As a rider, there are four joints that are important in absorbing the horse's motion. The ankle (between the foot and lower leg), the knee (between the thigh and lower leg), the hips (between the thigh and upper body) and the elbow (between the forearm and upper arm).

The Halt
At the halt the horse must stand quiet, still and straight with its weight distributed equally over all four legs. The fore and hind legs ahould be in pairs and abreast each other. This is termed standing square. The horse must remain on the bit and balanced and continue to accept the bit. The halt must not be abrupt. The steps preceding the halt should retain their correct tempo and speed.

The Walk
The walk is a four beat gait and is a pace that the horse naturally offers the rider. The horse takes long, relaxed steps and overtracks (the horse's hind feet step further forward then the hoof prints left by the front feet).

The Trot
The trot is a two beat gait. If you watch a horse travel you will notice the back is level at the walk and has a regular up and down movement at a trat. The trot is a natural pace of a horse while riding. It is an active pace, with the horse maintaining a round outline, while in a forward-thinking rhythm. This pace is relaxed but active.

In a Sitting Trot, you should remain sitting deep in the saddle, maintaining the same classical position as when stationary and at a walk.

The movement of the horse is absorbed by the stomach and lower back, so that you can remain deep in the saddle without being bounced up and down. As you feel the horse's legs springing forward, try to think of allowing your rib cage to sink down towards your hips.

This means that the stomach and lower back act like a shock absorber; as the horse springs along ina trot, the stomach and lower back are either contracting or expanding to absorb the movement. You must stay relaxed so that your legs can hang long and loose by the horse's sides and your arms can still stay soft and maintain a light contact with the horse's mouth.

The Rising Trot is an easy movement for both horse and rider if performed correctly. In a rising trot your upper body should be inclined slightly forward from the hips, so that you remain in balance with the horse's movements. While rising, your shoulders should not be further forward then your knees.

Your body should be raised by the movement of the horse, your seat returning quietly to the saddle without any loss of balance. Your hips and knee joints must remain suple and mobile while opening and closing, to accommodate the raising and lowering movement.

The weight on the stirrups and the contact of the lower legs should NOT vary. Elbow and shoulder joints should be supple and mobile, allowing the hand to maintain the correct position. As you rise, the angle of your elbow joint must open, closing again as you return to the saddle. Your hand should maintain the same contact at all times.

1. As you feel the rhythm of the horse's inside hind leg, you will feel an upward senstation or a slight upward push.
2. With every upward push, let your pelvis come forward and up, as if you were being pulled gently by the belt buckle.
3. Remember: the stirrups are there to rest on, not to push on.  They are there to carry the weight of your legs, not the whole body.
4. Keep your legs long and closed gently against your horse's sides.
5. Your feet should be directly beneath you.
6. Seen from the side, your ear, shoulder, hip and ankle will now line up.
7. Spread all your toes out inside your boots and let the whole width of the foot carry your weight on the stirrups.  The weight on the big toe should be equal to the weight on the weight on the little toe.  Your feet should feel the same on the stirrups.  Soft, free toes are essential to free the ankles.  Place your foot flat on the stirrup and pretend to play scales lightly on the piano with your toes.  The foot will hand softly, very nearly parallel to the horse's sides.
8. Let gravity drop your soft ankles and heels down.

In a trot the horse's legs move in alternate diagonal pairs. Riding Diagonals refers to the stride the rider posts on at a trot. The rider moves up and forward in the saddle as the outside (rail) leg of the horse moves forward. The reason fo being on the correct diagonal is that your horse's inside legs are in the best position to bear the full strain of your weight. When riding in a circle, the horse will find it easier to balance if the rider is out of the saddle when the inside fore leg is on the ground.

When doing a rising trot in a straight line, a rider may use either diagonal pair to post. However, if you are going to ride in a straight line for a long time it is adviseable to change diagonals quite often so your horse remains balanced (about every 1/4 mile).

To change diagonals is very simple. All you do is sit two beats of the trot, or stay in the air for two beats.

The Canter/Lope
The canter/lope stride is a three beat gait. The canter/lope is a natural pace of a horse when just riding. It is an active pac with the horse maintaining a round outline, while in forward-rhythm (same as the trot). This pace is relaxed but active.

Riding a horse at a canter/lope is different then riding at a walk or trot. The canter/lope will be easier to ride when you are sure of yourself at a trot. The front end and hindquarters rise and fall alternately. This affects where you sit, how you sit and the amount of shock your lower body must absorb.

At a canter/lope you will feel more movement from the horse. To start, use the basic position for the sitting trot. Give your horse the leg and voice aids for the canter/lope. When the horse strides forward with it's leading leg you will be sitting in the deepest part of the saddle. You will feel your seat bones slide slightly forward with the movement of the horse. Depending ont he stride of your horse this may have a rolling affect. The movement of the horse is absorbed by your hips. When you start to ride this gait you may catch yourself "pumping" (your shoulder move in rhythm to the horse). Your shoulder should stay still. ANother problem beginners have is losing the correct lower leg position. Once your seat improves you will be able to correct this.

At the canter/lope horse's travel in leads. It's body is turned at an angle or diagonal to the direction of travel. It is moving one foreleg and one rear leg, both on the same side of the body, ahead of the two other legs. In order for the horse to make smooth turns, it is important that the inside legs lead in front of the outside legs. This is called leading and is very important for smooth turns. You must learn to feel which shoulder of the horse is slightly advanced of the other and which hind leg comes to the ground first. Do not bend over and look to see which lead you are on. This will unbalance you and the horse.

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The Rein Back or Backing
The rein back (back-up) is carried out from the halt. It is a two beat diagonal gait and should be fluid in motion. The steps should be straight, active and unhurried, but of good length. The feet must be picked up and put down cleanly, with the horse maintaining its correct outline and remaining on the bit. The horse must not raise it's head or hollow its back.

The rein back can only be successfully performed if the horse is calm and relaxed when at the halt. Your body should remain upright and your back and hips supple. Force must never be used.