What are the most common faults in passage?

The most common faults in passage parallel those in piaffe in many respects, reflecting similar underlying causes of insufficient collection, tension, or physical limitations, while also including faults specific to the forward movement that passage requires and piaffe does not. Lack of suspension — passage steps that do not show a genuine moment when both diagonal pairs are off the ground — is the most fundamental fault and the one that most directly affects the score, because passage without genuine suspension is simply a highly collected slow trot rather than the floating, majestic movement that passage should be. A passage that moves too fast — that covers too much ground per stride despite its elevated steps — indicates insufficient collection or a horse that is pushing rather than carrying, moving its legs with more forward energy than the carrying engagement appropriate to passage requires. Irregular steps — one diagonal pair more elevated or more suspended than the other — reveal asymmetry in the horse's collection or physical development that has not been addressed, and irregular passage is heavily penalized because regularity is the most fundamental quality of correct gaits. Tension through the topline, producing a horse that appears tight and choppy rather than floating and relaxed, undermines the impression of effortless power that correct passage should convey even when the steps have some elevation. Dragging hind legs — hind legs that do not elevate to the level of the front legs or that appear to trail rather than actively step with the diagonal partner — indicate that the collection is insufficient to fully engage the hindquarters in the elevated, carrying movement passage requires. A loss of the trot's diagonal rhythm — any tendency toward asymmetry in when the diagonal pairs strike the ground — is a rhythm fault that judges identify and penalize as a fundamental departure from correct passage mechanics.