rythm...?

[laurel]

I dont get it. Somebody must know! Okay, I forgot the word for this "thing" i dont get, i only know it in Romanian and that wont help. Right, you know that thing where you have to lengthen your horses stride but stay in the same rythm or something? How do you do that? Does anyone even know what im talking about? I didnt explain it very well. Help me. My teacher tells me to squeeze and keep rein contact. He says to imagine im squeezing a tube of toothpaste only the cap is on so all the energy ("toothpaste") doesnt burst out. Cool idea and i get it that way but it never works for me. Like doing a lengthened trot. Instead of just getting a longer stride i just get this fast dumb looking run. It worked a couple of times but i have no idea how. This is a cry for heeelp. Thanx.

[floppy]

extended trot or extended walk...depending on which gait on are doing. I woudl try an explain it but i havent done that for a while because i have mostly been out hacking the past 4months...but i would be interested to know too because my haflinger could do with doing longer strides..her little legs can't keep up when she does piggie strides!

[Liz E.]

Don't think too hard, laurel.;) When extending the horse's stride, all you're really doing is having the horse move faster without breaking their gate. This makes their stride(the space bewteen their hooves while moving) longer. If you're on a lazy horse who has a slow trot (not quite a jog, just slow trot), then ask it to speed up with your legs, but don't ask for another gait. In other words, when asking for the extended trot, apply leg pressure. So you just want the horse to speed up. But don't pull in with the inside rein, and take your outside leg behind the girth and add pressue - that's asking for the canter. See the difference?

Maybe I misread your question, but if I actually read the question and got the answer right, yay! ;) I'm just telling you what my instructors have told me.

Liz

p.s. Floppy, can't you extend the canter, too?

[KarlR]

There's a difference between extension and speed of a gait. Extension is the length of the stride, but speed is how fast they move their legs. Lots of otherwise good instructors confuse the two!

It's very difficult to get true collection and extension until both rider and horse are really well schooled. My horse will do a normal and a (wonderful) collected canter and will do some extension in walk, but the other paces are for the future! If the rythm speeds up, then it's not a proper extension!

Collection is usually done IMHO by keeping the leg on (that means squeezing regularly of course, not just clamping it on!) to stop them dropping the pace, but increasing rein contact slightly. Extension usually works for me by relaxing the rein slightly and encouraging the horse forward with the legs and allowing them to swing through with their body more.

That probably doesn't make sense, but then I've never seen a really good explanation of how to do it!

[Edited by KarlR on 9th May 2001 at 01:58 PM]

[Somethingroyal]

it is really something that someone needs to show you how to do, but with Nana I keep my leg on her, but do little very very very tiny half halts. She has a pretty sensitive mouth, so she feels it (I really just take my ring finger and bend it a litlte bit). This is basically telling her that I want her to go faster, but I dont want her to speed up, therefore she lengthens her stride. I usually apply my leg further down than I normally would, so that she can distiguish my cues more easily...

[floppy]

hmm..*cough* hehe
ok when i ride dressage horses or my cousins horse and so far icelandic horses i can do ALOT of things..but when it coems to my haflinger...there is ALOT i cant do :D
she use to walk really slow..now she is getting better and a bit quicker..with trot she sued to be slow and only give you a couple of paces before she had had enough adn dropped back down into walk..this has vastly improved...but canter..*cough-cough* let us say we are working on this...
she takes some effort to get her to canter and once she is doing is she fine but deosnt go very far..its a nice slow canter...
when we ride out with her buddy her buddy has a very fast walk and trot that we usually ahve to trot to catch up because she cant wlak fast enough and when the other horses is trotting is can trot quite fast too that my horses little piggie legs cant keep up and she breaks into canter to keep up.
It's a shame..my horse..isnt exactly my horse...i ride it 2-5 times a week. But she is only 6yrs old and it seems such a shame tht i and the owner are having to re-teach her everything to make her better...we have to do everythign whilst out hacking because she is terribel int he hall..i usually take her for about 10-20 in the hall to do some light walk and trot in circles and sepentines and if the hall is busy then i have to use a field when we reach the top of the mountain where we hack...but before i can even attempt to canter with her in the hall or in circles i have to get her repsonding to my leg aids better and being quick off the mark rather than me having to ask the daft mare ac couple of times..(she is used for driving too)
sorry i rambled on....liz e but that is the life history of my mare!

[Dizzy]

I find the best way is to tune into your horses stride, you need to be sat up straight, open shoulders, relaxed arms and hands, shoulders above your hips, soft lower back and moving with the horse, and your lower leg massaging the horses side as his back legs step underneath.

Listen to the sound your horses hooves make as he's walking,concentrate on the stride, and absorb the the motion, using your legs/body to lengthen/shorten it. If your horse is up to the bit (walking, accepting your leg, and keeping a contact on the bit) use your upper leg (hip to knee) to either slow down or create impulsion, keeping your lower back soft and absorbing, and your lower leg draped but massaging forwards.

What your looking for is your horses back legs to be stepping underneath you over tracking the imprint of his front feet, so that he is rear wheel drive, powering from his back legs. Your legs/body create the forward motion, your hands are asking the horse to contain the forward energy so that he doesn't fall onto the forehand and drag his back legs along, becoming front wheel drive. But your hands must be soft and giving, and allow the horse to accept what you're asking, pushing forward with the leg, but having a hard ungiving hand is like pedalling with the brake on, sending confusing signals and will cause the horse to hollow and evade your hand, on the other hand if your hand is too soft the horse will go faster than you want, and though it was not your intention, the horse has obeyed your aid.

When you hold your reins have the rien threaded up between your pinky and ring finger, upto your pointer and thumb, the contact held between your pointer and thumb, you're other 2 fingers relaxed but feeling the contact. When you ask forward with your legs, gently close your hand, then release. If you feel you need a stonger squeeze, do so, but release. Use the rein as a request, ask release, if its a constant pull the horse will pull back.

Hope this helps you

Lesley

[laurel]

Thanx people...I'm getting there. I'll be trying you're ideas. Wish me luck!!!!