Trot (horse gait)

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The trot is a natural gait of the horse where the diagonal pairs of legs move forwards at the same time, a diagonal gait. There is a moment of suspension between each beat, as seen here [1]. The pioneering 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge was the first to prove this.

From the standpoint of the balance of the horse, the trot is a very stable gait, and the horse need not make major balancing motions with its head and neck. This is a common gait that the horse is worked in for dressage, due to its many variations. It is also the working pace for the horse, often preferred over the canter and gallop for long distances.

Contents 1 Sequence of footfalls 2 Difference between the trot and the pace 3 Types of trot 4 Speed 5 Riding the trot 6 Posting trot 6.1 The hips 6.2 The upper body and lower legs 6.3 The hands 6.4 Diagonals 7 Sitting trot 7.1 Reasons to sit the trot 7.2 Learning to sit 7.3 The seat 7.4 The upper body 7.5 The hands 7.6 The lower legs

[edit] Sequence of footfalls

The trot is a two-beat gait, meaning that there are two steps per stride. A stride of the trot is performed as follows:

1. Beat one: first diagonal pair (this may be left hind/right fore or right hind/left fore) strikes the ground, bears weight, and is lifted up
2. Suspension phase: no legs are touching the ground
3. Beat two: second diagonal pair (opposite of the first one) strikes the ground, bears weight, and is lifted up
4. Suspension phase: no legs touch the ground

[edit] Difference between the trot and the pace

Both the trot and pace are two-beat gaits. However, the trot is a diagonal gait, and the pace a lateral gait. This means that the first beat is the hind and fore on one side of the horse and the second beat is the hind and foreleg on the other side of the horse. There is still a moment of suspension between the two beats.

The pace is usually faster than the trot, but is in general a rare gait, seen only in a handful of breeds. The trot is thought to be genetically dominant over the pacing gene.

[edit] Types of trot

The trot can be classified as "working", "collected", "medium", or "extended", depending on the amount of engagement and collection of the horse.

By the rhythm, one may distinguish the square trot, when each diagonal pair of hoofs hits the ground at the same moment, thus producing a two-beat rhythm, and the fox trot, or the broken trot.

• Working trot: the natural trot of the horse. The stride length is "normal" for the horse (note: some breeds have naturally shorter or longer strides). It is a gait between the collected trot and medium trot. [2] [3]

• Medium trot: a trot that is more engaged and rounder than the working trot, with moderately extended strides. It lies between the working and the extended trot. The horse has great impulsion. [4] [5] [6]

• Collected trot: a very engaged trot where most of the horse's weight is carried toward the hindquarters. The frame is compressed, the stride length is shorter than any of the other trots, with the horse taking higher steps. The horse is lighter and more mobile in the collected trot.[7] [8]

• Extended trot: an engaged trot with extremely long strides, where the horse stretches his frame, lengthening the strides to the greatest degree possible. The horse has a great amount of suspension. The back is round and the horse's head just in front of the vertical. To see extended trot on video, see [9] and [10].

• Lengthened trot: a trot with lengthened strides. It differs from the more advanced extended trot in that is does not require the horse to bring its weight so far back on its hindquarters. [11] [12]

• Jog trot: seen in western horses, it is a relaxed trot lacking the suspension of a working trot, with short strides. It is easy to ride because of the lack of suspension. [13] [14]

• Racing trot: seen in harness horses that race at the trot, such as Standardbreds, the stride is at its maximum length, with a great deal of suspension. The hind leg in a diagonal pair may begin to ground before the front. Unlike the extended trot, the neck is not round but high and extended. [15] [16] [17]

• Park trot: seen in gaited show horses such as the Saddlebred, the head is held high. It is a showy, flashy trot with extreme elevation of the legs (forearm is horizontal or higher and the hindlegs are extremely flexed). There is collection to this trot. This should not be confused with the rack, which is a four-beat lateral gait. [18] [19] [20]

• Passage: a slow, elevated, extremely engaged and collected trot. Horse moves like he is under water, with a long moment of suspension between steps. A very advanced movement. [21] [22] [23]

• Piaffe: an extremely collected trot in place, where the horse carries most of its weight on its hindquarters. [24] [25] [26]

[edit] Speed

The speed of the trot varies according to the stride length of the horse and the tempo. If the rider asks the horse to lengthen his stride or increase the tempo, he will effectively speed up the trot. A lengthened or extended trot is much more tiring than a working trot, and therefore the horse can not maintain it for long distances. At a working gait, however, a well-conditioned horse can trot for hours.

The average riding horse, at a working pace that is going sufficiently forward has a trot speed of 7-10 mph. An extended or lengthened trot (such as one used by a Standardbred) may be 10-30 mph.

The speed of the trot is approx 8 to 12 km/h (5 to 10 mph), up to 19 km/h (12 mph) in a horse driving trials marathon.

[edit] Riding the trot

There are three ways the trot may be ridden:

1. Sitting: Where the rider keeps her seat in the saddle the whole time, absorbing the shock from the movement in her lower back. This is preferred for all western-style riding and dressage (especially at the upper levels). Sitting the trot gives the rider optimum control over the gait, because she can use her seat to influence the horse. Sitting can be very tiring, especially if performed by riders who have not built up their core strength, or if riders are on an extremely powerful mount, such as a Warmblood with a big trot.
2. Posting: The rider raises her seat out of the saddle for one beat, and lowers (sits) for the second beat. This is preferred for show jumping, hunt seat, eventing (the jumping phases), saddle seat, lower-level dressage, and most other English-type riding. Although this does not provide as much control as sitting, posting frees up the horse's back. This makes it an important warm-up tool, especially for disciplines that compete at the sitting trot. It is generally accepted that riders should warm-up posting until the horse's back muscles are working well, before starting to sit. Posting is generally less-tiring for the rider than sitting.
3. Half-seat or Two-point: Half-seat involves the rider getting her seat bones off the saddle and keeping soft contact with her pelvis, two-point involves the rider raising her seat bones and pelvic bone off the saddle. This provides a great deal of freedom for the horse's back. It also offers the least amount of control for the rider. These positions are rarely used at the trot (although both are common at the canter for jumping riders). However, they can be valuable in some situations, and are good techniques to learn. Two-point also requires a good amount of strength in the rider's legs, which must be developed slowly.

[edit] Posting trot

[edit] The hips

In the posting trot, the rider makes an up and down movement each stride, going up on beat one, and down on beat two. The rider should allow the horse's movement to throw her seat a bit out of the saddle, when she will move her pelvis forward and toward the pommel, opening her hip angle. She should not simply throw her shoulders forward (which will disrupt the movement of the horse). When coming back down, she should touch down lightly, rather than slamming down on the horse's back, and her hip angle will close slightly. The rider will land back on the saddle with more of her weight on her pelvis and less on her seatbones. In general, dressage riders and those with longer stirrups post more "up and down," and riders with shorter stirrups (such as in the jumping disciplines) post more "forward and back" with a slightly more forward incline in their upper bodies.

To get the movement more easily, the rider can count "one-two-one-two" with the sound of the horse's footfalls. The rider should post up on one, and down on two.

[edit] The upper body and lower legs

The shoulders and lower legs should remain in relatively the same position when the rider is both forward (up) or sitting (down), with the pelvis moving between the two. In order to stay with the motion of the horse, the rider should maintain a slight forward incline with her shoulders throughout the posting trot, instead of the upright, vertical position seen in sitting trot.

The heels take up the rider's weight as she posts up, acting as a shock absorber, and should sink slightly toward the ground on the "up" beat, but should not be pushed forward.

[edit] The hands

It is important that the hands stay in the same position as the rider posts up. A common fault for beginner riders is to lift their hands upward as the move their pelvis forward into the up position. This resulting in constant movement of the bit in the horse's mouth, which could irritate, annoy, or possibly cause pain to the animal. To keep the hands still, the rider should focus on her elbows: opening the elbow angle as she goes up, and closing the angle as she posts down. The large the posting movement, the greater she will have to open and close her elbow angles. If the rider still has problems keeping a steady hand, she should look to her base of support, the lower leg, and be sure it is steady. A swinging lower leg may make the rider try to use the reins for balance.

When the posting trot is performed correctly, it is very comfortable for the rider and should feel relatively easy.

[edit] Diagonals

After the rider learns the movement of the posting trot, she should focus on her diagonals. Diagonals help to keep the horse balanced, and are also useful for timing certain aids, such as those for the canter. When the rider is on the correct diagonal, she is moving her pelvis up and forward as the horse's inside hind leg and outside foreleg are coming forward, and coming down to sit as the outside hindleg and inside foreleg come forward. To tell if she is on the correct diagonal, the rider may look at the shoulder: when the outside shoulder is going forward, the rider should be posting up.

The rider should try to check for the correct diagonal by a quick glance down, or by using her peripheral vision. She should not stare down at the shoulders for several strides, as this unbalances her on the horse, prevents her from seeing what is up ahead, and looks unattractive. Eventually, the rider should learn to feel what diagonal she is on, rather than having to look. Developing this feel may take months.

[edit] Sitting trot

[edit] Reasons to sit the trot

Sitting the trot is a skill that all riders should know. It provides a great deal more control of the horse than any other seat, as the rider's seat bones are always in the saddle so that they may influence the horse with their weight and improve the horse's gaits. A rider that is sitting correctly can use the weight aids to ask for an upward or downward transition, request the horse to turn, or increase impulsion. Sitting is a technique that can help slow a horse down, when used as a restraining aid. It is also a test of equitation, proving that the rider can passively move with the horse without inhibiting him in any way, which is the aim of all riding regardless of the discipline.

Sitting the trot takes time to develop, and requires strength, but is quite comfortable if performed correctly. If a rider sits the trot poorly, she will not only find it very uncomfortable (due to the pounding on her seat bones and general jarring of her body, which can even result in headache), but she will hurt the horse's back. Due to the pain of constant slamming, the horse will hollow his back and stiffen his movement, making it impossible to get out his optimum best performance. He may eventually sour to his work, especially if a sensitive type.

[edit] Learning to sit

Riding the sitting trot is generally more difficult to learn than posting, especially on big-moving horses. The jog-trot, which is the preferred gait of western horses, is generally smoother and less-bouncy than the working, medium, and extended trot of the English-style horse. This is partly why western riders sit instead of post, because sitting is not as tiring on a flatter mover. In general, the extended trot is the most difficult trot to sit, followed by the medium trot, then the lengthened trot, then the working trot.

When learning to sit the trot, it is best to learn on a horse with very little movement in his trot, and preferably one that is well-trained enough so he can keep his balance and rhythm despite the rider's mistakes. If possible, the rider should bring the horse down into a slow trot with little impulsion to make it easier to sit. It is preferable if the horse raises his back and rounds, as a hollow horse produces a very choppy, hard-to-sit trot. When the rider is able to sit a slow trot, she should speed it up slightly and ask for a bit more impulsion, continuing to increase slowly until the horse is at its regular working trot. After the working trot is easily performed, the rider can ask for the more impulsive trots, such as the collected, medium, and extended gaits.

If the rider ever finds sitting to be difficult, she should slow the trot back down to where it is more comfortable. Remember: a tense rider bounces, which bangs on the horse's back, which causes the horse to hollow and makes the trot harder to sit, resulting in the rider bouncing even more. Don't try to learn on a horse that is too difficult (such as an unbalanced, green horse, or a horse with bigger movement than you can handle). It will only frustrate you and the horse. The rider should come back to a posting trot if the horse hollows or speeds up, re-establish the appropriate gait, and then try again.

It is always best to learn to sit the trot while on a longe line and with a good instructor. Then the rider is able to focus completely on sitting correctly, rather than controlling the horse, and the instructor can pick out problems with her sitting trot which, when corrected, will help her move more fluently with the horse. Working without stirrups, should the rider be capable, is another excellent technique.

Lastly, the rider should remember that learning to sit the trot is a process. It takes riders years to perfect their sitting trot, and many find they must re-learn it when they start to ride a horse with bigger or more extravagant movement.

[edit] The seat

To sit the trot, the rider must focus on her hips. The hips have both a lateral movement and a longitudinal movement.

• Longitudinally, the hips move forward and back with each step (so twice per stride), with the lower back softening forward with the hips. During the forward movement of the hips, they will feel as if they are tilting slightly downward, putting more pressure on the pelvis. The hips should be forward every time the rider hears the hooves hit the ground (during the "grounded" phase of the stride), and back during the "suspension" phase of the stride. Remember: the movement is in the hips, NOT the belly. All to often riders try to "bellydance" their way at the sitting trot, which is incorrect. There will be a slight movement of the lower back/belly when the sitting trot is performed correctly, but it should not be extravagant. To get an idea of the correct longitudinal movement, it is best to watch an experienced rider sit the trot from the side (profile view).

• Laterally, the hips move up and down with the hind leg of the horse, as if the seatbones are on a see-saw (one going up toward the ceiling while the other is dropping into the saddle toward the ground). So when the right hind leg of the horse is moving forward, the right seatbone of the rider will feel like it drops lower than her left seatbone. When the left hind leg moves forward, the left seatbone will drop. For help, the rider may look down at the horse's shoulders: when the horse's shoulder is coming back, the animal's hind leg is coming forward, and the rider's hip on that side should be dropping. So, if the rider sees the left shoulder of the horse moving backward, her left hip should be dropping. The rider's seat bone should reach the highest or lowest part of its movement when the hoof touches the ground. So when the rider hears the clop of a hoof, one of her hips should be as dropped as far as it will for the stride, the other hip should be at the peak of its movement. To get an idea of the correct lateral movement, it is best to watch an experienced rider sit the trot from the back (facing the horse's tail as the rider trots away from you).

The final result of the sitting trot is that one hip moves forward and down as the other comes up and back. A good visualization technique is to think about your seat bones as pedaling a bicycle backwards: the have a circular movement, one going forward and dropping deeper as the other goes back and upward. It may also be helpful to focus on the forward-back and side-to-side motion of the hips as the horse walks. At the walk, the rider's hips will move forward-back twice each stride, and side-to-side twice each stride. However, the side-to-side movement is generally less noticeable at the walk than trot.

It is important that the rider move both laterally and longitudinally to properly absorb the movement. This is critical if she wishes to ever be able to sit green horses with a hollow or unbalanced trot, or schooled horses with a big, athletic trot. In many cases (notably, the American hunt seat scene), riders are only taught to move their hips forward and back. To absorb the movement correctly, so that the rider and horse are most comfortable, both techniques should be employed.

To absorb the trot, the rider must have a looseness throughout her body, relaxing especially through her core muscles (the stomach and lower back), as well as her legs. The rider should focus on making her hips relax open and out, as if she were sitting on a very wide horse or on an elephant. Opening the hips allows them to appropriately relax. Closed hips are usually an indication that the rider is gripping or tense in her thighs. Tightening or gripping with the thighs results in the seatbones being lifted slightly out of the saddle, rather than correctly flowing with the horse's movement.

Lastly, the rider should be balanced on her seat's triangle: the two seatbones and pelvic bone. She should have equal weight on all three should she wish to sit correctly.

[edit] The upper body

The rider's upper body should remain erect when sitting the trot. The lower back will feel like it is moving forward and back with each step, but the rider must stay loose enough in her body so that her chest and shoulders do not follow this movement. If there is excess movement in the shoulders, it is due to tenseness, either in the shoulders themselves or in the rider's seat.

The upper body should feel "stacked" above the hips, as if it were a pile of plates. If the rider leans forward she will fall onto her pelvis, and this will force her to absorb the trot motion on her pelvic bone (which is not a good shock absorber, causing her not only to bounce, but creating pain). If the rider leans back she will fall onto her seatbones, driving the horse forward and getting behind the motion.

[edit] The hands

The hands should remain steady during the sitting trot, and the elbows should stay by the rider's sides, not ahead of the body. Generally, steadiness of the hands is easier to accomplish sitting than in the posting trot. A straight line should be maintained from bit to elbow. To allow the movement of the hips, it may be helpful to slightly raise the hands so there is a 90-degree angle in the elbow, and then think about allowing the hips to move forward under the hands, and back again.

[edit] The lower legs

The lower legs are not involved in sitting the trot, and should remain passive in response to the movement (i.e. they should only come into play when the rider gives a leg aid). It may help for the rider to pretend that their legs are cut off at the knee, with the lower legs gone.

The lower legs are, however, a good indicator that the rider is sitting correctly. If the rider is correct, she will feel her weight sink slightly into her heel on the side of the lower hip. So if the rider's left hip is going downward, her left heel will sink slightly lower than her right, to absorb the motion.

Faults include gripping or banging the horse's side with the lower leg. Both are direct results of a tense seat. If the rider's legs are banging, she should check that she is not gripping with her thighs.