Monday Training Tips - Exercises to develop Medium Trot. Here are some exercises I have used with various horses. They may not all suit every horse but hopefully theres something here for everyone. The first thing to be aware of is that medium trot comes from the horses ability to sit on his hind end and collect. The way I think of medium trot is that you want to be able to release the stored energy to get it rather than feeling like youre pushing for it. I always make sure Ive had a good warm up in walk trot and canter just making sure Ive got the horse thinking forward, loosened up and responding to my aids. Here in brief is what I might do in a schooling session leading up to medium trot. (It would vary from horse to horse). Almost walk transitions in trot. Keeping the rhythm and frame the same and using plenty of leg bring the trot back until you feel the horse is about to take his first walk step then push gently back up to working trot making sure you keep the uphill balance and dont rush him forward and push him onto his forehand. Square turns in trot. Collect and slow the trot slightly before the turn, you just need a small amount of flexion through the poll and jaw but the neck stays straight. Use the outside leg and rein to push the shoulders round the horses back end making the turn as square as you can. You can do this using the square as your shape to start with and make it more difficult by riding a diamond shape or a triangle so the angles become sharper. Again pushing uphill out of the turns keeping the hind end very active, you want to feel like you are slowing the front end but keeping the back end firing through more quickly. Dont do this for too long. Ride a couple of squares then down to a couple of triangles then back onto a circle to relax a bit. Make sure you are sat a little onto the inside seat bone for this exercise. Leg yield. This is particularly useful for horses that get stuck through their shoulders. Really exaggerate the leg yield, it doesnt need to be able to get you a good mark in a test. I push from the centre line right over and I really encourage the horse to lead through his shoulder (dont use on a horse that tends to fall out through the shoulder) and cross his front legs (obviously we want the back legs to cross as well but Im using this exercise particularly focussing on freeing up the front end in this instance) so he opens out through his chest and adductor and abductor muscles. This is something we have used a lot on Peapod and seems to be really helping her. Shoulder in on the straight and on a circle. Keep the trot stepping through and dont let it get too slow. Again the whole point is to get the back end stepping through more as well as helping make the horse more supple so they can open out more easily in the medium trot. This also helps get control of the shoulder of a horse who tends to fall out through their outside shoulder. 10m circles. Ride a 10m circle in the corner really pushing the trot forward while keeping the balance and not allowing it to get too fast. Again the point is slowing the front end using your body position to help (sitting tall drawing shoulders back) while keeping the back end very active (think about getting the revs right up). On the way out of the circle make sure you bring the horses shoulders underneath you (thinking a little bit like a square turn but less extreme) and then stay soft but supportive with the hand and use legs alternately to ask for medium trot. If you have the trot revved up enough on the circle you should be able to just release the power. Use the rising trot to help keep the rhythm and tempo. Take a little steady with a half halt half way across the diagonal or long side remembering to draw up through your body but stay relaxed so you still allow the horse to move. Gently bring the horse back to working using half halts, ensuring the hand doesnt get set against them, take a feel then release then feel again and go back into a 10m circle in the next corner getting the trot back to a good working trot as quickly as you can. The circle should help you find a balanced good quality trot quickly and encourage a good transition down. Shoulder in into medium trot across the diagonal. Use the shoulder in to get the back end underneath the horse then once youve done a few steps continue across the diagonal again using alternate leg aids squeezing and having a soft but supportive canter. As above use the half halt part way across to readdress the balance so he doesnt get into a run and on his head (I use this in a test as well). You can also use the circle after the medium or ride a few strides of shoulder in on the short stride again aiming to push(!) the horse together so he gets used to sitting on his back end for the downward transition. It can be very tempting to start pulling too much with the hand. Remember through all these exercises that you can use the hand for half halts and to create flexion but once you have used it it must then soften again and allow the horse forward so he keeps stepping forward to the contact. Remember that your transitions in and out of medium are just as important as the medium itself. This is just a brief outline, For more information or clarification or if you have any specific problems with medium trot youd like some help with feel free to ask any questions either below or DM me. Ill try and get some videos of the exercises asap but meanwhile heres a clip of Celias medium trot at Bridging the Gap training with Gill Watson. She finds medium quite easy but because she has so much power sometimes gets a bit carried away and pushes herself onto her forehand which makes for a very difficult transition back to working or collected so we have done most of these exercises to help get to the stage where she stays relaxed through the whole thing. Now we have that Ill be able to ask for more and hopefully start to develop her extended trot next season. If you use any of these exercises let me know how you get on by posting on the page especially if you get any videos or photos!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 20:05:11 +0000
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