Loping a horse

The first time I heard of loping, I thought of a really fast run. But my riding instructor, Claudia Lasater, corrected me.
In western riding (the style I ride) the lope isn't much faster than the trot. It's just a different gait. The trot is more bumpy, though on the horse I rode it was actually pretty smooth. But the lope is a different gait. It's more of a gentle rocking.
 By the way: The lope is the same as the canter, just with a different name. People who ride western style tend to use the word, 'lope' more and people riding English tend to use the word 'canter,' more.
    I actually really like loping, although at first I was really scared of it because once I'd had a bad experience. The horse I'd been riding had had a disease in his feet called Laminitis and he'd crow-hopped (kicked up his heels a little). I'd been able to stay in the saddle just fine, but it had still scared me a little. So ever since then I hadn't wanted to try loping again. But this time I tried it on a different horse, and I actually really liked it. It's not much faster than a trot, and it's like sitting in a rocking chair. You have to work you're body more at the lope, though. Move slightly back and forth. Don't lean too much forward or your horse might take as a sign to speed up.
But once you really learn how to move to the lope, I'm sure you'll like it a lot.