How to Ride a Pinto

Place your feet, heels down, into the saddle's stirrups. Keep your lower legs and feet from contacting the horse's belly, until you want to signal the horse to move.

Press your lower left leg and foot gently into the horse's belly to push the horse to the right. Combine this movement with pulling the right rein to turn right. Press with the right lower leg and foot while pulling with the left rein to turn left.

Press both lower legs and feet into the horse's belly to drive the horse forward into a slow walk. Gently kick both heels to the belly to bring the horse into a trot. Sit upright in the saddle, keep your heels down and don't grip with your knees. As the horse moves from the walk into a trot, match the up-and-down rhythm of the horse -- a technique called "posting."

Ask for the canter by pressing either your right or left heel into the belly, just behind the girth line. If you're riding in a circle, use your outside leg to ask for the canter. Sit deep in the saddle and follow the horse's movements with your hips. Stand up slightly off the saddle as your horse canters, lean slightly forward and shorten the reins. This forward position, mixed with a slight kick to the belly with both heels, will ask the horse to gallop. The shortened reins will allow for tighter control of the horse.

Sit back in the saddle to slow or stop the horse; pull back on both reins if necessary.