Horse can only trot straight!

[HannahB]

Hiya, I only really ridden my cob out hacking and previously she was trained as a trekking pony. Third time ever riding her in an arena over the weekend, asked her to trot a 20m circle. Shes very responsive and was genuinely trying but could barely manage more than 3 paces. She can readily trot straight, more than happy to go several minutes on the road or even straight down the length of the arena, its just on a circle she struggles. No problem walking and can do very tight circles no problem so no idea why she finds it so hard in trot! Any ideas? Is it just gonna take loads of practice?

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

She obviously hasn't developed the musculature to trot in circles. And a whole circle is a lot to ask of her for the first time. I would work on bending in different directions, walking in 1/4 circles and general suppling exercises before building up to trotting a whole circle. The book 101 schooling exercises will probably be useful.

 

[Glitter's fun]

Hi Hannah - yes loads of practice divided into very short chunks!
My share came to his present owner after 10 years in a trekking centre. It has taken him nearly a year to get to be comfortable in circles. Do very little at a time, she will find it difficult.

 

[holeymoley]

She's maybe a bit stiff. Lots of flexing and bending required too.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Does she trot bends and circles while out hacking? Do you school her in open spaces at all?

 

[Abacus]

Working in circles is quite hard work compared with going in a straight line, a 20m circle is small. If you have a bigger field you can ride on, work her first on large circles (so big that she's almost going in a straight line) to start with and gradually reduce. And when hacking, trot around corners which is equivalent to doing a fraction of a circle, she might get the idea more easily if it's incorporated in a hack rather than round and round.

You can do school exercises working towards circles without doing whole circles. Like shallow loops along the long side which require her to bend in off the track one way and then back out again, bending the other way. It'll help flexibility as well as strength for circles. Start by giving her the whole long side, with a very shallow loop, so that the bend is really slight. As she gets the idea you can increase the depth of the loop or make it shorter.

Also when changing the rein instead of going straight across the diagonal you can do a half circle to X, change the bend and direction, and do another half circle to complete the change of rein.

Mix it all up as much as possible rather than flogging an exercise over and over.

 

[HannahB]

Does she trot bends and circles while out hacking? Do you school her in open spaces at all?

Yes she can trot fine around bends. Dont really school in open spaces but there are a few fields and a nice big clearing i ride through and occasionally use

 

[HannahB]

She's maybe a bit stiff. Lots of flexing and bending required too.

She's had a history of lameness and is more sound now than ever before but it's taken a year to get her to trotting and occasionally cantering comfortably. But if I stable her overnight it takes a good 5 to 10 mins stretching and slow walking to get her flexible again. If she stays in the fields tho shes fine

 

[HannahB]

Working in circles is quite hard work compared with going in a straight line, a 20m circle is small. If you have a bigger field you can ride on, work her first on large circles (so big that she's almost going in a straight line) to start with and gradually reduce. And when hacking, trot around corners which is equivalent to doing a fraction of a circle, she might get the idea more easily if it's incorporated in a hack rather than round and round.

You can do school exercises working towards circles without doing whole circles. Like shallow loops along the long side which require her to bend in off the track one way and then back out again, bending the other way. It'll help flexibility as well as strength for circles. Start by giving her the whole long side, with a very shallow loop, so that the bend is really slight. As she gets the idea you can increase the depth of the loop or make it shorter.

Also when changing the rein instead of going straight across the diagonal you can do a half circle to X, change the bend and direction, and do another half circle to complete the change of rein.

Mix it all up as much as possible rather than flogging an exercise over and over.

Thanks for the suggestions, will deffo try looping