The horse's trot: mechanics, technique and speed explained

The first time an instructor calls out "and trot on", a rider works out within three seconds that this gait has nothing in common with the walk. It bounces, it throws you around, and suddenly you have to choose between rising and sitting. Yet the horse's trot is the easiest gait to understand once you have seen how it works: two beats, two pairs of legs, and a moment when the horse is not touching the ground at all. It is also a gait with two faces, the everyday one in the school at 14 km/h and the racecourse one, where the best trotters go faster than 50 km/h. This guide gives you the exact mechanics, the locomotion figures, the three ways of trotting, the method for checking your diagonal, and what really goes on in a trotting race.

The horse's trot: a simple definition of the gait

The trot is a natural, airborne, symmetrical two-beat gait that sits between the walk and the canter on the speed scale. Each of those four words carries a precise technical meaning, and knowing them is enough to answer the question in any riding exam.

• Natural: the horse performs it instinctively, with nothing to teach. It belongs to the same family as the walk, the canter and the rein back, as opposed to artificial gaits such as passage or piaffe, which are the product of training.
• Airborne: there is a moment when no foot is on the ground. That is what separates the trot from the walk, a marching gait in which the horse always keeps at least two feet down.
• Symmetrical: whatever happens on the right is repeated identically on the left. The canter, by contrast, is asymmetrical, with a right lead and a left lead.
• Two-beat: the ear picks up two equal beats per stride, a steady binary rhythm along the lines of "one-two, one-two".

So when someone asks what a horse's trot is called, the expected answer is simply this: it is a gait, the second of the three natural gaits. Its reference speed is around 14 km/h for a riding horse at work, against roughly 6 km/h at walk.

How the trot works: diagonal pairs and the moment of suspension

At trot, the horse moves its legs two at a time in diagonal pairs, with a suspension phase between each footfall. A diagonal pair brings together one foreleg and the opposite hind leg. There are therefore two of them: the right diagonal pairs the right fore with the left hind, and the left diagonal pairs the left fore with the right hind.

The full cycle of a stride breaks down into four phases that run into each other without a break:

• The right diagonal lands, both legs meeting the ground almost simultaneously.
• Moment of suspension: all four legs leave the ground and the horse is in the air.
• The left diagonal lands, on exactly the same principle.
• A second moment of suspension, before the cycle starts again.

That moment of suspension is the key to everything the rider feels. Because the horse comes back down twice per stride after being airborne, it sends a vertical jolt through the saddle on every beat. Absorbing those jolts is precisely why rising trot was invented. In dressage, that same suspension is actively sought after and rewarded: the more marked it is, the more floating and expressive the trot looks.

The locomotion figures recorded by the French horse and riding institute IFCE give the real scale of the movement. A trot stride lasts a little under one second, around 0.88 seconds. Stride frequency, which riders call cadence, settles at 1.13 strides per second, or 68 strides per minute. Put another way, your horse is beating a tempo very close to a metronome set slow, and it holds it effortlessly for minutes on end. If you want to compare it with the faster gait and its three-beat mechanics, our guide to cantering a horse breaks the movement down the same way.

Walk, trot, canter: the three gaits compared

The three natural gaits differ in their number of beats, the way the legs pair up, and whether or not there is a suspension phase. This table sums up what you need to be able to write down in an exam and to spot by eye in the arena.

Three useful readings of that table. First, the trot is the only gait with a strictly binary rhythm, which is why it is so easy to identify by ear, even without seeing the horse. Second, it is the only gait that is symmetrical and airborne at the same time, which explains why almost all gymnastic work is built on it. Third, the step up from walk to trot is dramatic: the speed simply doubles, whereas the gap between trot and working canter is far more modest.

Some breeds add extra gaits to that trio. The Icelandic horse is the best known case, with the tölt and the pace alongside walk, trot and canter, which is why it is described as a five-gaited horse.

Rising, sitting, light seat: the ways of riding the trot

There are three ways of staying with a horse at trot, and each one answers a different need for horse and rider alike. The choice has nothing to do with looks: it decides how comfortable the horse's back is and how precise your aids can be.

• Rising trot: you stand in the stirrups on every other beat, going with the horse's push, then sit again on the following beat. This is the option for long sessions, for hacking out and for the start of any schooling session, because it takes weight off the horse's back and tires the rider far less.
• Sitting trot: you stay in the saddle and absorb the movement through your hips and pelvis. This is the dressage trot, the one that allows the finest contact with the horse, but it calls for a suppleness that beginners take time to find.
• Light seat at trot: you stay poised above the saddle without sitting down, your weight carried in the stirrups. It is used over fences, across varied ground and on young horses whose backs you want to free up completely.

A simple rule for choosing: if the aim is to let the horse stretch and build muscle, rising trot or light seat are the obvious answers. If the aim is to collect, to place the horse, to ask for precision, sitting trot is the one. Most sessions alternate between all three. A properly fitted saddle and stirrups at the right length completely change how those three positions feel, and the rest of your riding equipment follows the same logic: what matters is not having to fight your own kit while you learn to trot.

The correct diagonal in rising trot: the rule and how to check it

In rising trot on a circle or in the school, you should sit at the moment the outside diagonal comes to the ground. That is what riders call being on the correct diagonal, and it is probably the idea that holds back the greatest number of riders at that stage of their training.

The reason is mechanical. On a circle, the horse's inside hind carries more load and does most of the balancing work. By sitting on the outside diagonal, you free that inside hind at exactly the moment it needs freeing. A rider permanently on the wrong diagonal unbalances the horse and, over time, muscles it up unevenly.

Checking takes one glance, without giving up your position:

• Look at the horse's outside shoulder, discreetly, without tipping your upper body forward or dropping your head.
• If that shoulder goes forward while you are up, you are on the correct diagonal.
• If it goes forward while you are sitting, you are on the wrong diagonal.
• Change diagonal by staying seated for one extra beat, then carrying on as normal. One extra beat is enough, there is no need to count to three.
• Change diagonal at every change of rein as a matter of course, and alternate on straight lines too so that no preference sets in.
• Check by feel once you have the sensation: the correct diagonal feels fluid, the wrong one feels like a struggle against the horse.

One remark that reassures a lot of riders: getting the diagonal wrong during a single lesson does a horse no harm at all. It is repetition over months that causes problems, not one day's mistake.

Working, medium, collected, extended: the dressage trots

In dressage, the trot comes in four versions that change the length of the stride without changing the rhythm of the gait. This is the least intuitive point of the whole subject, and the one that separates the riding club rider from the dressage rider.

• Working trot: the reference version, balanced and regular, the one most of a schooling session takes place in.
• Medium trot: the horse covers more ground, with a longer stride and a slightly longer frame.
• Collected trot: the strides shorten, the horse comes up in front and steps further under its body behind. Ground speed drops noticeably.
• Extended trot: maximum scope, the horse reaches its forelegs forward and covers as much ground as possible with each stride.

Here is the surprising part: between a collected trot and an extended trot, it is not the speed of the beat that changes, it is the length of each stride. The cadence stays close to the 68 strides per minute mentioned earlier. The horse is not pedalling faster, it is taking bigger steps. That is exactly what a dressage judge is assessing when they write "cadence maintained" on a sheet, and it is also why an extension produced by quickening the rhythm is always marked down. A horse that rushes is not lengthening, it is losing its balance.

Trotting races: harness racing, ridden trot and real times

In trotting races, the horse has to hold its two-beat gait from start to finish: if it breaks into canter, it is disqualified. That is the founding constraint of the discipline, and it changes everything compared with flat racing, where a horse simply goes as fast as it can.

Two formats sit side by side. Harness trotting puts the driver in a sulky, a light two-wheeled cart pulled by the horse. Ridden trot, by contrast, puts a jockey in the saddle as in a flat race, but with the obligation to stay in trot. Ridden trot is a French speciality, and fairly rare elsewhere.

Professionals do not think in kilometres per hour but in reduction time, in other words the average time taken to cover one kilometre. Beware of a common misreading: it is an average over the whole race, not a top speed. The benchmarks worth knowing:

The previous record belonged to Sebastian K, with 1:07.7 recorded on 29 June 2014. The order of magnitude is worth pausing on: a top-level trotter moves roughly four times faster in trot than a riding school horse in an arena, while using exactly the same two-beat mechanics and the same diagonal pairs.

Faulty trots: recognising a trot that is not right

A faulty trot is one in which regularity, symmetry or diagonal pairing has broken down, and it always deserves a close look. Being able to name what you are seeing makes the conversation with your instructor, your vet or your farrier far more useful.

• The broken trot: the two legs of a diagonal no longer land exactly together. The ear then hears three or four beats instead of two clean ones. It is often the first visible sign of a locomotion problem.
• Cantering in front, trotting behind: the horse canters with the forehand and trots with the hindquarters. The gait looks out of step and feels uncomfortable.
• Trotting in front, cantering behind: the reverse situation.
• Pacing: the legs no longer pair up diagonally but in lateral pairs, with the two legs on the same side moving forward together. In most breeds it is a fault; in the Icelandic horse it is a sought-after gait.
• Lameness: a weaker beat, or a head that lifts sharply every time one foreleg lands, is a sign of pain. Trotting up in hand on a straight line is in fact the standard test vets use to detect lameness.

The right response is simple and calls for no drama: stop the work, trot the horse up in hand on a hard surface, check the feet. A large share of gait irregularities starts in the foot, as our article on the horse's foot explains in detail. If the problem is still there after one session, call your vet rather than wait. A good hoof pick and a brush remain the first tools of day-to-day diagnosis, and they are part of the horse accessories you always keep within reach.

Improving your trot: the rider's checklist

The difficulty of the trot is almost never a question of strength, but of relaxation and rhythm. A rider who bounces is not short of muscle, they are fighting the movement instead of going with it. Here are the points to work on, in order.

• Release the hips and pelvis rather than gripping with the knees. A tense knee pushes the rider up out of the saddle on every beat.
• Look well ahead, between the horse's ears and towards the point you are riding to. Dropping your eyes closes up your posture and wrecks your balance.
• Let the pelvis follow the back and forth movement in sitting trot, without trying to block it.
• Never hang on to the reins to rebalance yourself. If you need something to hold, take the mane or a neck strap.
• Establish rising trot first, then take on sitting trot a few strides at a time, building up gradually.
• Do plenty of walk-trot-walk transitions: this is the exercise that installs rhythm and responsiveness far faster than long straight lines.
• Count the beats out loud for a few strides. Hearing your own "one-two" helps enormously in finding the timing of rising trot.

Comfortable clothing and gloves that hold the reins properly will spare you half the tension of your first sessions, and the essentials are over in riding accessories. And to carry the passion beyond the arena, equestrian decor has plenty to offer if you want a fine trotting horse on your wall, over in horse wall art.

Frequently asked questions about the horse's trot

The most common questions about the trot concern its definition, its speed and the difference between rising and sitting trot. Here are the direct answers, useful both for exam revision and for making sense of what you feel in the saddle.

What is the horse's trot?

The trot is a natural gait of the horse: airborne, symmetrical and two-beat. The horse moves its legs in diagonal pairs, one foreleg with the opposite hind leg, with a suspension phase between each footfall. It is the gait between walk and canter, at around 14 km/h for a riding horse.

What is a horse's trot called?

It is simply called a gait, and more precisely a natural two-beat gait. The trot is one of the three main natural gaits, along with the walk and the canter. The technical terms that go with it are airborne gait, symmetrical gait and diagonal gait.

How fast is a horse at trot?

A riding horse trots at around 14 km/h in working trot. In racing, trotters average far more: a reduction time of 1:09 per kilometre works out at about 52 km/h, and the harness trot world record stands at 1:07.6 per kilometre.

What are the three gaits of the horse?

The three natural gaits are the walk, a four-beat marching gait at around 6 km/h, the trot, a two-beat airborne gait at around 14 km/h, and the canter, an asymmetrical three-beat airborne gait. The rein back is sometimes counted as a fourth natural gait.

Do some horses have five gaits?

Yes. The Icelandic horse is the best known breed for this: it adds the tölt and the pace to walk, trot and canter, with genuine scope in all five. Other gaited breeds have extra gaits of their own, such as the paso found in certain South American horses.

What is the difference between rising and sitting trot?

In rising trot, the rider stands in the stirrups on every other beat and then sits again, which takes weight off the horse's back and tires the rider less. In sitting trot, the rider stays in the saddle throughout and absorbs the movement through the pelvis, which gives a more precise contact but demands far more suppleness.