“At a gallop - across Europe, ” “from one place to a quarry” - these well-known expressions do justice to that speed, which is the main sign of the fastest of horse gait. The gallop, its varieties and methods of mastering it will be discussed in the article.

What is gallop

How swift and sweeping the running of a galloping horse can be judged by the fact that during the movement its step can be 3 times longer than its body.

That is, a gallop is a gait that is natural for a horse, with the help of which it develops maximum speed. Since this type of gait requires great effort from the animal, it is not able to gallop for a long time.

However, it is definitely impossible to say how long a galloping horse can ride without stopping. It all depends on age, health, fitness and breed of horse. Some of them can ride at a high pace of 2 km, while others - 3. But the vast majority of horses no longer work.

Exceeding this limit can lead to serious damage to the animal’s health and even death.

Did you know? Including wild horses, the horse population on Earth is approximately 60 million heads.

Unlike other paces

There are 3 methods of natural horse riding through:

• step;
• Lynxes
• gallop.

It’s easy to guess that a lynx is faster than a step. While walking, the horse moves with an average speed between 4 and 7 km / h, developing with such a slow gait the maximum traction force.

Trotting animals move much faster, developing an average speed in the range from 10 to 20 km / h. In competitions, some trotters specializing in this type of gait can reach speeds of up to 50 km / h and even higher.

And although in natural conditions the average speed of the lynx is much lower, but it allows the horses to move, not overly tired, over long distances.

A galloping horse moves more than 2 times faster than a regular trot.

average speed

The speed that a galloping horse develops depends on its breed, fitness, and racing conditions. Therefore, to say how many kilometers per hour a horse accelerates with this type of racing, it is definitely impossible.

The world record reaches 71 km / h, however, the average speed for this type of horse running with a rider lies between 40 and 50.

Learn more about horse gait varieties.

Types and techniques of execution

Gallop is different.

There are various stages of the movement of a galloping horse, which are:

• workers;
• medium;
• arena;
• field canter;
• career.

Working

This type of gallop is distinguished by a modest speed for it and a horse step of normal length. Most often, jockeys use it when racing with overcoming obstacles.

Average

The most popular gait among fans of show jumping and dressage is characterized by a greater (compared to a working gallop) speed and a wider step of the horse.

Manege

This type of running galloping horse is also called kurz-gallop, or short. This is the slowest of all types of gallop, which, as a warm-up of the horse, precedes its faster movement.

It is very convenient for movement on a limited area, which is why it was called the arena. It is also used when preparing a horse for jumping in a show jumping.

Canter Field

This type of gallop is characterized by a fairly fast speed, which is not excessive and allows the horse to maintain a high pace of running for quite some time. It is used for high-speed testing of animals, as well as for racing in wide spaces.

A field gallop is also called a canter, or hunting. It is also used while training beginners to ride on a saddle. It is interesting that professional jockeys never use this type of horse racing during competitions.

Career

It is the fastest gallop view and is intended for short distances only. Swinging limbs are so large that the step of the horse can reach three times the length of his body. Such speeds are only possible for trained and preheated horses, and then only for a short time.

If you make a horse gallop at a similar pace for longer, then he may experience lung emphysema, which is not treated.

Did you know? Horses belong to those rare animals that are able to recognize their relatives in photographs and other images.

How to learn to gallop correctly

Although, according to experts, riding a galloping horse is easier than riding a trot, it concerns only those riders who have successfully mastered all the wisdom of various movements and complex beats during a gallop.

Proper fit

The main requirement for a proper fit is to maintain balance in the saddle.

There are several more important conditions that make the rider's landing during the fast jump safe for both himself and the horse:

1. The high speed of the animal involves a deep landing of the rider with a straight back clearly in the center of the saddle.
2. Feet should be firmly pressed to the sides of the saddle, and the feet should be in stretched stirrups with a slightly raised pelvis.
3. The shoulders should be deployed, the hands are in a single line with the occasion.
4. Fluctuations in the body must be consistent with the beat of the horse.
5. The occasion should not be shortened; it must be kept in a constant tension state.
6. It is useful to keep the lower back in a somewhat relaxed state, so that the pushes of the horse's body will be noticeably damped.
7. Do not strain the buttocks muscles.

How to raise a horse at a gallop

Learning to quickly competently send a horse to a gallop is impossible. This requires long workouts. One of the main difficulties lies in the most important actions of the rider, through which he can successfully start a horse gallop.

It is a matter of controlling the animal by means of pressure on it with the shankels, that is, the inside of the legs from the knee to the ankles. A trained horse, at the slightest pressure of the shankels, understands what is required of him.

But the same is required of the rider, who should use the shankels almost automatically to send the horse to a gallop.

How to raise a horse at a gallop: video

Typically, novice riders learn to raise a horse at a gallop with a lynx, and it is very important with which foot the animal will begin to move. Therefore, one should learn to force the horse to start the movement with the required leg. During a slow run, he himself knows how to ride.

But in order to disperse it and move on to high speed, the rider’s commands are necessary with the help of reins and shankels.

Important! With the wrong choice of the horse’s leg, with which it starts to move, when turning or during the transitions of the rider, you can be thrown out of the saddle.

How to stop a horse at a gallop

To do this:

1. To level the pace of the horse’s running, squeezing its sides with pendants and not letting it lower its head.
2. Slowly lowering the pace, switch to a short run, then to a lynx, and then force the horse to walk in steps.
3. When moving a horse from a gallop to a lynx, pick up an occasion, leaning slightly back.

Additional tips

To be able to keep well in the saddle and competently go to a gallop, experts recommend:

• let the horse into this gait in the corners of the arena, which will allow it to turn from the required leg;
• try not to swing the torso and shoulders in time with the movements of the horse (this can only be done with hips);
• to keep the legs in stirrups so that the toes are slightly upward, and the heels down;
• to keep hands with reins as motionless as possible, so that by chance during a quick gait not to pull the reins and not confuse the horse;
• do not crawl with your legs (the horse may get confused);
• in no case do not take an embryonic pose, which represents the rider’s nervous reaction to a fast ride, which, however, does not protect him from troubles, but, on the contrary, provokes them;
• Do not stoop, keep your back as straight as possible so that your shoulders are with your hips on the same perpendicular line;
• to develop the abdominals, the strength of which is very necessary for the rider.

Precautionary measures

A novice rider must learn to go with his horse to a gallop under the supervision of an experienced trainer.

For safety reasons (both the rider and the horse) it is necessary:

• start galloping on a horse that walks in a circle with a cord;
• Do not mount a horse without a helmet;
• in no case do not scream or scream at a fast gallop, so as not to frighten the horse, which can "suffer";
• strongly do not lean forward (which is completely unacceptable and can lead to the rider flying over the animal’s head during its sudden stop);
• Do not let the galloping horse lower its head.

To learn how to gallop on a horse, you will have to make a lot of physical and nervous efforts.

Important! In no case should a horse be watered after a long run earlier than after 1.5-2 hours.

However, the result of tedious training will be not only an invigorating tapping of hooves, a whistle of wind in the ears and creaking of a saddle, but also an exciting feeling of unity with this beautiful animal.