Horse Gaits

Overview

A Horse can naturally perform three standard gaits across all breeds. There are however five natural gaits that less numbers of horses can perform, but are never the less referred to as natural gaits. These include walk, trot, canter/lope, gallop and back. The Canter is more rarely known by horses. All PC purchased mounts can Canter.

But some breeds can perform more gaits - these are called five gaited breeds (and some have even higher numbers of gaits available). They provide the character with mounts that can change the fundamentals of mounted combat if a character is lucky enough to get a steed capable of doing them. It cannot be trained into the horse - the special gaits are largely genetic.


in history, where comfort for long hours in the saddle was important, ambling horses were preferred for smoothness, sure-footedness and quiet disposition.

However, when speed and quick action was of greater importance, horses that trotted were more suitable due to their speed and agility. When horses were used in warfare, it was not uncommon for a knight to ride an ambling horse to a battle site, then switch to a war horse for galloping into the actual battle

Walk

The standard walking speed of horses allows for ease of travel in overgrown and crowded settings. A standard riding horse is a walking or ambling breed.

Trot

This is a faster gait - allowing for more agile motions on the part of the horse, and an easier raising of speed to charging speed from a normal start. Warhorse breeds are all Trotting Breeds.

Gallop

The maximum speed achievable by a horse. 

Trainable Ambling Gaits

The Foxtrot

This gait creates an optical illusion that a horse is walking in front and trotting behind. This optical illusion gives the rider and his mount a +1 bonus to AC for three rounds whilst the observer accustoms themselves to the optics involved.

Untrainable Gaits

Back

When a horse backs naturally, they perform a two beat rearward diagonal gait. The back has a similar hoof pattern to that of a backwards trot. Allowing for a swift retreating action by the steed using the trotting speed backwards.

Canter

A pace of a horse or other quadruped between a trot and a gallop, with not less than one foot on the ground at any time.

The Rack

The rack, like other intermediate gaits, is smoother than the trot because the hooves are hitting the ground individually rather than in pairs and minimizes the force and bounce the horse transmits to the rider. The downside of this is that this position makes the horse less able to carry the weight of the rider without strain. A Racking Horse gives the rider a +/- 0 to hit with mounted archery attempts if the character has the Land-based Riding Proficiency.

Tölt

The Tölt is a natural, fluid gait of the Scythian Horsebreeds, during which at least one foot always touches the ground. The Foals of Scythian Horses often tölt at an early age. The tölt is a very smooth four-beat gait, which allows the rider an almost bounce-free ride, even at 32 km/h (20 mph). It is said a rider can drink a pint of beer without spilling a drop. The footfall is the same pattern as the walk, but is much faster, almost as fast as a gallop. It allows for a charge to be done with no penalties to activities performed by the rider - anything short of writing can be done on such a horse at no penalty.

Skeið (Flying Pace)

The flying pace is a Scythian Mount gait, which allows it to run at racing speeds. The Flying Pace is a fast, high speed gait (48 km/h - 30 mph), used for short distances, and can equal the speed of a full gallop for racing. It allows for a faster movement over short distances. But it's key use is the ability of the mount to manage difficult footing situations - so the Flying Pace allows the mount to maintain ordinary speed over muddy and rocky ground that would normally slow a horse down.