Lovely walk and canter - but need help in trot

[crazystevie]

Murphy goes beautiful in walk and canter, he's lovely, soft, round and balanced. He can do lateral work in walk and always works in a nice outline.

However, the second he goes into trot, he loses his balance, his head is in the air, he weaves all over the place, falls in and out of circles, and trails his hindlegs behind. Ask him to canter, and his outline comes back and so does his balance.

His back and saddle is fine, though he is due to have his teeth done in a couple of weeks. (although there done every 6 months anyway, so shouldn't be bad)

Any ideas?

[Cheeky]

Hey there.

Dont worry - Cheek has the same problem!! Lovely in walk and canter .. but in trot it takes a bit of nudging and a lot of pushing to keep him focused!!

Make sure your hands aren't moving .. I know when I trot, my hands may move up and down a bit until I get myself organised :P So give him a few paces to get into the trot .. and after a while, you will be able to go straight into the trot with no probs :)

With the circles - do you carry a whip?? A dressage whip more percisely :p I am not asking you to beat your horse, I am suggesting that you keep it on the inside of the circle, and when your horse falls in, just give him one or two light taps on the bum to remind him that he can't fall in. Also remember to keep contact on your outside rein, and to keep your inside leg on (you dont need a whip, I just find it helps at times).

With keeping him round .. I found that with Cheek, he needs a LOT of pushing from behind to get him to come back to really supple himself in the trot. Sure, you do need this with every gait, but maybe try a bit more effort into getting him to use his hind quaters and 'carry' you forwards into the trot, rather than him dragging his feet. For any horse to round nicely and naturally, they need the oomph to come from the hind quaters.

Give him an extra nudge, and make him work from his hind quaters. Think big, ask big, get big -> you want to almost feel pushed out the seat that his steps are making you fly :) Its hard to explain .. try using the diagonal and asking for a larger trot accross there. Lunging also helps - the Pessoa is designed to help a horse to achieve in stages, using their hind end to lower their heads.

Good luck

[Emz]

I'd plan all your schooling sessions around trot for a while (have a little walk/canter to warm up but spend 3/4s of the session on trot)

Lots of circles, serpentines and transitions in the pace and between paces and lateral stuff to get him balanced and engaged.

Make sure you're conscious (sp) of what your doing when you trot - are oyu sitting centrally? rising gently from your kness? keeping your lower leg still? rein contatc chaning? Ask someone to film you trot if you can so you can really see what's happening - or have a few lessons with your instructor.

Instead of asking him to go in an outline in trot concentrate on his self balance and straightness, the outling will come when he's relaxed and balanced. Does he do the same if you go sitting trot??

Try lungeing him in trot too, so he can learn to balance himself too.

[crazystevie]

K, thanks.

I rode him yesterday, and did lots of work on trot, on the buckle. That seemed to help, and we did manage a couple of nice circles at the end without falling in or out. I worked on making him really stride out, and he was definately starting to step under himself which was good, but continued cross his kaw, but in the end i got a couple of steps, where he softened his jaw, and came on the bit, but then called it a day. So ended on a good note. I read an old thread and found that little tip - i think it was tootsie.


Emz - when I am trotting, i can sometimes feel myself tipping forward - nothing major - can't see it happening in videos, but I am conscious of it. Any ideas? i keep reminding myself to sit up, but his trot his HUGE and very bouncy.

[jenren!!]

Always look at yourself first, are you nervous in trot? Do you keep your hands still? Do you grip with your knees? All these can affect a horse's way of going, and i find that with my mare, she sticks her head in the air when i tense up and 'collapse', but when i breathe and relax, she becomes very soft in the mouth. Get someone on the ground who can see whats happening.

Otherwise it is possibly a balance issue, and like others have said, lots of trot work needs to be done. Transitions, circles, trotting up hills and figures will help him work alot better.

Jenny

[BNaturally]

Ditto EMZ- great suggestions, advice.
Video record your riding, circlings, serpentines, transitions, posting,diagonal etc...
Looking at yourself will help and allow you to correct any problem or enhance what you're doing.
I hope this helps.

[Lotje]

Tarquin's walk and canter are lovely, but he finds it difficult to settle in the trot especially after he's had a canter or gets excited. He raises his head and tries to rush. Have to really keep the rising to one set rhythm and to an extent let him have his head, but not too much. His trot is now nice in the school and hes relaxing and bringing his head down, but when hes excited and out on a hack it all goes to pot again.

Ruby on the other hand has a good walk and trot and needs work in canter.

good luck