# How fast do you go?



## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I read through the whole gaited/non-gaited debate and I got to thinking. I have ridden with gaited horse people that move too fast for me and ones that move along nicely with me. Most of us use GPS devises on the trail, so how fast do you like to go?

I ride an Arab. Depending on the mood, we walk along at 4 miles per hour or 5 miles per hour if the mood is upbeat. If we trot or canter, we usually don't go much over 12 miles per hour. My horse would like to maintain 12 miles per hour for a long time but my body doesn't agree. I get tired and worn out if I do. So how fast is fast? What is ambling along?


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Depends on the terrain. On flat, easy going trail it's 8-10mph. On real rough terrain it's down to it's usually down to 2-3 mph. We normally average 5mph over an entire ride and that includes breaks.


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Hmmm, I actually have no idea but am going to have to break out the GPS if/when DD and I go out again.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I would say my Mustang averages 2-3mph and my Missouri Fox Trotter 3-4 mph, just plain walking. We really can cover some ground if we mix some gaiting in though! 

There have been rides with stops where my Mustang only averages 2 mph and the Fox Trotter 3 mph. But we take frequent stops for watering dogs, answering calls of nature, etc. :lol:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Darrin, what gait are you riding at 8-10 mph?


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

Gaited horse rider here! She's a slow walking gaited who has no trouble riding with non-gaited horses. Most gaited horses walk too fast for her, so we like to stay with the Arabs. They walk a perfect speed for us most of the time.

My mare walks 4 miles per hour.

Her gait is only about 8 mph max, but she can contain herself and gait at the speed of a western extended jog. We primarily gait over touchy terrian where her trot would be too fast or over short distances. It isn't a very efficient gear for long distances due to all her fancy action and short stride. 

She can easily trot 12 miles per hour. This is the gait we do over flat trail. 

Her canter is pretty fast. 16 mph at the slowest. We use to sparingly on good, flat, open areas. Makes up time well and doesn't take as much energy as an extended trot.


On average, we try to mantain a 10 mph pace over long distances. I mix it up. Sometimes we canter 30 straight minutes. Sometimes we walk for hours.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

trailhorserider said:


> Darrin, what gait are you riding at 8-10 mph?


Running walk.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Brighteyes said:


> On average, we try to mantain a 10 mph pace over long distances. I mix it up. Sometimes we canter 30 straight minutes. Sometimes we walk for hours.


Wow, your horse must be very fit! We never maintain that fast a pace overall and I've never cantered for that long either.



Darrin said:


> Running walk.


Awesome!


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

The speed I go depends on who I'm with and the footing. My horse and I like to go fast, but the people who usually want to tag along just want to walk at a shuffling pace (they're afraid to ride alone).

tangent: How in the world do you figure out mph on horseback? Tell me there's an iphone app or gadget that I can buy!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

dancingarabian said:


> tangent: How in the world do you figure out mph on horseback? Tell me there's an iphone app or gadget that i can buy!



GPS! Or if you know how many miles you've ridden, divide that by the number of hours. For instance, one one ride we did 16 miles in 4 hours, so I figured we averaged 4 MPH. But the GPS will tell you the speed you are traveling as you are moving, which is really cool.


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## calicokatt (Mar 5, 2012)

The last ride we used the gps on was a 50 mile ride in the foothills of the cascades. We averaged 9 miles per hour. I was riding a morgan, and my mom was riding a quarter horse who has the slowest walk I've ever seen, so we don't do much walking when we're together! lol
Kathy


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

My husband just informed me that I am wrong about speeds. He claims that we walk 3 miles per hour on the way out and 6 miles per hour on the way back to the barn. There could be some truth to that...........


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

I take my GPS on all my rides and have been tracking this for some time.

My wife and I, me on a gaited horse and her on a quarter horse, usually average between 3.5 and 4 mph, average moving time.

What this means is an 8 mile loop is finished in about two hours.

I most always take a map and compass, and in addition to my GPS, my wife also takes a GPS as well. My gaited horse will always show more mileage as I'm constantly getting well in front of her, and then riding back to her. Sometimes I ride circles around her.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

There's another app, at least for the iPhone, called endomondo. I haven't tried to figure the speed out on it because I just use it to see how far we went. Instead of miles per hour, it gives you a speed of minutes per mile. It's geared more for exercising crowds.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

My Foxtrotter can foxtrot about 12 mph, But he can't hold that for long periods of time. Most of my rides are like Gunslinger, 4 mph. maybe because of terrain, maybe lazy horses. I rarely maintain an 8-10 mph speed for any extended distance. Except like Celeste says on the way back to the trailer.

My arab has completed 50 milers in 5 hours. So I can easily hold 10+ mph with him and his canter is at 20+ and I think the fastest flat out speeds I've ever seen on him were 32-35 mph. He just walks away from my foxtrotters when he stretches out and goes into a full run. But you don't run down the trail, Especially the country that I ride.

I put on an endurance ride back in the 90's. I laid out a 50 miles trail. It had 16,000 foot of elevation change.. The horse that won completed the event in 7 hours. So riding a flat vs a mountain trail can make a big difference.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

It depends. :lol:

If I am out babysitting a friend on a greenie, we may average 3 mph.

If I am training, I may be looking to do anything from a 6mph average pace to a 12 mph average pace, depending on what I am working on that day.

In terms of competitions, for 50s we normally are doing a 9-10 mph average pace. The 100s are 7-8 mph average.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Painted Horse said:


> I put on an endurance ride back in the 90's. I laid out a 50 miles trail. It had 16,000 foot of elevation change.. The horse that won completed the event in 7 hours. So riding a flat vs a mountain trail can make a big difference.



Terrain can make a _huge_ difference, as can weather.

I rode a 50 mile race in the mountains of West Virginia in Sept two years ago in a time of about 5.5 hours (which placed us 7th). The weather was seasonable, mid to upper 70s with moderate humidity. We were able to maintain a nice pace all day.

Last year, I rode that exact same trail in hellish 98 degree weather with horribly high humidity in 8 hours.. and that time _won_ the ride. I think I spent most of the day walking.


Painted Horse, some day I am going to load up my mare and come knock on your door.. your trails are to die for!!


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

Yes, Painted Horse better be careful, he might have a lot of guests!

That, of course, would depend on the price of diesel, and at the moment, it's not real cheap!


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## cowboy bowhunter (Mar 15, 2012)

I would have no clue how fast i go. I like to walk and trot in the spring. Then i have a friend that i like to go on a few rides with were we trot and lope most of the time. I like to get my horses so they can trot for long periods of time.


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

I normally ride bout 4 mph, but about to start getting my mare in shape, so it's going to be more than 4 mph, at times.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I love to ride at a dawdle, that even slower than an amble. Just kidding. I do enjoy just walking and maybe trotting up hills. It's just a way of slowing me down and enjoying nature. Out on the trails there are no dishes to wash, laundry or grass to mow, so danged if I'm going to hurry just to get home to those tasks.


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## RubieLee (Mar 2, 2012)

The application I use is Ulysse Spedometer, its awesome. We average 3 mph at a walk, 7 at the trot, 14 at a canter and 35 galloping. My girl is 14 hands. Most trail rides have a little bit of everything for us. The only problem with using your phone is that you have to hold it/look at it. You better be able to ride one handed


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## Leahrene (Jul 29, 2011)

Depends if im with friends or by myself and what trail. On flat stretches we always canter/gallop but by myself I always go slow. I like to go for a run on the trails where I board theres nowhere you can do it.


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## Missy May (Feb 18, 2012)

I never thought to measure speed w the gps! Dang it! I have spent oooodles of time teaching my mare that she can go more than one speed....which was - fast. She is small, but walk, trot, or gallop she would just move it on out, w ease...she wasn't trying to "run off" - it was just her one and only "gear". If I had thought about it...I could have "quantified" our progress!!!!! Good thinking!!!


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

We just did a ride for 3.65 miles. Using the endomondo app, I found out our average speed was 3.7mph. Our top speed was 14.5mph. We rode to a small town (stopped at the bar). I bet our speed will be higher going back. LOL
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

We just did a similar ride. Average speed 3.8 mph. Max speed 10.9 mph. 
I was really proud of that slow canter. I don't know if that is slow compared to other people. We usually go too fast when we canter out on the trail. I think the hot weather was in my favor.


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Oh, you have some heat? WE have rain, snow hail & wind! I'm back in my thermals & sipping hot drinks.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

We rode 8.5 miles today in 2 hours and 13 minutes. Moving average was 3.8 mph, max speed was 7.6 mph. We did not cantor, and I assume the 7.6 was either a flat walk or a running walk. The time seems to be right there in the middle between the two.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

I gallop on the trails. Not sure how fast we go but pretty fast. We mostly run on the trails or trot. Tomorrow I plan on galloping my horse at the beach!

I know I do 5-9 mile rides.Tomorrow,however,we are doing a 5 hour ride so we are boung to cover a lot of ground.


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## Spotticus (Apr 14, 2012)

I can relate to Darrin. It really depends on the terrain. And, it depends on the mood. If the horses are more upbeat, I'll normally let them be that way. If they want to be slower, I'll let them go a bit slower - but not snail speed. If we are going shorter, we'll allow the horses to go faster sometimes, on flat ground. If it's long, then we keep a slow pace.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Well our ride back today went a little faster. Average speed was just over 5 mph and our max speed was about 17 mph.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Spotticus (Apr 14, 2012)

I think those are good speeds for a trail.


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