Hi Mike,

At the gallop a horse does not leap off his hind legs and lands on his forelegs. That’s how they are depicted in the old paintings before high speed photography showed that, on the left lead for example, 1) the right hind strikes first followed by 2) the left hind and right fore almost simultaneously followed by 3) the left fore and then 4) an instant of suspension before the right hind strikes again to begin the next stride. It’s not a leaping gait but rather a rolling 3 beat cadence.
In any case, stride length is irrelevant since beaten lengths are based on the 8-foot length of a horse (which does not change) and not the stride length. Please refer back to the conversation I had with Tony on this for more details. So, just as Trakus recommends, just divide the feet by 8 to get the beaten lengths.

Bob