How difficult is it to sit the gallop in an English saddle? I ask because I thought I got my horse into a real (i.e. 4-beat) gallop for the first time on a hunt and yet I sat for the 200 or so yards we went like this. Now, I’m beginning to have doubts – perhaps it was just a super-fast canter. (?)
It is very difficult. Which is why I don’t sit the gallop, I get in, and stay in, galloping position- ‘two point’ as it’s commonly known. If you try to sit the gallop, even a fast canter, all day long, you will be intensely uncomfortable at best.
Why in God’s name would you sit the gallop? Terribly unfair to the horse, and bone jarring for the rider.
I guess I wasn’t then.
At the very least you should be in a half seat at the canter or gallop, sitting only to execute a half halt or other use of the seat.
I’m not suggesting it is good for the horse, but asking if it is really that hard to do. Don’t they sit the gallop in Western Riding?
I rode Western as a youth and never sat the gallop.
In a western saddle, since you are riding longer, typically, you don’t get up out of the saddle quite like you do when riding English- but you do lean forward and get your weight off your seat. Watch the calf ropers at a rodeo some time- they are forward til that loop is over the calf’s head- sitting down in the saddle is the cue for that horse to go from top spead to stop, instantly.
jmho!
In both cases, you are standing up in the stirrups and not getting bumped by the back of the saddles. That allows the horses back to rise & fall under you while you stay suspended in the air above the action for a smooth & easy on the horse ride!!! :yes: English riders call that 2 point stance because your contact with the horse is only in your feet when standing up. A Half seat is when your crotch is lightly in contact with the saddle but not your full weight. A half seat is a tad more secure. But for going fast over uneven ground? 2 point for sure!.
IMHO, at a full gallop it’s 2 point. At a “hand gallop” it can be 2 point or half seat. At a “lope” you can sit and rock the slow, rocking canter. Both styles of saddle allow you do these. Perhaps this can be covered by your riding instructor in your lessons! Wouldn’t hurt to ask. Your horse will love you for it!! 
Well, maybe I did come out of the saddle without realizing it. (I am in 2-point in my hunter lessons, so it is pretty natural for me.) Or, maybe I was still in canter.
MY RI would do her best to answer questions about the gallop, but we don’t ever practice it in the arena. Most of the students wouldn’t want to! Only chance for gallop is out hunting.
I think it would be wise to learn how to gallop, safely and in balance, somewhere other than the hunt field.
Hunting is dangerous, even for the most experienced and talented rider. It’s not the place to learn skills - it’s the place to put them into practice.
I’m concerned that you cannot determine whether your horse is cantering or galloping, and you do not know if you are supposed to sit or be in a half seat or 2point. I’m concerned because hunting is very physically demanding, especially for the horse, and it’s crucial that the rider be balanced and educated - for the horse’s sake as well as the rider’s safety. (and everyone else’s safety, too)
What the students “want” to do really is of lesser importance than what the rider needs in terms of education. And I’m telling you, based on your posts on this BB, and from many years of experience, (some of which was learned the hard way), that you are starting to sound like a very dangerous rider. I don’t know if you need a different instructor, or you’re not listening to your instructor, or you don’t care - I simply don’t know what the story is.
I’d hate to see you get hurt - and trust me - no matter how well mounted you are - you’re going to get hurt. 
Good luck.
Having just returned from a hack… I don’t see how it would be possible to ride a gallop seated. For one thing, your center of balance would be way back and you would be at risk of falling out the back seat. Even bareback you have to keep your balance pitched forward even if your fanny is still in contact with the horse.
I stay in 2 point just to keep the big bugger reined in. If I sat back for the ride, I think he would leave me there and have to be caught two towns away.
[QUOTE=wanabe;3650987]
Well, maybe I did come out of the saddle without realizing it. (I am in 2-point in my hunter lessons, so it is pretty natural for me.) Or, maybe I was still in canter.
MY RI would do her best to answer questions about the gallop, but we don’t ever practice it in the arena. Most of the students wouldn’t want to! Only chance for gallop is out hunting.[/QUOTE]
What will you do when you are showing and the judge calls for a hand gallop?
You will be screwed.
I think maybe you need a better trainer.
And I agree with JSwan.
Wikapedia has an interesting discussion on horse gaits, even shoing slow motion video. Very interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_gait
But at the canter or gallop in the hunt field I am in two point. Too hard to adjust for changes in terrain at that speed otherwise. Sitting down is not only hard on the horse but unsafe for the rider.
Do you have the opportunity to work in the arena on your own? Because, for starters, you should just get up in two point at all three gaits (begin at the beginning, the walk!) and STAY UP all the way around the arena, without falling back into the saddle. When you can do that, both directions, all three gaits, for say 5 minutes, without collapsing AT ALL (work up to 15 minutes at a time, great conditioning for both you and the horse)- then, find someone to go outside the arena with you, somewhere, anywhere, a dirt road will do, and do the same while going as fast as you can. If your instructor can’t help, I’ll bet if you call someone in your hunt (Kenada?) they would be more than happy to help you out.
I realize, having grown up in Houston, that your neighborhood is pretty darned flat- but even on flat ground you do need to be able to stay in a two point to gallop for reasons others have mentioned. You CAN hunt with the slower hilltopper groups without having perfected this skill- but don’t try first flight!
I’m far too much of a weenie to ever actually hunt, as in, go out in nature gasp!, but I do tend to like OTTBs.
So, many years ago, my then trainer - upon my getting an accomplished older ex-racer who still like to blow off steam every now and then - decided I needed to learn to gallop. I am eternally grateful she did, and did so with a safe horse. We started in what I learned was a hand gallop, and when I didn’t die from that, she had me bridge the reins, get up a bit more and urge my horse on. I learned how to balance myself and how to continue to properly cue my horse to steer and slow down without jerking on him while doing so only because she took the time to teach me.
I can’t imaging sitting a gallop, though - even on my stretched out flat TBs there’s just waaayy too much motion to stay in the saddle IMO.
Is the hunt “gallop” race horse fast? I’ve galloped horses while jumping or conditioning and found it much easier to get out of the saddle in a two point.
Years ago when I was stupider and younger I worked at a trail ride place and we’d take the fast horses out to a big field and race them. I’ve never gone that fast before and frankly never want to again! This was in a western saddle but when the horses geared into a “run” they lengthened, dropped lower to the ground, and the movement became easier to sit then a walk. The lazier horses would gallop behind but not hit that extra gear. It was exhilirating and terrifying to find that notch faster then “gallop” and distinctivly different. This speed wouldn’t be safe for anything but flat ground and not over fences. It’s a miracle I didn’t kill myself.
So to me a “gallop” and a “run” are two different things. The gallop feels different then a canter and is easier to 2 point, and the run is an alien thing.
Your question is rather hard to answer. Your speed is regulated by on how fast your Field Master is going as you are not allowed to pass them.
Sometimes the gallop can be a true run, when the hounds are really blazing on a hot line and your Field Master is riding a former race horse and the terrain allows such speed and you are not going over fences. And yes, it can be really exhilirating and really frigg’n scary, especially if you have a high-couraged horse who is bold and fast. I’ve seen some 3/4 drafts really roaring along like late express trains, giving it all they had. Really cool – but you sure wanna stay out of their way!! :lol:
Most of the time the fastest pace found in the hunt field is a rolling hand gallop, easily done either sitting or in 2-point.
enjoytheride, you bring up a topic I’ve never heard discussed – “the run”. Maybe someone else has experienced this?
Anyway, I can 2-point indefinitely in walk, trot, and, canter – that’s not the issue. The issue, question, really, was whether I could have moved from canter to gallop and remained sitting.
The consensus answer seems to be “no”. So, I was probably just in a fast canter.
Aaah, but to run, is FUN! 
ETA: Maybe I should elaborate. My horse (lower level eventer, grade TB of suspicious origins) has Walk, Trot, Canter, Hand-Gallop, Run and Really Run. Run is exhilarating, with hind leg pushing off the ground, and feeling the flexion and folding of the stifle as his rear hooves near his belly reaching forward for the next stride, the pulling forward of the hooves and pushing of the hindquarters, through the stifle and gaskin when the hooves reach the ground and push forward, all while the front legs are just lightly hitting the ground so that you barely hear them. The neck reaching forward, the gentle lean on the bit, and feeling self-conscious because you don’t want to make a false move and destroy the beauty of it. Then a light cluck and it gets longer, faster and lighter still, and its so fast you don’t dare look sideways at the fenceposts going by, b/c you know you’ll chicken out and pull up, and it’s over in less than a mile anyway due to restrictions of space.
