# trot vs. jog



## Linda G (Aug 23, 2016)

Is there a different cue for a trot than there is for a jog? I have been on different horses and some just go from walk to trot and some go from walk to jog. Does it just depend on what the horse was taught or do most western horses get trained to jog _and_ trot?


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

They should be able to do both. It's usually the energy on the rider's seat that dictates which happens.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

some horses cant' really jog. I mean, they haven't been taught, and for them, the movement is so slow that it is very unnatural and troubling to their balance. It takes time to teach a horse, to whom such a slow gait is not natural, how to do it. other horses, such as many quarter horses, have a slow trot naturally built in, so it's easier to develop that gait and get them to produce and keep it.


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## Linda G (Aug 23, 2016)

Makes sense. I ride at 2 different facilities and the horses at 1 place all do walk to trot and at the other place they do walk to jog. The jog gets a little quicker sometimes and I need to slow it down but they always start right away with a jog.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

and like @natisha said, you can 'hold' them to a jog with your seat. by seat, it means your whole lower body and how it interacts with the horse's body. I can hold a horse to a slower trot first by NOT posting. secondly, by tightening my core and just sort of not flowing as well with the motion. when the horse slows, you relax and flow more. kind of vague answer, though.


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## updownrider (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm going to jump in the this thread if the OP doesn't mind and ask, what's the difference between a jog and a trot? My go to for info is the USEF, and I looked at the rule book. The jog is not described as slow. 

I'm in an area now that there are a lot of Western riders, and our QH mare supposedly goes Western and English. I've only ridden her English but not in a while. First she was pregnant then unsound. Finally we have the go ahead to ride her. I wouldn't mind trying Western on the trails. But after riding for 50+ years it would be super embarrassing to not know if I'm jogging or trotting.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I am never sure I know where the 'dividing line' is either. but, I know that I can sit a jog easily, while a trot begs to be posted to.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

The western jog is a bit slower than the English sitting trot. They should both be forward motion though and there should be good hind end propulsion. The western horses do tend to get flat and shuffle when they get away with it. The English extended and posting trot will definitely be a post-worthy trot.

The western jog is going to differ depending on the horse for definite. Most western show trained horses are also trained to do a long and low posting trot.


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## Linda G (Aug 23, 2016)

That was going to be my next question as well  I don't know if there is a dividing line or where it would be if there is one. I know at the one barn I ride, the horses jog and it's nice and slow and even and not too bouncy. It's very easy to sit. At the other barn, they don't call it a jog and they don't sit it. They call it a trot and the horse goes from walking to a faster, bouncier, 2 beat gait. It would be difficult to sit and it almost pushes you up into posting. They also tend to have a much quicker step which makes posting difficult so I am always trying to slow them down into a nice slower rhythm. The horses that jog have a nice slow, plodding rhythm to their 2 beats. It is so much different; that is why I was wondering if there is a different cue or if the horses need to be specifically trained to do 2 different gaits. The horses that jog sometimes speed up and get more bouncy and I have to slow them down; however; the horses that trot will go back to walking if you try to slow them down.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

the jog is a western term, and is always sat, while the trot is an English term, which is usually posted. It is the same gait, far as beats (footfalls)
Of course, there is the sitting trot, used in dressage, and one also trots a western horse, while posting, outside of the regular rail show classes, as in training, sometimes warming a horse up, or on the trail


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

As with most words, people use the terms trot and jog in difference ways. Even in showing, the meaning of the terms often depends on the individual judge’s interpretation. 

For hundreds of years, the term trot was used to describe any movement where the horse’s feet work in diagonal pairs – the excepting, of course, being when the horse backs. There were terms for different types of trot, however. These terms usually referred to the comparative length of stride, though other factors may also be involved. Writers on dressage often refer to four basic trots aside from special movements such as the passage. The renowned Portuguese rider Nuno Oliveira spoke of at least ten different types of trot.

The term jog is a more recent term that seems to have been introduced by “Western” riders in the United States. Most people seem to use the term jog when referring to a smooth, easy to sit trot resulting from a horse lifting its feet a minimal distance from the ground. Whether this movement came natural to some horses and was, then, bred into others or simply trained may be debatable. Many horses, seem capable of both trotting and jogging – depending, of course, on how the terms are interpreted.

To use the term “smooth” as a distinction between the jog and the trot, may also be confusing. It may be an accurate description if used in reference to the degree of up and down motion of the rider’s seat. If the term is used to describe the comfortableness of the movement, however, the term is less useful. A horse with great up and down motion in a trot may be ridden with great comfort if the horse’s muscles are not tense and the rhythm can be easily followed by the individual rider’s own body.

The question of cues may also prove troublesome in some situations. While specific cues can be taught to riders and to horses, the issue really comes down to communication between the individual rider and the individual horse. Communication is a two-way activity. Each individual must understand how the other individual understands the word or cue. No individual automatically understands the meaning of something. Communication is a development process between individuals.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

In western, it's called an extended jog, technically if you are riding western, you don't trot, however when I am warming up a western horse I will post and get him moving out to loosen up. The jog is a seat heavy, stirrup heavy cue, a extended version of the that, a trot if you will, (however in the show ring you can't post so you only ask for as much as you can sit quietly) it's a weight back on the butt and some upper calf pressure and let his neck reach forward. Here a video of me & Otis in a class where they ask for a jog, extension of it, then back down to the jog again, its right at the beginning so you don't have to watch the whole thing, less than 20 seconds of it.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Your camera man made me sea sick! LOL.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Sorry farm, was my hubby, I was just happy to have him there for a few classes. He is on medical oxygen and awaiting a lung transplant, but he delivered me & the horse to downtown Vancouver.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

@waresbear I loved your video!!


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