Medium trot not!

NikKnock

NikKnock

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I can't seemingly get med trot in Novice Tests. When I look at the photos I see that my horse has lengthened a bit compared to a working trot but the judges never seem to see any strides. I am wondering if my horse isn't capable. I never even see him lengthen when mucking about in the field. But having said that he will lengthen when next to a mate out hacking if we really push the trot on. Is there a knack to teaching this? If I raced up the diagonal in the test we'd run out of room and even if I didn't run out of room I'd get told it was rushing 🤷🏼‍♀️. Help! 😅
 
Untilt he medium trot is truly established on command, you should aim to get only 2-3 decent strides. This gives you time to use the corner to rebalance and set up a more contained working trot than you'd normally like, allowing you to release the extra power into some decent up and out lift. But then back to the working trot before it falls apart. It requires a good amount of strength to hold a medium trot.

How does your horse present his medium at home in the school or on hacks, etc, Does he really know what you're asking for?
 
No I don't think he understands. He only lengthens on a hack when he and another horse trot out holding them back from cantering
 
NikKnock said:
No I don't think he understands. He only lengthens on a hack when he and another horse trot out holding them back from cantering
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That's probably the problem. I've sometimes hired larger arenas or used hacking or fields where there's plenty of space to give the horse the chance to lengthen and keep going straight to get that feeling of the medium trot without having to keep shortening for corners. Once you've established the feel of it then you can work on putting in the commands and balance needed in a smaller school. You do need to have the horse balanced and uphill enough first before asking.

Do you have an instructor who can help you?
 
Horse probably doesn't understand what you're asking, I had the same issue when training mine. It took a lot of incompetent attempts on my part and guidance from an instructor to get there, I have to say it's so much easier to get there quicker if you have eyes on the ground. A good instructor will give you some exercises to work on as well so you can progress between lessons.
 
My instructor taught mine then showed me how to do it, Louis only really had 1 speed in each gait but it didn't take long for my instructor to teach him to have several gears.

At the time I had a broken ankle so couldn't ride so it was just something he worked on for me when he rode him for me.
 
Normally the stronger the horse is in the collected work, the easier the medium/ lengthened strides come. The judges are looking for a longer stride (and frame if we’re being more classical about it but I’ll not start that discussion 🤪), not a faster one. Quite often it can feel a slower tempo than the working trot.

Focus on getting the hind legs being underneath the horse, pushing up into a soft back. Then you can ask for them to release the power forward not up but without speed.

Honestly a good instructor will help! I used shoulder-in, lots of collective work and was still struggling on my carriage bred horse. But even she learnt eventually and her natural action was knees up rather than a lovely floaty trot!
 
Like what everyone said above, but also, as Ingrid Klimke does with young horses to get the idea of medium, she uses trot-poles/cavaletti; building up to spacing them for longer strides, give your aid for 'bigger' trot, and together it works to give the horse the idea of the push needed from hindquarters and the cue. Then lots of praise.
 
MissTyc said:
Untilt he medium trot is truly established on command, you should aim to get only 2-3 decent strides. This gives you time to use the corner to rebalance and set up a more contained working trot than you'd normally like, allowing you to release the extra power into some decent up and out lift. But then back to the working trot before it falls apart. It requires a good amount of strength to hold a medium trot.

How does your horse present his medium at home in the school or on hacks, etc, Does he really know what you're asking for?
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Great ideas thank you.
 
ThreeFurs said:
Like what everyone said above, but also, as Ingrid Klimke does with young horses to get the idea of medium, she uses trot-poles/cavaletti; building up to spacing them for longer strides, give your aid for 'bigger' trot, and together it works to give the horse the idea of the push needed from hindquarters and the cue. Then lots of praise.
Click to expand...
That's really helpful thanks
 
HufflyPuffly said:
Normally the stronger the horse is in the collected work, the easier the medium/ lengthened strides come. The judges are looking for a longer stride (and frame if we’re being more classical about it but I’ll not start that discussion 🤪), not a faster one. Quite often it can feel a slower tempo than the working trot.

Focus on getting the hind legs being underneath the horse, pushing up into a soft back. Then you can ask for them to release the power forward not up but without speed.

Honestly a good instructor will help! I used shoulder-in, lots of collective work and was still struggling on my carriage bred horse. But even she learnt eventually and her natural action was knees up rather than a lovely floaty trot!
Click to expand...
Yes I need t0 school regularly go back to lessons!
 
Pinkvboots said:
My instructor taught mine then showed me how to do it, Louis only really had 1 speed in each gait but it didn't take long for my instructor to teach him to have several gears.

At the time I had a broken ankle so couldn't ride so it was just something he worked on for me when he rode him for me.
Click to expand...
Yes maybe need an instructor on board thanks.
 
Apercrumbie said:
Horse probably doesn't understand what you're asking, I had the same issue when training mine. It took a lot of incompetent attempts on my part and guidance from an instructor to get there, I have to say it's so much easier to get there quicker if you have eyes on the ground. A good instructor will give you some exercises to work on as well so you can progress between lessons.
Click to expand...
Thank you 😊
 
Squeak said:
That's probably the problem. I've sometimes hired larger arenas or used hacking or fields where there's plenty of space to give the horse the chance to lengthen and keep going straight to get that feeling of the medium trot without having to keep shortening for corners. Once you've established the feel of it then you can work on putting in the commands and balance needed in a smaller school. You do need to have the horse balanced and uphill enough first before asking.

Do you have an instructor who can help you?
Click to expand...
Due to lameness from a cracked hoof we haven't lessons since Mar! We were starting to get somewhere back then. I need to invest in some again.
 
HufflyPuffly said:
Normally the stronger the horse is in the collected work, the easier the medium/ lengthened strides come. The judges are looking for a longer stride (and frame if we’re being more classical about it but I’ll not start that discussion 🤪), not a faster one. Quite often it can feel a slower tempo than the working trot.

Focus on getting the hind legs being underneath the horse, pushing up into a soft back. Then you can ask for them to release the power forward not up but without speed.

Honestly a good instructor will help! I used shoulder-in, lots of collective work and was still struggling on my carriage bred horse. But even she learnt eventually and her natural action was knees up rather than a lovely floaty trot!
Click to expand...
That's really useful thank you 😊
 
ThreeFurs said:
Like what everyone said above, but also, as Ingrid Klimke does with young horses to get the idea of medium, she uses trot-poles/cavaletti; building up to spacing them for longer strides, give your aid for 'bigger' trot, and together it works to give the horse the idea of the push needed from hindquarters and the cue. Then lots of praise.
Click to expand...
I've been having a play with this - my little cob is more knees up - and I've found when he's really lengthening I had to stick a couple of fingers under the neck strap not to get in his way. It was a good exercise for showing me how he feels rather than just faster trot (& his dad was in harness so we can really trot!). I also really had to let my hips swing so I wasn't blocking him.

With poles I could let him flow through the exercise if that makes sense.
 
SEL said:
I've been having a play with this - my little cob is more knees up - and I've found when he's really lengthening I had to stick a couple of fingers under the neck strap not to get in his way. It was a good exercise for showing me how he feels rather than just faster trot (& his dad was in harness so we can really trot!). I also really had to let my hips swing so I wasn't blocking him.

With poles I could let him flow through the exercise if that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Great thank you.😊
 
Lots of good ideas! You can also check what's happening by counting the number of strides between two markers. Learn what your horse's normal is, and then when you are asking for lengthening, you should end up with fewer strides.
 
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