Horseback Riding 101

Lesson 6: Basics of the Trot

How to ride the trot

There are two ways to begin to ride the trot, from a seated position and from the two-point position. (Some instructors refer to this as a half-seat, but that is not accurate. A half seat is a position halfway between a seated position at any gait and the two-point position. A half seat is used for hand-galloping, a gait faster than a canter, and sometimes when riding courses over fences to move a horse up, that is, to put his take-off position for the fence closer to where it should be.) Later, you will learn a third way, the sitting trot. But that takes more advanced control of both the horse and your body if it’s to be done without frustrating both the rider and the horse.

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