What Gait?

[twinkle11]

trying to build my mares fitness levels up ride he 5 days a week do some trot work circles transitions in the school for about twenty mins still unbalnced in canter she wont do it in the school then take her out for a hack and have a canter.

any suggestions to what i could do or what the best gait to build her fitness up?

:)

[No_Angel]

trotting is very good for fitness.

[Shadowlark]

Just to second, trotting is the best work out there is!

If you go to www.endurance.net you will find tons of articles on building fitness levels - the AERC hand book is VERY informative that way - and has worked wonders for splash!

[Bay Mare]

Lots of transitions can be very helpful too including direct transitions.

[Cheeky]

Walk.

As borring as it sounds .. a really good, energetic, moving walk is a great fitness helper. A lot of people miss this step .. but a really active walk does help, sloppy walk does nothing .. walking on the roads helps too - but never trot/canter on roads a lot.

Trotting helps too .. espec in boggy sand lol ..

good luck

[de_Stille_een]

I think I'll echo Cheeky's vote- a lot of people just go straight to trotting and wonder why their horses have impulsion or squareness issues. I ride a lot of gaited horses now, and when we get a horse in that won't gait, we put them in a "speed walk" for an hour or so every day for the first few weeks- when we start gaiting them, they're much better than the horses that are gaited right away.

Ride with soft contact, and don't let your horse drag his feet. Go over walk poles, do serpentines and figure eights and circles and rollbacks. Go out in the pastures (the hilly-er the better!), ride on the trails, walk through the creek... do it all at a energetic, forward walk. Do this for at least a few weeks (unless you can only ride once or twice a week- you really need to do this about four or five days- otherwise you'll need to work at the forward walk for at least a month or so).

Once you've finished working at the walk, mix in a little trotting, slowly adding more and more. Do the same things you did at a walk, and expect the same things- picking up their feet, striding well, moving forward, lightness, impulsion, etc.

[macinac]

Same as said before, lots of transitions. Quick, short ones, like walk a few paces, trot a few paces, then back to walking again. For balance and muscle building, I find working over ground poles on a lunge or whilst riding helps my horse tremendously while working inside.