Originally Posted by GotaDunQH
Agree, and a lope covers even less ground. IMO, there's lope, canter, extended canter, hand gallop, and gallop.
This is how I understand the gaits as well. I am also working to train my horse in WP and am taking lessons on a trained WP lesson horse. I can get a really nice, slow collected canter out of my gelding, but when I ride the lesson horse at a lope, the gait feels entirely different. The trainer says the lesson horse "shuffles" a bit, but I am still confused as to when I am getting a true lope. Maybe someone could describe how they count the beat of each?
In the canter I count - da-da-dum, da-da-dum, da-da-dum... rhythmic and steady at medium, fast and slow (don't know if this sounds right or not)