I also remember my first time hitting that gear. I was on a TB who had done quite well on the track. We went for a little gallop with a small group of horses and we got stuck behind a WB who had a smaller gallop. My TB suddenly decided screw this, jumped up onto the verge on the side of the path, bounded past the WB, jumped down and just took off. Incredible experience. The sound of him pulling breath and thundering hooves, and the feel of the pull and push of his muscles - but like you say, you can’t feel the hooves hit the ground. Staggering.
Man, all this talk about galloping makes me want to find a nearby track or safe field and GO!!!
I’ve done conditioning sets with my TB on a track in CA and would routinely canter/hand gallop at about Prelim speed for funsies now and then, but I never asked him to open up and gallop. The other boarders at the facility would have had a heart attack. They tended to clutch their bonnets if anyone dared to canter on the track. :lol:
If your horse is fit enough, go do it!!
Even my OTTB has to be reminded that she has a 5th gear (under saddle, at least). She has a lovely, round, ground covering canter that is an absolute pleasure to ride. The first time I tried galloping her, it took a few asks - she kind of went “what? Mom… are you sure? Oh. Oh! Ok!”
Needless to say… she was not terribly successful on the track :lol: but she is really becoming a lovely ride in her second career.
I’m nostalgic for that feeling again - the lowering, the stride and the smoothness.
Like hydroplaning.
It was found on the Hunt on a long run on perfect footing…nice and turfy.
I did have a TB who grew to be 17.1 - at first he could not make his eggbeaters go in the right direction and it took a while for him to grow up, muscle up and learn that.
When at the track, watching a race, look to the far side of the track and see the jockey’s backs not moving at all, just smoothness…sigh.
My Holsteiner/TB has a wonderful, Holsteiner canter, like an air cusion ride, and when she goes galloping x-country, she’s head up, balanced and looks like an upper level horse, but it is quite different.
[QUOTE=devvie;8866310]
If your horse is fit enough, go do it!![/QUOTE]
He’s fit, but he’s had a light couple of weeks. I’ve been lunging in the Pessoa to try and build up his topline while he was putting some weight back on. With these cooler temps I should probably get my butt in the saddle a few times before going for a gallop, or I may end up on the ground!! 
That and I have no idea where to go. Time to research!
Oh, how I miss this feeling. There are pros and cons - I was reminiscing the other day about my old TB, how he was anorexic and accident-prone; but what I wouldn’t give for that heart and gallop again.
[QUOTE=Blugal;8866397]
Oh, how I miss this feeling. There are pros and cons - I was reminiscing the other day about my old TB, how he was anorexic and accident-prone; but what I wouldn’t give for that heart and gallop again.[/QUOTE]
You and me both… There’s nothing like it, is there? Seeing this thread makes me want to gallop my most recent OTTB - but then I come to my senses: we just broke the ‘running is always the answer’ barrier and he is doing so, so well in dressage lately. We have done ~375-400 mpm but never a full out, open gallop. He was a good racehorse and truth be told I’m a little worried I won’t be able to stop him :lol:
My old guy, my first OTTB, is neuro and has been for a few years. He gets along fine… he was a war-horse (70+ starts) and I remember the first time I really let him open up - it was on the beach. He was flinging clods of sand behind him like a dirt devil… it was an incredible feeling.
Recent research has found a specific gene for gaiting. So it seems that the trot is not a guaranteed natural gait at all.
I’ve had multiple off track TB’s and I know exactly the feeling the OP is talking about, I first experienced it when I took my first TB for a beach ride. I thought we’d have a nice canter, but he just opened up, flattened out and went! It was effortless and terrifying at the same time. 
Sure any horse CAN gallop, but there are types of gallops, some more efficient than others, or more suited to the job at hand.
Anecdotal story… my current mount is an OTTB, very uphill with a warmblood type trot and a lovely canter. He was for sale because all his conditions were up, 22 races and never broke his maiden. HE was dead last in the one race video I could find of him. WHen I bought him, the race trainer told me he’d never won because he galloped “funny”. One man’s trash is another’s treasure. 
ah yes! I’ve felt the edge of this gallop on my new (as of 10 weeks ago) OTTB. He is quieter than a hound dog but wow, he can open up. I’ve felt it only twice but it was a lovely reminder that the thoroughbred is the galloping machine.
And that gallop away from fences. egads… Loving it.
Why did i go astray?
I’ve only done that flat gallop once. It was on a Holsteiner gelding who was built very thoroughbred-y. We were cantering fast, and then picked up the pace and he all of a sudden dropped what felt like a foot and got a lot faster.
The thing is, is that I’ve gone faster than that, but haven’t felt that same flat gallop. My current mare’s dam was 1/2 TB 1/2 Hano and I’ve gone faster on her than any other horse. While she certainly did get longer, flatter, and smoother (from an already very smooth canter), there wasn’t that “drop and lock in” to another gear feeling. My current mare (3/4 hano 1/4 TB) has an even longer stride than her dam, but I have yet to be able to get her into what even feels like a true gallop. We get going fast, but her stride is so long we seem to run out of room before getting into anything past what feels like a hand gallop with speed. I think we would legit need a track to try it on.
Funny this thread was recently revived. After waiting months for the hay field to be done, I finally got a chance to go up there and go for a nice romp. Between doing practically nothing over the summer due to heat, and getting rained out from my favorite hunter pace last week, I really needed a good gallop. I kept him well below high gear, but we still had a blast. He’s such a good horse.
