Walk
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The walk is a four-beat gait, and each leg is moved separately. When walking, a horse's hooves fall in this sequence: left hind, left fore, right hind, right fore. Different breeds and individuals have varying smoothness to their walks. Ideally, when walking the advancing rear hoof will overstep the place where the respective fore hoof just landed. The more the horse oversteps, the smoother and more comfortable the walk becomes.
See that the left hind oversteps the “print” of the left fore.
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The faster walks are actually lateral forms of ambling gaits such as the running walk, singlefoot, and similar rapid, but smooth gaits. If a horse speeds up, and loses the regular four-beat cadence to his gait, he is no longer walking, and has swapped gaits.
You always sit the walk, and do not post. However, some riding instructors may have their students post at the walk to build muscle, or get used to posting without the momentum that comes from posting at the trot.
Trot
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The trot is a two-beat, diagonal gait, with many variations and types, most of which are used for show. It is considered to be the second of the four most commonly thought of horse gaits, which are: Walk, Trot, Canter, Gallop.
The trot can be fast, or slow, depending on your horse and what he's trained to do. For example, harness racing horses move considerably faster than a western pleasure horse. However, the regular working trot averages 5 to 10 miles per hour.
The trot is where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time, making two beats. The left hind, and right fore. Then the right hind, and left fore. There is a moment of suspension between each beat, where the horse is completely off the ground. In some horses, this is barely noticeable.
The trot can generally be classified as “working”, “collected”, or “extended”, depending on the amount of engagement and collection of the horse. With riding experience, judging by the rhythm of the gait, one is able to distinguish a true, two-beat square-trot, from a four-beat intermediate ambling gait, such as the fox trot, or the “trocha” as sometimes seen in the Paso Fino horse.
There are three ways to ride the trot: sitting, posting, or half-seat.
Sitting offers the most of control of the horse, because the rider can influence the horse may using his or her weight, and seat. Personally, I prefer to post, which is when the rider rises on one beat, and sits on the second.
Half-seat is when you rise off the saddle, and remain like that. It offers the least control of the horse, but really frees up the horse's back. This position is rarely used at the trot, but is common at the canter, usually for jumping riders.
Sitting is preferred in show-ring western, and dressage, especially at the upper levels. When sitting, the rider can more efficiently ask for turns, slows, upward transitions and downward positions, but it can be very tiring for the rider. It is also a test of equitation, proving whether or not the rider can move quietly with the horse.
Sitting the trot can be uncomfortable and a hindrance for both the rider and the horse if not done correctly. On some horses, the trot can be very easy to sit, such as on western horses, whose prefer ed trot is the “jog” which is generally smoother and less bouncy then the working and extended trot variations of the English-style show horse.
Sitting the trot isn't as uncomplicated as it sounds. To sit the trot, the rider must remain firmly in her sit, without rising from the saddle. There is a slight forward and back movement of the lower back and stomach as the rider's hips follow both the up and down and side-to-side motion of the horse. To absorb the impact of the trot, the rider relaxes through the hips, the stomach and lower back, as well as the legs. The rider's upper body remains upright and quiet. The rider's hands remain steady. The lower legs remain relaxed and only come into play when the rider gives a leg aid, or cue. If the rider cannot properly sit the trot, then the posting (or “rising”) trot is preferred.
I've always preferred to post, but some people really don't like to. I rarely ever sit the trot, and it usually only for very brief moments of time, usually when disciplining Jonesy for trying to buck me off! I also rarely use “half-seat”, when you come up out of the saddle, except for climbing some hills, because I can better move my weight forward and stay with the horse.
Now, posting isn't just standing up in the stirrups, and sitting back down, which is how I used to think of it---maybe that's why I was always so tired after trying to post all those years ago when I first took lessons! Posting is actually more of a gliding movement. You never want to depend on your stirrups to get up, instead, you use the momentum of the trot, keeping your heels down, to bounce you out of the saddle. But you can't just hop around, you have to harness the momentum and remain in control. Jonesy has a swift, bouncy trot. He's a saddlebred---a show horse (though he hasn't much training), and picks his legs up high and long. When I lose control, or get on the wrong diagonal, he becomes noticeably harder to ride. You lose communication.
So, when beginning to post, imagine a string tied to your belt, or wrapped around your hips, pulling your forward. You want to move forward from the hip in a smooth, rolling motion. The biggest problem I see with beginner riders attempting to trot, is that they'll lunge forward with their shoulders and upper body, or just hop in place, landing heavily on the horse. The shoulders thing is understandable, you want to move forward, and that's the first method that comes into most people's minds, and when I remind them to keep their shoulders back, they'll simply just their chests forward instead, curling their backs and putting themselves and the horse off balance. Posting sounds tricky, but once you feel how smooth it is once you do it correctly, it's worth it. It's a simple, one-two, one-two movement.
Glide forward, and up just slightly. Many riders and instructors disagree with the mindset, saying you're supposed to be posting, not hip thrusting. These are the people that think posting is solely an up and down motion. It's not. The purpose of posting is to make the trot more comfortable and free for the horse, and more comfortable for you the rider as well. You glide from the hip staying with the horse. That is the key, to stay with the horse as you move, not getting in his way by bouncing way back on his hindquarters, hindering his hind legs. By moving from the hip, your back remaining straight, and your shoulders poised. Your legs remain light, because you're not lifting yourself up with your calves, your just using the momentum and energy the horse offers.
Also, remember not to smack back down in the saddle when sitting back down. The gliding motion goes both ways; you have to gently slid back into the saddle. But don't get excited and go bone-less. Be ready to glide back up again, but try not to be too tense. Slamming down in the saddle is a punishment to the horse.
Now, I won't pretend to be perfect at the trot. My posting is a bit sloppy, and I sometimes slip and flop back on the horse. But the trick is to recover yourself. Adopt a different trot position for a moment, and make sure your reins are in your hands properly. Then settle back into the correct position, or your favorite, and keep riding.
There is one other thing I'd like to mention about posting.... When sitting the trot, and using the half-seat position, diagonals don't really matter, but when posting (particularly when you're turning, or in show) it is very, very important.
The trot is a two beat gait, with two diagonal sets of legs moving at alternating times. One set, suspension, second set, suspension. Whichever foreleg is reaching out, is the diagonal you are on. So, if I'm riding Jonesy and he's reaching lifted his right foreleg, and his left hind leg, we are on the right diagonal. The reason diagonals are important is because of how the horse is wired to move. If he's going around a turn, and you're sitting like a burr in the saddle, and he can't move his legs, he's going to stumble, or stiffen up as he tries to keep moving despite the fact that you're making it very hard. So there is a saying in horse back riding, “post with the leg on the wall.”
If you're turning left, post on the right diagonal, and sit on the left one.
If you're turning right, post of the left diagonal, and sit on the right one.
This frees up the horse, and makes it easier for him to balance as he's turning. Also, if you post on the same diagonal all the time, it will wear the horse, un-train him, or create a sore.
If you find that you're riding on the incorrect diagonal, all you have to do is sit two beats, or posting two beats, then resume normal posting. I prefer to sit two beats, because I can more easily feel the rhythm of the horse, and am less likely to skip three beats, which would make me stay on the same diagonal I was trying to change.
It can be very hard, and quite confusing at first, trying to figure out the difference between the diagonals, and understand which one you're supposed to post on, but eventually it comes naturally, and becomes easy to feel when you're on the wrong diagonal. For beginner, look at the horse's shoulders. If the fence of the arena is to your right, look at his right shoulder and watch how it moves, when it goes up, and he reaches out with that leg, you must rise, and when he drops it, you must also drop. Reverse if the arena fence was on your left side.
If you'd like to see a fantastic example of posting, look up this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thpmgolDsbQ&feature=related
The lady in the video might even explain posting better than I just did! So if you're looking to learn how to post, I'd suggest you watch it. She puts it very simply, and it's very easy to understand.
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