Among all types of riding that are popular among modern riders, gallop occupies a consistently high position. And there is nothing to be surprised here, because, thanks to this gait, the rider seems to be flying above the ground, receiving a huge charge of positive emotions. At the same time, as practice shows, anyone can master a horse gallop, of course, if the necessary conditions are met. This will be discussed below, so that anyone who is interested in the gait discussed in this material can master it as easily and quickly as possible.

First, it is necessary to mention that this gait is the fastest among all known today. Thus, a galloping horse is capable of developing a truly impressive speed (around 60 km/h), which is about twice as fast as a trot, and 8-9 times faster than a normal walk. True, the horse runs so quickly for a relatively short time, managing to gallop a distance of about 2-3 km. But if the gallop is slow (about 20 km/h), the horse can cover much longer distances without stopping.

It is also worth adding that the gait in question is characterized by the presence of suspension, when all four legs of the horse are completely lifted off the ground. In the wild, this style of riding helped horses escape from dangerous predators, and not without success. Nowadays, horses move at a gallop primarily to please the riders, who receive a lot of vivid impressions from fast riding.

The fact that this gait is very popular among professional riders deserves special attention. Thus, Don and Kuban masters, belonging to the Cossack tradition, demonstrate real miracles at a gallop, for example, shooting at stuffed animals at full speed or picking up scattered coins from the ground.

What you need for training

Anyone who wants to know how to gallop on a horse needs to take note of several basic points to make the learning process extremely simple and time-saving. As for their list, it is presented below:

• The right horse. This factor can hardly be overestimated, since the success of acquiring the skills of a rider directly depends on it. To learn a gallop, you should give preference to calm horses, whose movements are soft and rhythmic. In addition, such a horse must have good balance in the hindquarters, allowing it to carry itself independently and move easily uphill. It is important to remember: how correctly a horse gallops helps the rider master the landing with the least amount of effort and time.
• Suitable ammunition. In order to learn the riding discussed in this material, you need to acquire not only a saddle and bridle, but also other equipment. These include a neck strap, a cord, a whip and a tie-down.
• The right place. In the first couples it should be as calm as possible, so that no one interferes with the learning process. Special attention should be paid to safety: make sure there are no poles or debris. For a horse to gallop, there should be no obstacles in its path, at least in the initial stages of training.

Landing Features

An equally important point in mastering the gallop of a horse is learning the principles of correct seating for the rider. It is worth noting that taking them into account is a prerequisite for learning this riding, both from the point of view of convenience and in terms of rider safety. If we highlight the key features inherent in landing during a horse gallop, then their list is as follows:

• the rider's pelvis should slide back and forth across the saddle in time with the movements of the horse;
• the lower back must be relaxed, which will significantly reduce the impact of the horse’s body jolts on the rider;
• the gluteal muscles should also not be subject to tension;
• through the knees and ankles, the rider should transfer the impulse from the movements of the horse below - to the feet;
• shoulders should be turned back.

As for the reins, there is no need to shorten it while riding. This is explained by the fact that in such situations the horse can either speed up the pace or stop completely.

Galloping

Regarding the method, the use of which allows the horse to rise to a gallop, it involves first starting the animal into a fast trot. In addition, the technique of lifting a horse into a gallop involves the rider performing the following actions:

• moving the outer leg a little back;
• moderate, but at the same time noticeable pressure with the leg in the area of ​​the horse’s belly;
• lip smacking (a similar sound allows you to raise the horse into a gallop, acting as a characteristic signal).

Well, in a situation where the animal is already galloping, the rider should consider the following recommendations:

• in order for the horse not to stop, it needs to be pushed a little when turning;
• pumping up the body when galloping is not recommended;
• leaning the rider forward too much is unacceptable (if the horse stops, you can fly over the latter’s neck, thereby risking serious injury);
• When galloping, you should not allow the horse to tilt its head.

As for how to transition from canter to trot, to solve this problem the rider just needs to pick up the reins and lean his body back a little. The rider's performance of these actions will cause the horse to switch to a less frisky run. How to send a horse into a new gallop was described in detail above.

Other points worthy of attention

Practice shows that in some situations, when transitioning from a gallop to a trot, a horse may not behave in the best way: refuse to change from a faster gait to a slower one. This kind of trouble manifests itself in the fact that the horse does not respond to commands and continues to move at an accelerated pace, biting the bit. It is worth noting that in such cases, a technique that involves sharply jerking the reins from right to left, and then in the opposite direction, helps. Of course, this step is very painful for the horse’s mouth, but it often happens that you really can’t do without it.

And one last thing. In order to ride a horse at a gallop, the rider must have excellent preparation: both physical and mental. For this reason, his training in the gait discussed in this material must be extremely thorough, including mandatory familiarization with all the key theoretical foundations. It should also be added that this type of horse gait is much less difficult for the rider than the previously mentioned trot. The reason for this lies in the peculiarities of the horses' movement, which provides for weakly perceptible shocks from the body of the latter and significantly saves the rider's strength.

Horse gait is a term used to describe all the ways a horse can run. A horse makes many movements while running. All four legs of the animal make their own movement, each has its own beat. All this together adds up to the concept of gait. Any rider, even a beginner, should learn these methods of movement, because each of them also requires certain efforts from the rider. The rider not only controls the horse, he adapts to it. How it maintains balance and the position it maintains depends on this.

At the moment, there are three main natural types of horse gaits:

1. Gallop

There are also artificial types of movements, they are developed in horses through special training: Spanish step, pirouette, piaffe and many others.

There is also an intermediate type of gait - ambling. It can be either congenital or acquired during training.

The basics - step

This method of movement is even called the king of gaits, because this is where it all begins. This is the most leisurely type of horse movement, it does not strain the muscles and is very calm. The horse walks at a speed of approximately 8 kilometers per hour. But without a step there is no horse riding, and it is on it that all mistakes are cut off, which are later taken into account in training.

The walk is a four-beat gait. This means that the horse moves its legs one at a time. The sound is four separate beats of the hooves, but the tempo of the stride may vary, depending on the exact stride the horse is taking.

Percheron horses: history, purpose and description of horses

There are three types of step:

1. Short (collected)
2. Average
3. Wide (extended)

The difference between them is clearly visible, especially in the hoof marks. When the step is short, then the tracks of the hind hooves are at a great distance from the front ones. With average they get to the front. A with added step The hind hooves cross the markings of the front hooves.

In addition to tracks, the difference in strides can be determined by the appearance of the horse. When a horse moves, it is usually relaxed, with its head slightly lowered and swaying. When the horse's collected stride raises its legs higher, the loin tucks up. With a long stride, the horse raises its head, its legs move widely, and its lower back is extended.

Any workout begins and ends with a free step. Actually, the abilities of a mounted horse are assessed precisely at the step. The most flexible horses are considered to be those whose hind hooves extend beyond the tracks of the front ones by approximately the size of one hoof.

Lynx - a gait with its own nuance

The trot is the next type of movement after the walk in terms of speed. For beginners, trotting is often the most difficult type of movement. When a horse trots, the shocks are felt very strongly, and learning to move in time with the horse is not so easy. To adapt to such a pace, a beginner needs to be very attentive every time. The ability to sit well in the saddle while trotting comes with experience.

The trot is a two-beat gait where the horse trots with its legs alternating in diagonal pairs. The sound of two hooves can be heard. The back and front legs move simultaneously, diagonal to each other. After this there is a moment of suspension and the next two legs move. To get in time with the horse, the rider must rise from the saddle on one push and lower on the push of the next pair of legs. When the horse hovers, the rider also hovers over the saddle.

Mating and reproduction of horses and other animals

Like the step, there are different lynx species:

1. Collected
2. Average
3. Added
4. Working

These types are similar in characteristics to similar types of steps. Also present in the trot are the following types: training trot, lightweight trot. But this is already a concept concerning the way the rider is seated. During the training trot, the rider must sit tightly in the saddle, while at the light trot, the rider must stand up at the moment of suspension.

There are also specialized names for the hippodrome, which has its own terminology for horse racing. So, a slow trot is called a trot, and a fast trot is called a sweep. There are also the concepts of swing and prize trot.

The fastest horse can run is gallop

Many people associate gallop with very fast, almost flying, running. This is a truly extremely fast gait that requires the horse to run very quickly. Beginners are usually afraid of him, because a galloping horse at first seems uncontrollable. But with the correct seating, the canter is easier than the trot; all you need to sit securely in the saddle is knowledge of the basics of the canter.

The gallop is a three-beat gait. During this, the horse moves as follows: one hind leg is carried out, followed by the second hind leg and the parallel front leg along with it. The second front leg comes down last, followed by the hanging phase. The sound can be heard of three hooves. When you look at a horse from the side, it may seem that he starts his move from the front leg, but this is not so. There are different types of gallop, they differ in speed and how much space they cover:

1. Dressage gallop - up to 300 meters per minute
2. Collected (leisurely) - more than 200 meters per minute
3. Medium - from 400 to 700 meters per minute
4. Span - 800 meters per minute
5. Quarry (extremely fast) - from 1000 meters per minute or more

Kira Stoletova

Horse riding requires certain skills and abilities. A horse gallop is the fastest way to move a strong and graceful animal.

There are several types of gallops that horses use in nature, as well as a couple of types of this gait that people invented. Artificial racing is difficult to perform and is taught in riding schools. Let's consider how one type of gallop differs from another, and what is the technique for performing this gait.

Peculiarities

Horses galloping can cover significant distances in a short time. It is this type of gait that can be seen at horse races, where animals compete in speed. Horses at a gallop reach speeds of up to 70 km/h, but this is the maximum possible speed for horses. As for the average indicators, they are 50-55 km/h, which is not bad at all for animals.

When galloping, horses spend a lot of energy, which is the second feature of this gait. Accordingly, animals cannot jump in this way for a long time: this can lead not only to health problems, but also to the death of pets. Under natural conditions, horses use gallop quite rarely. This step is necessary so that the horse can escape from natural enemies.

There is also the so-called high-spirited gallop, which assumes that the horse is moving at maximum speed. This type of horse gallop is called a quarry.

While galloping, the animal sometimes takes a step whose length is 2-3 times greater than its body length.

Types and techniques of galloping

Let's start, perhaps, with a description of the technique of performing the gait. A horse's gallop is running. And running differs from walking in that there is an unsupported phase, which assumes that all the animal’s legs are in the air. Conventionally, galloping can be divided into 3 phases. During the first, the horse puts its hind leg on the ground, it has its first support. The second phase begins with placing the second hind paw and one front paw on the ground. In this case, the horse places its leg on the ground, which is located diagonally (right hind and left front, for example). During the third phase, the horse raises one hind leg into the air (the one it placed on the ground during the first phase), and places the second front leg on the ground. This is followed by the unsupported phase of the movement, during which all legs are in the air.

If you listen to the sound made by horses while running, you can hear 3 separate impacts of their hooves on the ground, corresponding to 3 phases of running.

Technically, the gallop as a type of gait is the most difficult. In this case, the load on the legs is distributed unevenly. Depending on the load distribution, there are 2 types of horse gallop:

• right-handed (the horse starts moving from the right leg);
• left-handed (the horse starts moving from the left leg).

The leading leg is the one on which the horse rests before entering the unsupported phase of movement. This same leg bears more load than all the others. As a rule, horses gallop to the left during racing. This is due to the fact that in horse racing horses run in a circle, and first the right hind leg is on the ground, then the right front leg, which is closer to the center of the circle. It is more convenient to make turns to the right at such a gallop. If the horse gallops to the left, it is inconvenient to make turns, and the stride becomes less stable. In this case, experts say that the horse gallops in a counter-gallop.

When moving, you need to take into account that the left-sided gallop is more convenient for turning left. During a right-hand gallop, it is easier for horses to turn to the right.

Classification of gallops according to speed

There are several types of gallop, depending on the speed of the horse. Let's consider each of them separately.

• The cuff gallop assumes that the horse's speed does not exceed 25-30 km/h. This type of gallop is also called short. It is used if you need to cover a distance with a large number of turns located close to each other.
• Most often, during horse training, a field gallop is used. In this case, the horses develop an average speed, and the rider learns to stay in the saddle. At horse races, jockeys rarely use the field gallop.
• The fastest type of running is called quarry. Here the horse works to the limit of its capabilities. Before you let your horse gallop, you should teach him how to properly gallop and field gallop.

Some experts identify another type of gallop - canter. This is the so-called shortened field canter.

This type of gait is best characterized by the world record set in the USA. There the horse covered a distance of 1 km in just 54 seconds.

Types of artificial gallops

If the above types of gallop do not need to be taught to a horse, then there are gaits invented by people that horses master exclusively during training. And learning to do them correctly is not easy.

A child performs a gallop gait on a horse (SHVE "Dynasty").

Horse FAILS. Horse falls and horse falls

How to brush and saddle a horse//Horsebacking from scratch//Keeping a horse.

Horse riding from scratch

horse racing.

All artificial types of gallops are used in those types of competitions where it is necessary to show the beauty of movements, and not speed.

Gait on 3 legs

The first type of artificial gait is called a 3-leg gallop. As the name suggests, one of the horse’s legs is not used during the gait. Her horse pulls forward. As a rule, during a 3-leg gallop, the right front leg does not touch the ground.

This type of gallop, unlike the usual one, is not a run. There is no phase of unsupported movement here.

At competitions, judges evaluate this step very strictly. The leg must always be stretched and raised to a certain level. Otherwise, the step is considered failed. Not all horses can perform such a gait. It belongs to the complex group.

Gallop backwards

Another not the simplest gait, which is not taught in all riding schools. It is the exact opposite of a forward canter. Its execution technique is the same, but all actions are performed in reverse order. This gait is more suitable for circus performances than for sports competitions. Not all horses are able to master this step.

How to go into a canter and return to a trot

You need to be able to lift a horse into a gallop. And here not only the horse, but also the rider must have certain knowledge. The gallop is preceded by a trot (accelerated walk). Before you start running, it is important to make sure that the horse is ready for this. If the horse walks sluggishly and uncertainly, then you should not speed up your pace. If the horse walks confidently, then the pace can be accelerated.

To start running on the left side, you need to sit deeply in the saddle and press with your left leg on the girth, and with your right leg behind it. At the same time, the reins are pulled with the right hand, and the left (inner) is left somewhat free. This is all that needs to be done when raising the horse into a canter. If you give the horse the wrong command, it will simply go at a brisk trot. For right-handed running, do the opposite.

If the horse is running correctly, the rider's job is to keep his left leg behind the girth and control the mount's outside leg. The horse's body should bend slightly around the right leg.

Changing to a trot is much easier: you need to tighten the reins and rest both legs on the sides of the horse.

If the rider begins to run, you should not lean forward: this will lead to a shift in the center of gravity, and it will not be possible to send a clear command to the horse. Proper landing is the key to success. Riding schools teach the classic seat, which is what you should use. You can also ride with a Cossack seat, but it requires a certain type of saddle.

This series of articles aims to cover basic concepts that may seem technically complex, but the goal is to make them understandable to any rider, regardless of specialty or riding level.

Last month we started talking about canter work. In the first stage, it is important that your horse performs the correct lifts into the canter. At the same time, it should not be tense, push strongly with its back, or first rise into a trot. The quality of the gait balance will greatly depend on the quality of the transition period.

The mechanism of gallop and difficulties in feeling the gait.

For many riders, working with the canter is usually difficult and many do not know where and how to go next.

These difficulties often stem from the fact that the canter is the horse's most difficult gait, not only because it is asymmetrical (the horse's right and left sides move differently), but also because the beat cycle (three beats and a hang) is more difficult. control, feel and guide correctly in more advanced exercises.

Difficulty controlling the canter

First of all, we should not consider controlling the canter as slowing down the tempo. If the trot can be slowed without thinking about impulsion until the horse is in a walk, then any attempt to slow the canter will cause the horse's hind end to stiffen and sink, the neck will go up and the hind legs will be restricted.

An unbalanced horse (on the forehand) will react with discomfort, pulling hard on the reins to transfer the weight back onto the shoulders and lighten the hind legs. The horse will speed up and lose control because it is "falling forward."

A sensitive horse with a weak hindquarter will become agitated if the rider begins to block him and may respond by cantering in place, bouncing off his forehand onto his hind legs, or sitting back.

A lazy horse will “switch off” its tempo and begin to gallop in four beats, as training horses do. Because a slow canter in this position is the most comfortable.

The young horse will begin to panic or be unable to maintain the canter. She will break into a wide, staggering trot. It can also stray from the straightness of direction.

A horse with an extended canter will lose momentum and movements will lose expressiveness. The rider will be unhappy with the sudden change in flying movements. In a pirouette, the horse will close its hind legs, the neck will move up and down, and it will all be too fast.

The solution: cut back instead of slow down!

So we should look at canter work as improving balance without losing impulsion (the energy of the horse's movement) and better control of stride length.

The shortened canter will not be slower than the "normal" canter, it will simply be shorter but with more energy.

The difficulty is to shorten the canter without losing momentum and causing the horse's back to become stiff.

1. Beginner

First of all, a beginner must learn not to be afraid of the sensation of speed. Trying to slow down a galloping horse by pulling on the reins will only lead to a stationary point, the horse will push against the reins and gallop even faster.

The first step is for the horse to maintain its own balance with as little interference from the rider as possible.

This can be learned by repeating trot-canter and canter-trot transitions, taking only a few canter steps, building up to one circle. Also, try to control and balance the horse at the trot immediately after the transition from the canter. To do this, make an effort to correct your seat to immediately transition from canter to trot.

Once the trot is under control, rise to the canter again. The horse will understand that there is no use in rushing, it will soon be returned to the trot, and it will begin to balance itself. She must know that there is a rider on her back who decides and controls the speed.

On long walls, try to push the horse forward, don’t try to slow it down, and make big voltes in the corners. When reaching the wall, move into a trot, which should be controlled and balanced.

Working with the volts will gradually gain a balancing effect as the horse begins to anticipate the transition to trot. We can then alternate riding in a straight line with riding with turns, where the horse will slow down and improve his balance. This is also a very good way to "wake up" and balance lazy horses.

Always keep in mind that your hands are about steering control, not speed!

2. Young horse

During the first year of a young horse's training, the canter cannot really be used as it can cause damage to the joints. First you need to perfect the trot, which will give flexibility and balance for the canter. We must be deliberate with our gaits to maintain the horse's momentum and desire to move forward.

You need to start galloping on a young horse in a half-seat (almost not sitting in the saddle, putting your weight on the stirrups to lighten the horse's back).

Keep in mind that this is not a long canter, but rather work on improving the gait with repeated transitions .

Young horses tend not to stay straight on the track or inside the circle and often bend outward.

This occurs by compensating for centrifugal force, which throws the rider's weight out to relieve the effort of the inside hind leg.

The more the rider tries to force the horse to bend, the more it will resist in the opposite direction and accelerate. Feel free to do the opposite, bend your horse outward and maintain contact on the outside rein. After two or three laps, the horse will understand that if he does not want to stumble and fall, he must balance himself and bend correctly.

An extremely effective way to improve the roundness of a young horse's canter is through jumping. The approach can be at a walk or trot, and the canter at the end of the jump.

Finally, exercise is needed to expand forward and downward movements with trot-canter and canter-trot transitions.

Once the horse has acquired a good horizontal balance, he must learn to work in collection with a greater shift of the center of gravity back.

Beginning to widen the frame in a light canter, the Cerrajero maintains its balance and cadence without falling onto its forehand. The horse should stretch and seek contact with the hand, down and forward, and the hand allows him to stretch.

3. Horse expansion

First of all, you need to develop the collection more and more, and improve the control. The more the horse collects, the more energy is needed. This can best be seen in the Piaffe, where the horse develops maximum momentum without moving forward.

Thus, we must teach the horse to collect and contract as its momentum increases. To do this, a transition is made from a working canter to a higher and more energetic one with an acceleration of the pace, but the horse should not be allowed to stretch forward beyond the working canter. At the same time, the rider straightens the upper body and contracts the muscles of the lower back and abdomen, increasing the movement of the pelvis.

To practice such a canter, you need to make several transitions from a working canter to an extended canter on the long walls of the arena, and then return to a working canter in the corners and short walls.

When these transitions are practiced to the point of automatism in the horse’s mind, he will not stretch out on long walls. And he will walk freely and energetically forward with faster steps.

Then work on increasing the energy a few strides from the working canter. The horse should begin to contract under the influence of the rider's arms, legs and body.

It is better to work in a semi-seated position with emphasis on the stirrups in order to relieve the back of an unprepared horse from unnecessary stress.

It is extremely important that the horse does not strain the muscles of the back and neck, which must be properly pumped during work, without being burdened by the weight of the rider. This will have a greater effect when we return to a sitting position.

The rider should have the feeling that if he gives the rein to the horse, it will stretch gradually down and forward, following the hand. If this does not happen, then you need to work again on expanding the frame in a different gallop with transitions.

This progressive downward and forward stretch is a very powerful tool for rounding the top lines (basculation) and improving canter lifts.

This exercise should not be confused with the uberstreichen of the Germans, where the goal is to ensure that the horse is in soft contact and his back and neck are relaxed. To achieve this, we give the rein a few steps and the horse maintains cadence and balance without contact of the rein, by maintaining momentum.

Finally, we will collect the canter even more, repeating the canter-stop-canter transitions for several strides. This exercise is very beautiful when done in a relaxed state. It allows us to achieve the most collected canter using an action as if we wanted to stop a horse, but without stopping. This means that the closer we are to the stop, the more energetic the gallop should be.

Then, according to the horse's physical capabilities, we will begin to work on the standing canter - the pirouette.

If the horse changes legs during the contraction, do not punish him, because this is a fairly good indicator of impulsion. Simply get him back into the canter on the right leg and increase control over the horse's outside.

19.07.2016

Different breeds of horses have different types of movement, which are called gaits. They differ from each other in the way they move and position their limbs during movement, and in the speed of movement. And among all types of gaits, gallop is considered the fastest. The French interpret the term “gait” in Russian as “gait”. In addition to divisions into the variety of such gaits, each type of gait also has subspecies. Only an experienced horse breeder or rider who has been in contact with horses for a long time will be able to remember all these classifications and independently determine each of them.

Description of gallop as a gait

Among specialists in horse breeding and equestrian sports, gallop is also called tenting. Tenting is a three-beat method of gait with an unsupported phase and three tempos. Galloping is recognized as the fastest way to move horses; the top speed of the best horses reaches more than 60 km/h. During such a gait, the horse makes spasmodic movements with its limbs and body, respectively, evenly and alternately lifting off the surface of the ground, first the forelimbs, then the hind limbs.

Gallop cannot be called a symmetrical gait, since the horse performs it with either the left or the right limb. Comparing the gallop with the trot, both gaits involve the same phase of unsupported movement, after which the horse will first land the hind limb, immediately the second limb behind and one in front, and after taking both limbs from the back, the second front leg will firmly fall to the ground. Moreover, the front leg that descends at the end must necessarily be opposite diagonally to the lowered primary leg behind. This forelimb performs a pushing action during the accompanying flight phase. And it is this leg that decides in which direction the animal will gallop.

According to experiments, it was found that the length of one step during a gallop will be about 8 meters, while the tracks of the front legs will coincide with the tracks of the subsequent hind legs. The speed of steps per minute reaches 140 times. History has recorded that only during a gallop can a horse accelerate to such a crazy speed - covering up to 900 meters of distance within 60 seconds. The record set was 1 km in just 53 seconds of the allotted time, that is, the speed of this gallop was 68 km/h.

Horse galloping view from below

But not always during a gallop the horse accelerates to such sharp speeds; sometimes slow walking can be done at a speed of 7 - 8 km/h; specially trained horses can perform such a gait while standing still. In this case, the gallop is divided into several subtypes according to the rhythm of movement: right hind limb, right diagonal and right front diagonal, as well as specific hovering.

In the wild, without galloping, horses would probably have died out long ago. It is only due to this gait that many individuals escape from predators and quickly cover distances. But, as a rule, a horse will gallop no more than 3 km. You can increase the gallop distance by reducing its speed. A slow gallop can easily cover a 20 km race. All other types of gait require approximately the same load on all legs, but the gallop will become tiring for one side of the limbs, taking into account the fact from which limb of the horse its movement begins.

Therefore, depending on which leg the gallop begins with, it is divided into several more subspecies:

• Right-sided gallop; while running, the horse turns easily to the right side.
• A left-sided canter, during which the horse usually turns exclusively to the left side. Gallop involves the first tempo of lowering the right hind limb, after which the front leg on the same side is lowered along with the left hind leg, and at the same time this is the second tempo. The final stage is positioning and supporting the forelimb from the left side. The uniqueness of the left-sided gallop is that when switching to the repeated first pace of such a sweep, the horse hangs above ground level for some time.

How to learn to gallop on a horse

Most experts in the field of horse breeding are inclined to the theory that gallop is the most comfortable gait for riders. But for him to be such, the rider needs to learn how to stay in the saddle correctly, relax and gently control his horse. Thanks to the neck and head of the animal, it is possible to maintain the balance of movements that are associated with the wave of a swing. It is possible to learn a gallop only if the rider can easily cope with walking in the arena, as well as trotting with and without stirrups.

Correct landing at canter

If the rider has fulfilled all the instructions for seating, during the gallop his pelvis will move freely and smoothly back and forth, according to the rhythmic movement of the horse. You can dampen the shocks coming from the horse if you use the relaxed lower back correctly. In this case, the legs should be in a natural position along the line of the saddle, they control the horse, and the rider’s buttocks should be relaxed as much as possible so that the horse’s impulses are sent through the ankles and knees of the person to the feet. In this case, you need to properly turn your shoulders, straightening your posture. There is no need to shorten the reins, just rest your feet on the pre-equipped stirrups. A short rein will make the animal run even faster or, conversely, stop.

Incorrect landing at canter

How to gallop a horse

This stage involves learning how to control a horse. The rider already knows how to maintain his body well in the saddle, making sure that the legs are in place and can stretch upward. Only an experienced trainer can demonstrate to a student the technique of galloping:

• the rider looks forward, his shoulders are back, and his center of gravity is focused in the middle of the saddle;
• then a half-halt is performed, when the rider shifts the weight only to the hind legs, thus telling the horse “attention!”;
• maintaining unbreakable contact with the outer rein and soft contact with the inner one, you need to make a slight move to the side of the potential movement;
• the rider controls the inner leg strictly at the girth, and the outer leg slightly behind it, while with the inside leg the rider sends the horse stronger than with the outside leg;
• after this, he bends slightly forward and moves his inner thigh lower.

The rider must understand that any pace of such a gait is a slight rise to the canter itself. At the same time, typical mistakes made by novice riders at a gallop are:

• when the rider pulls his leg down from the hip;
• during movements, a person maintains his posture and does not move his body to the beat;
• During the horse's transitions, the rider is thrown out of the saddle.

Setting the pace

Once the horse has entered the canter, the rider needs to learn how to control the horse and ride it correctly. The rider should already be able to lift his animal to the beginning of the gallop, support it and sit harmoniously in the saddle, without grabbing his horse by the leashes.

When setting a certain gallop rhythm, you need to understand that the horse does not have “on” buttons. and “off”, so she can lose her rhythm without the accompanying assistance of the rider. You can maintain a certain rhythm of the gait with the help of legs. For example, to change legs in a canter, the rider needs to maintain a stable balance in the saddle, as well as coordinated and smooth use of the legs and reins.

To turn the horse to the right side, the rider must bring his right hand smoothly to his right knee and vice versa. During turns, the horse needs to be pushed, as it were, otherwise it will lose its speed. In this case, it is forbidden to pump the body onto it. It is dangerous to lean excessively during such a gait, because the horse may stop, and the rider will not be able to hold on and fly out through the animal’s neck. The rider must hold the reins so that the horse does not tilt his head down and keeps it straight in front of him at all times. To make a smooth transition from gallop to trot, you need to gradually pick up the reins, lean your body back and let the horse trot.

• If galloping is practiced in a horse school, it is better to switch to this gait in the corners in order to set the correct side of the gallop.
• During a gallop, it is forbidden to make loud noises so as not to unbalance the animal.
• The first galloping lessons should be conducted with a trainer.
• For quick and fruitful learning to gallop, you can use an experienced instructor to hold the horse on the line during lessons. This way the rider can focus on the canter while the helper controls the speed and rhythm.
• In order for the horse to move to the correct gallop, and not trot and simply rush around the arena, it is important to use the necessary equipment.

Learning to gallop should only be attempted by a person who has experience with horses and has the skills to walk and trot. To gallop, the rider must have a helmet, special shoes and a comfortable riding suit.