Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Missouri Fox
Trotter is an American breed of horse with a unique four beat gait. It
was bred in the Ozark Mountain foothills, and used by settlers who
valued its smoothness. The breed is best known for its unique gait,
known as the fox trot,a four-beat diagonal gait in which the horse
appears to walk with its front legs and trot with its hind. The gait,
however, is not a mixed patter of footfalls, it has a clear pattern of
diagonal foot movement where the front foot hits the ground split-second
before the opposite rear foot. The head shakes in unison with the rhythm
of the gait. The tail perfectly balances the movements of the
head.Because the horse has a four-beat motion rather than a two-beat
trot, the gait is easy to sit. It is accompanied by an up and down head
nodding. The horses, unlike some other gaited breeds, do not have
high-stepping action, but rather a very smooth, comfortable ride. The
fox trot can be maintained for great stretches of time, reaching speeds
up to 12 mph. A Fox Trotter can also perform a speed fox trot which goes
12-18 mph. The Fox Trotter also performs the flat-footed walk and the
regular canter.
