HORSE RIDING BASICS
Walk, Trot Canter and Gallop: Ok , so what does this actually mean? Horses have four basic ways of moving - theses are also called gait
Walking is the slowest of the gaits and the motion that the beginner will first experience. The movement is spread equally across all 4 legs, the rhythm in which they move is a smooth 1-2-3-4. To get a horse from standing to walking, take gentle contact with the reins, meaning that you can just feel his mouth, squeeze gently and evenly with both legs. Many horses are also trained to recognised commands e.g. "walk on" which should be said encouragingly, with enthusiasm.
Trotting is the next speed up. This is a lively and fairly bouncy motion, characterised by a 2 beat "clip-clop" type of rhythm. This is when you really feel like you're starting to ride. The commands are not dissimilar from going from stand to walk , in that you shorten the reins, squeeze and ask the horse to "trot-on". The motion for the rider is bouncy and there are two was of dealing with this. This first is the rising trot where the rider mimics the action of the horses back by "standing slightly in the saddle, or rising. Get the timing right and you have a gentle comfortable landing. Learning rising trot can be slightly uncomfortable to start with! The second is sitting trot where the rider just sits deep into the saddle as the horse trots.
Canter is the next speed up and lots of fun. It is smoother than trotting, characterised by a 3 beat type of rhythm. The commands for going from trot to canter is to shorten the rein, go into a sitting trot , squeeze with your legs and ask the horse to "canter".
Gallop is the fastest gait, characterised by an even 4 beat type of rhythm. The commands for going from canter to gallop are similar to going into canter.
So, all of the above is quite difficult to visualise, so take a look at Scooter in walk , trot and canter...