Improving the trot

[sweetbriar]

I have been trying to improve Lizzie's work in trot. She's not very forward going in the school and works better when being hacked out. Last week on a hack she did the most incredible extended and collected trotting. It was really powerful and I could feel her really pushing those hindquarters under herself.

I would like to try and recreate it in the outdoor school but with very little success.

Can anyone suggest ways as to how I can improve this trotwork in the school and get some impulsion. At the moment she kind of shuffles around very slowly and can be very hard work to get going.

Being an ex-riding school pony I know that the sandschool is not one of her favorite environments.

 

[Pixie]

Trotting Poles!

These are a really good way of improving the trot. Not only do they regulate the rhythmn, they also engage the horse and really get it moving.

My horse is a cob and has a naturally short stride, my instructor has been using trotting poles in our lessons now for about three months and the difference is amazing. We started off with plain trotting poles at the distance my horse felt comfortable with and gradually we have lengthened the distance between the poles encouraging her to really open up her shoulders and stretch. We have also used raised poles a lot to really ger her trot off the ground and create more impulsion. The result is that when I trot her without the poles her trot has become more like the trot that I get over the poles as her muscles have built up and she is now finding it easier, it has also helped with her self carriage.

I was really stuck in a rut up untill about 4 months ago when I started having lessons again and now we are really getting somewhere. Good luck with your Lizzie and hope these suggestions help.

 

[Maria]

I agree with Pixie - try some pole work and gridwork lessons. My cob loves jumping and we've found that polework and gridwork have helped improve the rhythm. She's a speed freak so it's helped to regulate the pace too.

I think your horse will enjoy the variety and you'll be able to get him to work forward more actively in a fun way.

Maria

 

[floppy]

transitions worked for me..my horse is also the same...brillaint (now) on hacks and gettign ebtter int he shcool.
i did alot of wlak-trot transitions..walk for a number of strides, trot for a number of strides...slowly increasing the number of trot strides and decreasing the wlak strides.

 

[Wally]

Do your schooling out on hacks! The British Icelandic Dressage Champion does all her schooling out hacking, she has no access to a sand school, If the horse hate the environment put her in one she enjoys, she'll learn just as much.

 

[sweetbriar]

Thanks everyone

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I have been schooling her when we hack out (her walk to canter transitions when we do them on hacks are superb). This has helped enormously. I also do some transition work in the school and its been improving gradually. I will try the trotting poles, it sounds a great way of elevating the trot.

I had a lesson on Saturday - her first since leaving the riding school. I thought she might be hard work because she doesn't like the sandschool (bad memories of her riding school days). I can only say that she was brilliant. She rode like a mini-Lipi and the lady who teaches me said her performance was brilliant. Her canter on the right rein is really balanced and her trot work was excellent. I was so proud of her because she's come so far in the five months since the riding school closed down. She was showered with love, cuddles and Polos (as always).

I think I'll give some serious consideration to riding a dressage test now.