Cross breeding among different equine breeds resulted in various types of gaits. In some races these movements can be lateral bipedales (the two legs of the same side move at the same time) diagonal bipedals (the two opposite diagonal legs move at the same time) or triple support (three of the legs are continuously in contact with the ground). This type of gaits are known in Portuguese as “marcha”.

In the marcha, unlike in the trot, horses are constantly in contact with the ground, always keeping two or three legs on the ground. This feature offers a significant reduction of the impact during the ride, giving the rider a comfort and smoothness in the gait not present in non-gaited breeds. The more balanced the distribution of support times, the more comfortable the riding of the horse.

Within the Mangalarga Marchador there are three types of gait: marcha batida, marcha picada and marcha de centro. The difference between them occure according to the times that the animal remains in each of the aforementioned supports (lateral, diagonal, or triple) and depending on the more or less dissociation between the different supports.

In the marcha batida, the diagonal supports are greater than the lateral supports and the triple ones. These last two occur only in the moments of change of support and occur for a fraction of seconds, being almost impossible to see with the human eye.

In the marcha picada, the presence of lateral and triple supports is greater than in the marcha batida. In this way, the permanence in the lateral supports does not exceed the times of the diagonal supports. The marcha picada has the same sequence of supports as the marcha batida, however it has a greater dissociation between the supports.

Marcha de centro is an intermediate gait between the marcha batida and picada and combine the virtues of both. There is trend among breeders in Brasil towards horses with marcha de centro, although it is not easy to find animals with this gait.

Source: Brasilian Saddle Horse

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