How do you know you are galloping on a horse?

Answer 1

Well, it's kind of hard to tell from the top, except for the obvious, that you're going fast. From the ground, you can see the difference between the canter and the gallop only by the footfalls, but there is not a distinct difference as with a walk and trot, and trot and canter. A canter has 3 beats which means that a hind foot hits the ground, then the other hind and a fore foot hit simultaneously and then the next fore foot hits. Making the hoofbeats sound obviously like one-two-three. But a gallop has 4 beats, its the same as the canter except each foot hits one at a time. so when you listen and it sounds like one-two-three-four. Confused?