Bet a long striding gait is natural to it (8)
I believe the answer is:
antelope
'natural to it' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'bet a long striding gait' is the wordplay.
'bet' becomes 'ante' (ante is a kind of bet).
'a long' becomes 'l'.
'striding gait' becomes 'ope' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ante'+'l'+'ope'='ANTELOPE'
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for antelope that I've seen before include "Reebok perhaps" , "Such as a gnu or eland" , "'Gazelle or gnu, say (8)'" , "Animal related to goat" , "Swift-running animal like deer" .)