Was wondering how much harder it is to gallop compared to the canter. I am considering an adventure vaction that will require the rider to gallop, I have no problems with cantering just wondering if galloping was more difficult?
First, I expect the adventure ride won’t be a true flat out race horse gallop. I expect it will be a forward hand gallop or big strided canter.
If you can ride a canter safely outside the arena on a field or trail, you can ride a hand gallop. The biggest obstacle will be psychological if you are anxious or handsy or don’t like being out of control. Or if you only ride in an arena you may get agoraphobic.
When you want a horse to do big canter, hand gallop, gallop, you need to trust the horse to carry you and let go of the face. Sit in. It’s ok to grab mane or have a neck strap or breastplate to grab. Sit in, let yourself go. A good trekking horse will stay with the herd and stop when the leader stops
If you still find yourself panicking at a canter in an arena this is the wrong holiday for you right now.
Edited to add: you can also obviously ride a gallop in light seat or 2 point. Just don’t stand up and brace in the stirrups.
Can you take your horse to a cross country field if there’s one open for practice and just experiment with opening up the gait and getting into a rhythm?
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Yeah, in a true gallop you’ll feel the horse drop down and flatten its way of going a little bit, and the rhythm will change to four beats. Other than feeling your surroundings go by faster, if you can two-point at the canter then you should have no issues at a gallop.
As Scribbler said, it’s more a matter of trusting the horse and not snatching at the reins when you feel the speed pick up.
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And when the horse is going faster it takes longer to stop. But a horse can give you a good proper flattened gallop and then come back down to a canter a trot a walk, and not bolt away.
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When I was in the UK in 2018, I did a day trek out with a friend who also rides. I’m not the most comfortable at a full run in an open space, mainly because I haven’t had that much experience doing it…and my fjord thinks it too much work for too long! In any event, we were riding in the Peak District and got to an open spot on the hillside and that was where the galloping was normally done. I was on a big draft/sport horse cross and he knew it was time. I let him do his thing and had a BLAST. He knew his job and I just rode for dear life 
. I felt like Gandolf galloping on Shadowfax (horse was grey too). I’d 100% do it again.
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right now I am very comfortable at a canter, I am going to try to get a bit more out of my horse and see if I can get him to move a bit faster. Now just need to find a space where we can try out all of your suggestions. thanks !
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As a kid I learned that the secret to surviving a full flat out gallop at warp speed was to pick your trails carefully. Something that ends in a long hill rise is ideal. Also where you have good sight lines for hikers or cyclists ahead. And never towards a busy road or a real danger. If you know there’s an automatic stop like a big hill you can just blast and let the geography slow you down at the end.
Other than that, a field you can circle in is great too.
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And know how to use a pulley rein just in case!
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The first time I ever truly galloped was on vacation when I had the opportunity to ride a barrel racing horse and ran the pattern. The horse knew its job and I didn’t really need to do anything (other than yank my leg out of the way as he ran so close to the barrels there wasn’t enough room for it).
After one or two runs, the horse was getting antsy and the wrangler informed me that the horse was not used to as much contact as I had and suggested I ride on a loose rein. I put my big girl pants on and gave it a try and hoo-boy, it was a blast!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I was riding in a reining saddle so there was a lot of saddle in front of me. Compared to my fairly minimalist dressage saddle, it basically felt like I was locked in and not going anywhere. Also, this horse seriously knew his job, so after we finished going around the barrels, we sped at warp speed back to the gate and then came back completely. So I knew I was in good hands.
That was an awesome horse. 
And actually, I guess I also galloped in an open space on another vacation - this time in Costa Rica. That was another awesome horse. The owner in all seriousness had to tell me he was not for sale and I could not take him home. He was “the V8 of the barn” but he was SO well-trained. We were out for half a day so we had a lot of time to get to know each other and our first run was up a hill. As I got more and more comfortable with him, we got more and more adventurous.
I guess one thing that helped in both of those situations is that the horses had much flatter gaits than what I normally ride, so the gallops were a lot easier than my 5 year old Oldenburg’s still-figuring-out balance and sometimes quite speedy canter.
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Another who will say to gallop up hill, preferably not down, unless it is a dip.
Apparently stopping has a lot to do with non aides and your breathing. So I just sit up and they stop, the same horse does not do that for another.
If you have an extremely fast horse. I owned Monition Boy at one time. That means your eyes will stream with tears from the wind, even when wearing glasses, and you will get to the end and walk back and meet the other horses half way.
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Fastest I ever galloped was moving a herd of horses from one section of mountain foothills to another. Once the herd decides to run you are pretty much along for the ride, keeping pace. It was a trip, so much scary fun over hill and dale, and in the snow of February no less. It was my second date with my now husband. I’ve done it a handful of times since then but nothing like that ride.
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This is a good position check:
If you’re going to be galloping for any length of time, you might find bridging the reins more comfortable too.
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Yeah, that’s true, but…OP says he is considering “an adventure vacation that will require the rider to gallop” and while it’s a good idea that trekking horses are polite and a bit less fiery than usual, I can tell you I’ve been on some adventure vacations where the horses were NOT easy at all. No brakes, no steering, gallop up the butt of another horse and get kicked type stuff. The guide’s horse bolting and a 1/4 mile gallop turning into a mile. Being chased by angry bulls and having to scramble to get away. Horse bolting down a narrow one lane road and a car coming the other way…
So my question to the OP is “what country and what vacation are we talking about?” and “how much trail experience do you have?” because one person’s idea of a fun gallop is another person’s 8 hour day of hell being dragged all over the place, and what we consider a nice ride is not the same in other countries.
And in places where the concept of a good trail horse is VERY different to ours, the trails themselves can be butt puckeringly novel… one ride we later asked the guide how clients usually react to a hair raising trail we rode that day, and she said well, some people cry. Some people refuse to go on. Some people just get off and they have to lead the horses over one at a time. But by the time you get to it the trail is so narrow you can’t turn around to go back…
All of these things happened in countries or areas of countries with either poor or no cell phone coverage, no helicopter rescue, that sort of thing. We get used to being not too far from help, but on some of these vacations, you’re on your own.
So I would say if you’re asking how to gallop, for a ride that requires galloping, you might not be ready for some of the trails out there…
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This sounds so so fun. What a memory to have!
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That feeling when they drop down under you as they move into a gallop is something you might not be expecting, but it’s exhilarating.
I’ve always bridged my reins, but my horses are OTTBs and they lean on the rein contact to keep themselves balanced as they run. It’s a holdover from their racing days. But I’ve only galloped for fun—when I’ve done teeny local events and hunter paces I kept to a canter because I didn’t want a runaway who was overly stimulated by all the strange horses and new places. 
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Here is an article of the ride I was looking at.
https://africageographic.com/stories/game-census-safari-2/
I don’t know about other breeds, but the first time I let my TB lower into a true gallop, I was very surprised to find you don’t feel any motion at all. It’s absolutely incredible. Assume a nice balanced two point, grab a little mane and enjoy the exhilarating ride.
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That is not a good match for someone who has a question about how to gallop. There are many opportunities for horseback safaris which are stimulating and fun but are controlled by the expert guides who know where the wildlife is that day. Even then it may be necessary to execute some fancy moves at speed when wildlife appears unexpectedly round a bend, from behind a tree or jumps up from underfoot. Try another safari ride at Ant’s Nest or Ant’s Hill, have fun, learn to gallop on their horses, then return later for the Big Adventure.
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I’ve done a fair bit of back country trail riding, did a couple cow penning classes. I have yet to go on a local hunt. I like to canter and gallop alone on trails but am very careful with other riders around. Horses in a group can lose their minds. I myself might consider a sedate safari horseback trip if I happened to be in the area, but I wouldn’t sign up for Giraffe and Wildebeest Round Up Week.
If you want to get outside and work big animals you could try a cattle round up week that some American dude ranches offer.
Wrangling giraffes isn’t just galloping along a beach. You want a good seat for stop start spin etc. I imagine
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That looks like a kick in the pants! In answering your first question, the gallop is almost easier than a canter and you say you’re comfortable there so I don’t think you need to worry about staying on at a gallop. What happens at a gallop is your chance of riding out variables declines rapidly lol How sticky are you? I think that’s all you need to be for that adventure, sticky and confident. Their horses are experienced, so that helps. Without knowing what kind of riding you do it’s hard to say but if you can handle zippy zoomy unpredictable riding outside of arena riding I don’t see why based on what you’ve said here that you couldn’t do that. I’m sure they would screen you a bit. It’s not like a lot of people have a lot of experience doing that exact kind of riding. Highspeed adventure type riding is what would transfer well.
In general IME moving/gathering cows is a slow process or that’s how the people that own the cows want it to be… if you wanted something similar to test your mettle I think getting in on some sketchy horseback hog hunting would be a close match. That would have the unpredictability and ducking/diving and terrain that you’re going to have to manage. Maybe some cutting and team sorting could get zippy enough. If you have an outside place to ride, open land, and a brave friend you could do a high speed game of tag or rig an obstacle course for yourselves. When we used to ride down by the river we would be crossing the river, jumping huge down logs, running along cow trails through the brush and usually had contests and games going that really tested your reflexes and ability to handle a horse on the fly. How far are you from Montana? lol This is where you could hone your skills though not your heat tolerance.
Not gonna lie, that trip looks like something my husband would love to do.
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