The walk is the easiest pace because it is calm and steady ( not to mention REALLY slow ). You have time to think about the right way to ride. The walk is the first pace you will learn to ride, it is also the quickest pace to learn. When riding your horse in the walk relax just enough to feel the rhythm of your horse's stride. As your horse walks his head will bob up and down ( slightly ). Hold the reins very lightly so that your hands can follow his rhythm. Sit well down in the saddle and try not to lean forward to much.

The walk has four hoof beats ( a four beat gate ) Each hoof strikes the ground separately in turn like the picture above.

The trot is the horse second pace, the most bouncy and uncomfortable to ride ( if your not use to it and you do a lot of "sitting trot" your butt is gonna hurt really bad after hahaha ). When riding a horse in the trot you can either sit down to trot (western) or rise up and down in the saddle, in time with the horses movements ( known as a "Rising Trot" or "Posting", for English riding mostly ). Rising to the trot is easy once you figure out how to do it , and it's much more comfortable to ride this way. let the bounce of your pony's stride push you up and forward ( not a lot though, you should think it's barely noticable, but others should think you're working hard ) a little from your knees. The sit back gentle into the saddle in a regular rhythm, Try to keep your lower legs quite still ( you don't want them flopping around ). It can sometimes help at first to think to yourself " Up - down - up - down " as you ride your horse.

Now once you have learned to ride correctly at the trot you will need to think about " Diagonals ". Diagonals are when you rise out of the saddle at a certain time. You want to do it when the horse you riding's outside front foot reaches out and hits the ground. The outside foot is this: if you're riding clockwise, it's the left foot and if you're riding counter-clockwise, it's the right foot. If you ride in a ring, you can just go with whatever foot is closest to the rail.

You want to get an instructor or someone trained with horses to watch you trot and help you learn or improve. The trot takes a considerably longer time to learn than the walk, especially if you're learning to do the "posting trot".

Above is a very nice animated diagram of a horse trotting. The trot is a 2 beat gate. Which means your horse's legs move in pairs. The left fore leg and right hind leg hit the ground at the same time, then the right fore leg and left hind leg together. These are called diagonals ( hence the reasons you post on the correct diagonal ).

The canter is probably ( in my opinion ) the smoothest and most comfortable gate. It's flowing and easy to ride. When you start off canter I suggest that you either hold onto the front of the saddle or on a little peace of mane to get yourself ready for the change of pace. To ask your horse to canter apply your outside leg to your horses side ( so it will be on the correct lead ). Once your horse is cantering relax into your seat and sit up tall, try to get use to the rhythm and pace.

A horse can canter on either fore legs depending on the direction it is going. As with trotting diagonals, if it's working clockwise, it should be leading with the left leg. If it's working counter-clockwise, it should be leading with the right leg. As with the trot, if you ride in a ring you can simply say that it's the leg closest to the rail. The canter is a three beat pace.

THE GALLOP

The gallop is the fastest and most exciting pace. You should gallop only if your horse is fit and you can control him when cantering ( plus of course your ready to gallop ). Horses increase their speed from canter to gallop by taking longer strides. They push harder with their hind legs and stretch out there body, neck and head. Each foot is on the ground for a shorter time, and there is a moment when all four feet are actually off the ground!

When riding the gallop take your weight forward and right out of the saddle to give your pony's back the freedom to make the extra effort. Have your weight on your knees and feet.

As in the canter, your horse's inside leg should lead if you are on a bend. the gallop has four hoof beats ( four beat gate ). When the off fore leg leads, the hoof beats are - near hind, off hind, near fore, off fore.

You should make sure there's at least one other person around in case you can't bring your horse back down to the canter. Horses do love to run, and sometimes once you let them gallop you may not be able to bring them back down if you are a 'first-time galloper'. Always check with a trainer or instructor before you decide you're ready to gallop.