adams, and Andrew Garcia, writers who mentioned the prominence of gaited horses, my wife Emily and I continued the tradition. My father-in-law’s aging geldings had fueled our appetites, reining back into a fast rack when you both spurred and collected them.

In 1980, from an outfitter who’d used her to breed gaited mules, we bought a big Tennessee Walking Horse mare named Mona. Ever since then, we’ve picked and chosen from within that breed to duplicate as closely possible the horses of an earlier time when there were no roads or horse trailers, and the cowboy had “miles to go before he slept.”

Myth vs. Reality
Our choosing gaited horses had nothing to do with being baby boomers (we were in our early 30s); with being poor riders (I’d worked on ranches since age 14, and Emily was practically born in the saddle); or with being primarily recreational riders (we had a ranch to run and much work to do on horseback).

We chose them because of the collective experience of our forebears, which convinced us that such horses would do our ranch work, carry our children, and whisk us to the mountains on summer pack trips and fall quests for elk. We haven’t been disappointed.

When Mona, 16 hands tall and heavy with foal, rode to the ranch in the back of my old pickup truck (equipped with a stock rack since we owned no horse trailer), she was met with smiles from the older neighboring ranchers and looks of curiosity from the younger ones.

Elmer Johnson with daughter Emily (now wife of author Dan Aadland) and nephew Art on Tommy, a part draft “using” horse who’d rack if you asked him to.

The oldest ranchers at that time remembered gaited horses with fondness. Most had stories about a horse in their past that took them long distances smoothly in a “single-foot” (the term often used generically for any four-beat intermediate gait that replaced the trot). Old and young alike agreed that this statuesque mare was pretty, and those who took a test ride on her invariably flashed a smile when the big mare sped into a smooth running walk.

Now in our third decade of raising gaited ranch horses, we have far less explaining to do. Here in south-central Montana, as elsewhere in the West, gaited horses are making a strong comeback. However, Emily and I still run into considerable misinformation about gaited horses in general. Most comes from those who have scant knowledge both of the history and of the capabilities of gaited horses. Some come from those who believe anything that covers ground so quickly and smoothly must be too good to be true, so there must be something wrong with the animals.

Here are five myths we hear about gaited horses, followed by a reality check on each one, based on our experiences.

Myth 1: Gaited horses are unsuited for rough country and are likely to stumble when the going gets tough. Reality check: This one’s at odds with both our own experience in the Montana mountains and with the collective background of the gaited breeds. Gaited genetics were treasured most in the roughest areas of the world. The gaited breeds developed in such areas as Iceland, Mongolia, the Andes, the Ozarks, and the Rocky Mountains. Indeed, it was in places too rough for carriage travel that gaitedness in equines stayed most popular. My horses have taken me places where it’s questionable horses should be ridden at all. I have, quite literally, trusted my life with their ability to negotiate white-knuckle terrain.

Two caveats, however: First, stay away from shoeing intended for show. Even “light-shod” show classes in some of the gaited breeds allow more toe (for enhanced animation) than I’d want for rough terrain. A hoof with an extra inch of toe is like a human shoe several sizes too large — it’s likely to cause tripping.

Secondly, watch your speed. Gaited horse people tend to enjoy whizzing along even on trails that call for restraint and caution. On a rough or dangerous trail eight miles an hour is unsafe no matter what the gait, yet riders who would never lope a nongaited animal over a given trail will often keep their horse at an equivalent speed in a rack or running walk. On some trails, that’s courting disaster.

As to general suitability for tough duty under saddle, gaited breeds tend to be known for ruggedness and durability, not a surprise when you look at their origins. Most gaited horses have hard-working ancestry, often used as all-purpose animals that pulled plows and buggies, carried their riders many miles, then competed in local horse shows on Saturday.

Compare a Tennessee Walking Horse or Missouri Fox Trotter to a Quarter Horse. At first glance, the gaited breeds may look less substantial, because of their higher percentage of slow-twitch (endurance) muscles rather than fast-twitch (acceleration) muscles. But look closer, and you’ll probably see that the gaited horses have as large (or larger) feet, and, on a bone-to-weight ratio, stack up extremely well. Testimony to soundness of the Walker, for instance, is the rarity of navicular disease in that breed.

Myth 2: Smooth gaits are manmade; the only natural gaits for four-legged animals are the walk, trot, and canter or gallop. Reality check: First, many four-legged animals have intermediate gaits other than the trot. Whitetail deer have a distinctive swingy gait, a sort of rocking up front while trotting in back. Camels pace.

As to horses, all domestic animals have been shaped by humans. But a certain percentage of equines have a genetic gift in the form of alternate or additional gaits. Human beings, observing the comfort and utility of these gaits, have bred for them, just as they’ve bred horses for many other desirable traits. Visit a brood farm featuring one of the gaited breeds and you’ll see newborn foals performing the gaits featured by that breed. There’s nothing much more natural than that.

Myth 3: Gaited horses require special saddles and tack. Reality check: Don’t sell your saddle just because you buy a gaited horse. In Appendix B of her excellent book Easy Gaited Horses, Lee Ziegler lists 71 gaited breeds found from the Americas to Tibet, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Since the conformation of these myriad individuals varies as widely as the geographic areas from which they originate, there’s really no such thing as a “gaited horse saddle.” The rules for saddle fit are the same as for any other horse, though it’s wise to pay special attention to freedom of shoulder movement (a tree with forward flare might be indicated) and clearance under the gullet (since many gaited horses have prominent withers). For the trail, avoid gaited show saddles that center your weight far behind the horse’s center of gravity.

Emily and I inherited both her father’s saddle, built in 1919, and her grandfather’s, built in the 1880s. These saddles fit most of our Walkers quite well, reflecting a time when most Western horses were narrower in build and higher withered than is common today. Among modern saddles, those with full “quarter horse bars” may be too wide for many gaited horses, though one with a “semi-quarter horse tree” fits most of our mature horses. Younger ones need extra padding.

We avoid long-shanked “gaited horse bits.” Most of our training is done in a snaffle bit; I’ve also seen bosals used effectively with gaited horses. I progress eventually to a mild curb, usually of the “grazing” type. All this is standard fare, as applicable to nongaited breeds as to gaited ones.

True, a running walk or foxtrot can be “fine-tuned” by messing with shoe angle, bits, and other pieces of equipment, but the less of that the better, in our opinion. Breed them right, shoe them naturally, and train them gently. Those gaits, evident during the foals’ first hours of life, will only improve with time and maturity

Myth 4: Gaited horses can’t canter or gallop and thus are unsuitable for working cattle and for other speed applications. Reality check: This one’s ridiculous. From my office window, I can see two pastures full of mares and foals: Tennessee Walkers in the closer field, Quarter Horses across the fence. All the foals run and play equally — cantering, galloping, and performing untutored flying lead changes. In horse shows, most gaited breeds perform at the canter, as well as in their intermediate gaits.

Any problem with cantering among gaited breeds originates with incomplete training rather than with lack of ability on the horse’s part. It’s true that some owners are so satisfied with their horses’ speed in intermediate gaits that they never move them to the next gear, but that’s a shame; many gaited horses have the ultimate rocking-chair canter.

As to cattle work, most South American cow horse breeds are gaited, just like those once ridden by Magnus Johnson and Teddy Roosevelt. Mongolians herd camels on their small, athletic gaited horses. Gaited horses have done most of the cattle work on this ranch for 110 years, and we’ve used Tennessee Walkers exclusively since 1980.

Myth 5: Gaited horses are good for old and physically limited riders, but of little interest to the young and athletic. Reality check: This is part compliment, part slam. It’s a great tribute to the smoothness and the dispositions of gaited horses that so many work well for riders who are physically hampered in one way or another. We’ll all face old age (if we’re lucky), and most of us will stubbornly adhere to our affinity for riding. Owning a gaited animal can extend one’s longevity in the saddle.

On the other hand, you don’t need physical afflictions to quickly become addicted to the smoothness-at-speed characteristic of gaited breeds. Americans tend to be an impatient people, and many of us enjoy cruising right along on the trails. From what I’ve observed, gaited-horse trail rides are as well attended by young people as those of any breed. Youth doesn’t necessarily crave discomfort! Occasionally, I do hear an attempt to be macho on this issue. A young man praised his new pickup truck’s smooth ride, and then, almost in the same breath, made it clear he was too tough to need a gaited horse!

There are no bad breeds for the trail. Whether you ride the trails recreationally on a Norwegian Fjord Horse, a Thoroughbred, or the same warmblood on which you perform dressage, there are really only two important considerations: Your horse must be safe, and you must have fun.

I’ve met precious few horses of any breed that I didn’t like, and I respect the choices of others. So the purpose of this article isn’t to encourage you to sell your good horse and buy another, but to encourage looking anew at gaited horses, their history, and their capabilities. Please be skeptical of proclamations about gaited horses made by folks who’ve had little to do with them. Don’t judge the horses until you’ve tried them. Happy trails (gaited or otherwise)!