If he wants to get there a little quicker or has a long distance to travel, he will generally trot. If he wants to get somewhere quickly he will often canter unless he has to get there really fast in which case he may gallop. These are the basic gaits of the horse.
In order to stay in time with your horse, to ride with balance and harmony and to be able to influence his movements, it’s important to understand how horses move and in which order their feet touch the ground as this will determine his movement and stride.
In the coming lessons and throughout Level 3 and beyond, we will talk a lot about leads, lead changes and posting diagonals. It’s important to remember at this point, that the end of our horse that concerns us most is the hindquarter. The hindquarter is the powerhouse; the part that drives the horse and the bit that we need to be able to guide and control. When posting diagonals or asking for canter leads, it is the hindquarter that we need to focus on. Traditionally people are taught to look at the front end to see what it’s doing. A couple of points on this; looking down, even just a little bit, will tip your weight forward and put you out of position. It will also impede your development of feel. Being very visual creatures, our sight will override our other senses therefore not allowing them to develop. If you look down now, chances are you’ll still be looking down years from now. Also, just because the front end is doing what you want, it does not guarantee that the back end will follow. So many people only ride the front end of the horse and the back end is left swinging in the breeze. However, if we can get the back end right, the front end will follow.
Following is a brief summary of what each lead or diagonal entails.
Posting diagonals at the trot. – when we talk about posting diagonals (some people call it rise trotting) we are talking about getting in time with the two beat gait. That is, sitting and rising in time with your horse’s feet. If you wanted to post the left diagonal, you would be sitting when your horse’s left hind foot (and right front foot) is on the ground and rising when it is in the air. If you were posting with the right diagonal, you’d sit with the right hind etc. To date, we haven’t had you posting the trot. In fact, we recommend that you do not post the trot in the early stages. This is because generally most right-handed people will naturally and subconsciously always pick up a left diagonal, which is their strong side. With most horses being left sided, it is their strong side also. So, you end up with a horse whose muscles are built up on one side like Popeye and weak like Mr. Wimpy on the other. Knowing what we now do about becoming ambidextrous, chances are you can see what kind of problems this creates just one of which is difficulty picking up a particular lead.
Some people will say that their horse is too bouncy and uncomfortable to ‘sit’ the trot; that is, to not rise. It is precisely for that reason that we recommend you keep sitting. Posting will make it feel smoother, however it’s also like sweeping the dirt under the mat. The problem hasn’t gone away, it’s just hidden and one day you just may trip over that bump. A bouncy horse is usually an impulsive horse that’s not softening his hindquarter. It will not get better unless you do something about it.
We suggest that in learning to feel what your horse’s feet are doing, you go back to your passenger lessons in a small area and ride about with your hands on your horse’s hips at the walk and the trot. If you are trying to feel the right hind foot for example, the right hip will be up. This is because as the foot hits the ground, the leg straightens and pushes the hip up. For the left hind foot, feel when the left hip is up. So, if you wanted to post the left diagonal, you would feel for the left hip coming up, indicating the foot is on the ground and you would sit. To get a clear picture of this in your mind, put your horse on-line or go in the round yard and ask your horse to trot a few laps while you watch. This may take a little time, but be patient and observe closely. Life will be much easier when you know what the feet are doing.
If you are posting the diagonal and you suspect you may be on the wrong one, try sitting two beats - which will change your diagonal - and see how that feels. This is most effective when riding on a small circle. When you are going to the right, the right diagonal should feel the most comfortable as the inside of the horse’s body does not need to move as far as the outside does. If you are on a left diagonal, you will probably feel as if you are sitting in a washing machine. If your left diagonal is more comfortable to the right than your right diagonal, chances are you always post on that diagonal and your horse is stronger that side. Make sure you go back to sitting for a while and do more posting to the right to balance it up.
The Canter - When a horse is on the right lead, (*see previous article for footfalls*) it literally means the right side of his body is leading and the left side is trailing. If you notice your body position, your ride side should also be up and leading and your left trailing. On the right lead, the first foot to touch the ground is the left hind. For this reason, when asking for a right lead, if you have to spank your horse, you will sit back and spank with your left hand; asking the left hind to strike off. Now your snappy departures from Level One ‘follow the rail’ come in to play. If you do not yet have you horse leaving snappily off of phase 2 at most, by the time he does a canter transition, his right hind will be underneath him and you’ll get a left lead! If you have continuously posted on one diagonal more than the other, your horse will be so strong on that side that he will have trouble picking up the opposite lead. This is where getting that hindquarter really soft and disengaging nicely and smoothly under your horse is so important. You need to be able to get that hind foot underneath your horse and depart snappily. If you do you’ll get your leads every time. If the hind is stiff and your horse favours one side over the other, you’ll have a lot of trouble picking up that other lead. On a left lead, your horses left side of his body will lead and his right side trail.
Read More Road To Horsemanship articles.
- By Meredith Ransley, Quantum Savvy.