front foot on the ground at all times and display a sliding motion with the hind legs. Other gaited breeds are able to perform the fox trot and it is one of the only ambling gaits that can be taught to horses that are not naturally gaited. The gait creates an optical illusion that a horse is walking in front and trotting behind. The Mangalarga Marchador performs the marcha batida, where the feet move diagonally, in a manner similar to a fox trot, but with a brief period of quadrupedal support where all four feet are planted. Batida means "to hit". The Carolina Marsh Tacky, another breed with Spanish heritage, exhibits a four-beat diagonal ambling gait comparable to the marcha batida. The trocha gait of the Paso Fino and the pasitrote of the Peruvian Paso are also diagonal ambling gaits. They too are similar to the fox trot, though the trocha has shorter steps than the fox trot and is about the same speed as the lateral paso corto. The trocha is more commonly seen in the Colombian strains of the Paso Fino. References Sources Horse gaits