1 breath = 1 stride
At a walk and trot, a horse’s respiratory rate is unrelated to its stride rate. During canter and gallop, the horse’s stride and breathing are linked: A horse takes one breath for each stride.
A simple way to think about the link between breathing and stride is to think of a galloping horse as a large bellows. As the front legs are in the non-weight bearing or “flight” phase, air is being pulled into the lungs like air moving into a bellows. Once the lead front leg contacts the ground, the front legs are in the weight bearing phase and air is pushed out of the lungs.
At speeds beyond a hand gallop, a horse increases its speed by increasing stride length, not by moving its legs faster. When a horse lengthens its stride to increase speed, it also takes deeper and longer breaths, providing the lungs with more air. A horse struggling to move air in and out of the lungs may fatigue more quickly or shorten its stride to compensate for the increased work of breathing in.
FLAIR Strips can impact stride efficiency by reducing resistance through the nasal passages to help make stride lengthening and adjusting easier.