I have four legs, so why do I have to walk on two? If quads were a quote, then that's probably what it is.
Quads are widely a huge, yet sometimes underestimated skill harnessed by billions of therians all over the world. Quads are when oneself will run, jump, walk or do other tricks on four legs. Pretty neat, right? And it's easy, right? Well the answer to that is... nope, not at all! It takes weeks and months and years of practice just to get used to quads, plus you need special apparel and accessories to prevent getting injured, such as fingerless gloves. So, how do you even start?
Well, when I first started quadrobics, I necessarily did it on soft body pillows and surfaces to prevent making too much noise whenever I was indoors, and I would use trampolines whenever I was outdoors. You will be able to slowly graduate to concrete, grass and hard floor later on. You can start off with water quads as well, especially for semi-aquatic or aquatic alterhumans, but I heavily suggest ground-based quads. You can practice both ground and water quads at the same time, however, to get used to diving and underwater tricks.
Make sure you use any gloves (more suggested; long gloves, so you prevent injuries on your elbow and/or lower arm) when doing quads. If you want, or if your parents allow it, you can cut off the finger tips. Make sure you curl your fingers in like a paw so that the proportions are right. Or, you can use fingerless gloves. Why do we do this? The fuzzy glove texture seems more animalistic (for fluffy animals, e.g. cat, wolf) and it helps us prevent getting our palms injured. When you do quads, make sure your thumb is sticking out and not in the center. This could damage your thumb or your palm against any rough contact with the ground. You can do flat hands, but it's not very suggested.
Make sure you practice bringing your hands and legs up so you get used to leaps! Also, there's hundreds of videos for doing quad walks. Trots are very challenging, too, so make sure you practice those as well. I suggest switching between your left hand up and your right leg up to your right hand up and your left leg up and continuing that motion. Make sure to add a bounce to it. After some time, you can start moving whenever you switch positions and pick up the pace when you're ready.
Another thing to practice is canters. It is actually quite easy! Just put your hands in front of you and push your legs closer to you from behind, but not to the point they kick your hands. Then, push your arms forward as your legs get close to them and push your legs away. Continue this cycle, go faster, and before you know it, you'll be able to do a canter!
Hope this helps! 💖