Pass
Most horse breeds have only the three basic gaits. Walk, trot and canter.
This is due to breeding in order to obtain horses that are easier to ride, because each gait requires a different sequence of movements of the rider, which must be learned.
The walk is a quiet four-beat gait without a floating phase, in which the horse places the hooves "diagonally-laterally", e.g. in the sequence left front - right rear - right front - left rear, whereby the movements "overlap" a little.
According to classical riding theory, the pass is called an error or a classic step timing error. The four-beat rhythm is lost and the horse is put on the ground on the same side and at the same time.
- left front leg and left hind leg
- right front leg and right hind leg
There are of course horse breeds who have the pass gait naturally, such as the Icelander the racing pass.
If we stick to the classic riding theory, the pass is created when
- horses hold on to their back muscles
- the step is ridden forward excessively
- the step is gathered too much
Especially horses with a naturally large, ground covering stride are at risk of walking a pass. To counteract the pass, great importance should be attached to the horse's permeability and looseness in the walk. Softening of the thighs or riding in front of the shoulder helps to maintain the correct four beat. In order not to disturb the correct four-beat rhythm of the horse, a sensitive rider's hand, which allows the natural nodding movement of the horse's neck, is indispensable. In tournament sport in Germany the pass is undesirable as a gait. It leads to deductions in dressage competitions, in trotting competitions to disqualification ("Disqualification blue").
Pass for special horse breeds
Pass is a gait of four-legged and multi-legged animals, which is formed by the alternating movement of the right or left legs. The pass gait is therefore a lateral gait in two phases, in which the equilateral pairs of legs alternately stand on each other. The horse falls from one lateral to the other. While, for example, the right hind leg and the right front leg are simultaneously or almost simultaneously standing up and carrying the weight, the opposite left pair of legs is in the air and swings forward. Smooth gait can occur as a gait pattern in gaited horses. However, this type of pass can also occur in three-gaited horses when a horse is heavily ridden and thrown off balance.
Passage in this form is absolutely undesirable for every horse. If a horse is ridden in the pass, it becomes more and more stiff, because it can hardly bend in this gait. In the long run this leads to severe tension and damage.
In some breeds of horses the pass gait is a peculiarity, in some mammals, however, it is the mode of locomotion that is mainly used, for example in giraffes, camels, elephants or bears.
With certain breeds of horses (for example Icelandic or Paso Peruano), despite knowledge of the disadvantages, the passage is part of the test (racing passage).
In some countries, such as the USA, trotting horses are specially trained and bred for the pass, since pure pass races are also held there. At present, higher speeds are achieved in the pass races than in trotting races, which may be due to the fact that the pass racer does not run the risk of kicking the foreleg with his hind foot and can therefore leave it longer on the ground for active driving.
Different types of pass:
Race Pass
A variation of the pass is the Icelandic Horse Racing Pass, which is ridden as above, but at racing speed and with flight phase. The fastest Icelanders can develop a speed of 45 km/h. As this pace is very exhausting for the horse, it is only ridden for short distances and not too often. Riding in a race pass should only be done by experienced riders or with a trainer.
Swine pass
A swine pass is the tölt that is completely shifted towards the pass. It is often caused by tension and/or incorrect riding. The swine pass is undesirable and leads to the build-up of muscle groups that hinder walking over the back. With gait manipulation (heavy shoeing, weights, bells etc.) and sensible dressage work the pass can be corrected.
