Alternate leg aids at walk.

[Kerry's Partner]

I've had (happily) several different experiences recently of riding "riding school" horses who've never been asked to walk on in this way.

I just wanted to repeat my amazement really. They really appreciate it don't they??? And they catch on SO quickly. I have been so surprised I've tried to check it out through lots of walk-halt-walk transitions and they just "get" it and I think really appreciate it too. Bilateral squeeze into trot - noooooooo problem for them, they just get it!!!!!!!!

[Heather]

Don't they just Sandra!! if only all riding schools would realise that with just a little more thought on the part of the teacher, they wouldn't end up with deadened horses, and the students might then just leanr something, other than 'kick it harder and use your whip'.

Heather

[chapsi]

Could you explain to me what is a "bilateral squeeze"?

[Kerry's Partner]

"Bilateral" just roughly means both sides. So I was talking about the difference between using your legs alternately for walk and both together to ask for trot.

[LindaAd]

Do you mean you use your legs alternately to ask the horse to walk from halt, then together for halt>trot? I always understood that the alternate thing was to ask for longer strides once walking.

[chapsi]

I've been taught the same thing as Linda.

[Kerry's Partner]

I can remember asking about this because I wanted to know how the horse could ever sort out the different signals.............

I'm being VERY basic here (because I think it's important to question everything - because this helps us to learn and move outside of our "boxes" and I wanted to do that).

So my basic thinking was that if you use alternate legs for walk then bilateral squeezes for trot - how do you ask for walk from halt, and also trot from halt without "confusing" the horse???

So, I use my inside leg first to ask for walk from halt. I use both legs together to ask for trot from halt, and I would use a brush forward from my inside leg and point with my inside hip when I ask for canter from halt.

This may be wrong of course - I might have gotten it wrong so to speak. BUT to me it does at the very least save Kerry any confusion at all ............... each request is quite different.......and she knows exactly what I want, no problem at all (and so did the horses I referred to above catch on very very quickly). I use the power of the bilateral, or the alternate squeezes (can't think of a different way to explain this) to ask for more within the pace (and lots more besides)..........except I still have lots of mileage to go to improve on my ability.

If I got it wrong then I feel OK about that because I wasn't and wouldn't try to teach - I need so much tuition myself after all. Also, the signals are all different to me so I feel quite happy about it all anyway atm. Perhaps someone could enlighten me?