The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

how can you makea horses trot longer for pleasure

2K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  katdressagegirl 
#1 ·
my 13 year old paint is just basically been a trail horse all his life and i was wondering if there is a way i can lengthen out his trot somehow. i was told that he did have some potential to become an English horse . i will most likely post a video tomorrow

Thanks for looking
 
#2 ·
Length of the trot stride has to do with conformation as well. A very upright shoulder is going to have a choppier, shorter stride.

I am sure more people will chime in once you post your video and we can see what's going on and then offer some advice.

But, in general, what is going to lengthen that trot is to get his head and neck down (not looking like a giraffe), pushing off the haunches instead of pulling along on the forehand, impulsion (you pushing her in the saddle), and eventually collection and rounding. He needs to have all the proper muscles in her back and haunches built up before he is going to move like an english horse for any long periods of trotting.
 
#4 ·
Pushing may have a technical term, but while at a walk you are rocking your seat and lengthening your arms at her to encourage her to stretch out her neck and legs. At a posting trot, you are posting slightly ahead of the gate and again, throwing your hips at her and over the pommel while lengthening your arms again.

I am trying to find a video but seems unsuccessful.

Maybe to help explain, if you wanted to slow down the trot it is the opposite. You are rising very low and slow and sitting down towards the back of your saddle.

Funny tip to help with teaching yourself how to do this. If you say "Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!" every time you go up in the post and do the action, you will be driving him forward. You will get a laugh out of any spectators.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I think I get what you mean...it's not that he can't its how to teach him to do a lengthening.

I shall attempt to help you. If it was me, I'd make sure that my horse could do everything necessary in the Introductory dressage level and the Training Level before asking for a lengthening as its not really done until you are at First Level. This means that you can easily pick up the trot and canter, do 20 metre circles easy and balanced, he is flexible enough to do the loops and can be relaxed enough to do a free walk.

Now that's just the basic beginning. A lot of horses can do that so I'm just going to guess your horse does too. So to start with just stay on the rail of the arena and on the short sides (if you have them) just have him go in a steady working trot. Then when you reach the longer sides, push your hands out in front of the saddle just a bit and squeeze with your calves, encouraging him to lengthen his stride. Make sure he remains relaxed over his topline and don't just let him run forward. Use your posting as well....let it become bigger and think of pushingyour pelvis forward when you want him to lengthen. Then once you reach the short side, sit the trot and bring him back to a normal working trot with your seat and rein aids. Repeat this until he understands the basic concept, but don't just drill it repeatedly. It might take a bit until he completely understands it. Don't be afraid to experiment as well

My biggest piece of advice is to make sure he never just runs. This might be unavoidable in the beginning, but really think of making his legs push longer and out. Not fast and short.

Hope it helps a bit...please ask me any questions:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top