The absence of head nod helps, I do remember that now from watching Walkers.
Is this gait efficient for the horse to go long periods.... compared to a trot, for example? Seems like there is a lot of fast footfalls that might seem to be a lot of work, but there is a lot less ~impact~ because each foot moves independently and there is no jarring impact.
This is a gait what we can more or less hold all day. Of course we stop for breaks and slow down for rough terrain. This mare hadn't been ridden in almost a year and she had no problem with this pace for 4 hours on Sunday.