# Cats, Camels, and Giraffes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2000, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209 "2000-12-12T18:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/1 "2000-12-12T18:20:47Z")
I have been told that cats, camels, and giraffes are the only animals that walk by moving both legs on one side the body in unison and then moving both legs on the other side. Does this particular gait have a scientific name. A friend has bet me that it does but I cannot find it anywhere. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/2 "2000-12-12T18:41:31Z")
It’s called ‘pacing’, as opposed to ‘trotting’, where the front leg and opposite back leg are moved in unison. Camels do pace, however, so do many other animals - horses, for example. Ever see a harness race? Some are ‘trotters’ and some are ‘pacers’. (Not sure if they are trained that way, or if they are picked for a natural gait. Any horse racing enthusiasts out there want to clairfy that?) As for the allegations about giraffes - well, I’m not near Animal Kingdom, Silver Springs, Lion Country Safari\*\* or Busch Gardens right now, so I don’t have first-hand visuals. As far as I remember (from Discovery Channel and Animal Planet), giraffes tend toward a ‘lope’, where each leg is lifted and set down separately, not in conjunction with each appendage. Cats - first-hand knowledge - HyperKitty is a ‘trotter’, not a ‘pacer’. I have also seen dogs that ‘pace’ rather than ‘trot’. \*\* Been there. Waited a half-hour for the giraffes to stop licking the windshield and hood, and get out of the roadway. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/3 "2000-12-12T18:44:02Z")
Seems to me that since your friend is backing the affirmative position, the burden should be on him/her to prove that it does exist. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/4 "2000-12-12T20:24:32Z")
What **Javaman** said. Horse, pacing, from the Animal Locomotion website. [http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Movement/HPace.html](http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/Movement/HPace.html) > [@](#): > > Some mammals (e.g., the camel) use the pace as a normal gait; in others it appears as a fatigue gait or as a gait when the animnal is forced to go at a speed where neither the walk nor the trot is comfortable. In others, such as the horse, a tendency to trot or pace is inherited, but many animals can be trained to do either or both. Also, there’s this [http://ndakinna.com/wwwboard/messages/20.html](http://ndakinna.com/wwwboard/messages/20.html) which I will allow you to explore further. I think references to “pacing like a lion” don’t refer to the pacing gait as such, but to walking back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/5 "2000-12-12T21:16:03Z")
Just yesterday read an essay about opossums describing them “moving both legs on the same side in unison …” ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/6 "2000-12-12T23:36:03Z")
And if you need a _really_ unimpeachable source, you could always ask **Cecil Adams** [Why do some dogs walk by moving both legs on one side of the body at the same time, while others use diagonal pairs?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=50608) ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/7 "2000-12-13T00:34:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\* > > Camels do pace, however, so do many other animals - horses, for example. Ever see a harness race? Some are ‘trotters’ and some are ‘pacers’. (Not sure if they are trained that way, or if they are picked for a natural gait. Any horse racing enthusiasts out there want to clairfy that?) > > \*\* Some horses are born pacers. In harness racing, there are races for trotters, and races for pacers. Some of the harness racing horses were born pacers, but many of them were trained to pace. Likewise, some horses that pace naturally are trained by their riders to trot. Pacing causes the muscles in the back of the horse to develop differently. It makes it somewhat harder for a pacer to carry a person on its back, so for the long-term health of the horse, many riders encourage their horses to trot instead of pace. Remember in harness racing, the horse is pulling a cart (the technical name of which is escaping me right now) and not carrying a rider. Horses can be trained to change their gait from pacing to trotting by shoeing them with special horse shoes. I know harness racers used to train horses to pace by using hobbles (leather straps that connect the front leg to the rear leg) but I’m not sure if this is still done. Icelandic ponies pace, as a breed. They are incredibly strong for their size, and they aren’t prone to the back problems that some pacers develop. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/8 "2000-12-13T12:50:56Z")
Thank you **manhattan**. Now why the heck couldn’t I find that when I looked? Actually, I am glad **mavpace** has asked the question. This way s/he(?) would have the answer (whether s/he lost the bet), rather than relying on possibly shoddy research by the friend [“Yeah I found the word for when animals walk with both legs synchronized on one side, it’s called yuckering” (or some other completely nonsensical word)] and having to accept that answer at face value. **delphica** - cart = sulky(?). Thanks for the clarification. I’ve seen loose chains draped next to the horse’s legs during harness races. I’ve noticed them on pacers, but not on trotters (unless I’ve not looked closely). Could that be a training method? I would expect that to be more of a safety hazard, given the chance for the horse to get tangled. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2000, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-camels-and-giraffes/45209/9 "2000-12-13T17:02:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > > **delphica** - cart = sulky(?). Thanks for the clarification. I’ve seen loose chains draped next to the horse’s legs during harness races. I’ve noticed them on pacers, but not on trotters (unless I’ve not looked closely). Could that be a training method? I would expect that to be more of a safety hazard, given the chance for the horse to get tangled. > \*\* The hobbles on the pacers _during_ the race are primarily to prevent the horse from breaking into a faster gait (a canter or a gallop) – they are sometimes called “gaiting straps” or “hopples.” It’s unlikely the horse is going to switch from pacing to trotting. It does look rather unsafe, but the horses are used to wearing them and they’re attached in such a way that it would be very unlikely for the horse to get tangled. There are hobbles that are made for trotters, but they are rather complicated and work through a pulley system so you don’t see them very often. As this thread continues, I cannot help but wonder _why_ my parents thought it was an ok idea for me to go to the track week after week with my uncle. Maybe they thought they were indulging my typical 9 year old girl horse fascination, but _the track?_ They’re lucky I didn’t grow up to be a bookie.