Medium Trot Woes

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Welshie95

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Hi all,
I posted in winter a while back about my horse not really going forwards and being insecure with forward aids. A combination of reuniting with an old instructor from about 5 years ago, the arrival of summer grass and 24 hour turnout and lots of fitness work has completely transformed us both into a much more forward thinking horse and a rider who actually thinks about the next move and staying ahead of him instead of waiting for the problem to creep up and then panicking about it. We recently had another go at a dressage test in a completely new venue and he was cantering on the buckle with his head on the floor, back rounded and really reaching forward; something I haven't felt in ages!
We are competing at Novice for about a year now, I'd like to aim for an easy elementary next winter but our downfall is medium trot, or lack of.
He understands the word "go" on the lunge as a cue to lengthen, and can collect and stay relatively relaxed, I make sure I have an even contact with reins and legs, sit up, give a little with the hands to get him to lengthen his frame, squeeze legs gradually and make my rising very pronounced and almost pushing him forwards, but he just doesn't seem to get it! I've even taken him to the beach to try in an open space but still no difference. Instructor has had us collecting and extending on a circle and along the long and 3 quarter line, and whilst he understands the difference between collected and working, I feel the medium is more of a run than an extend. Any tips?
 
Having worked with many horses over the years, many being not the best movers, I know your pain, some are blessed with the ability to power on into a decent medium trot from the start, other less talented movers struggle to get anything even if they are trying hard, I find I have to ride every horse slightly differently, try different things to get what I want and adapt constantly in the way I ask, riding a horse that finds it easy and has a natural ability to lengthen is very different to riding one that finds it harder which is the category yours probably falls into.
Some find it far easier to shorten in trot, they often are more scopey within the canter, you don't mention whether he finds med canter more easy than trot as that should be established if you are doing novice.

From your description of how you are asking, while it may be correct, if done the way you say you are probably allowing him to go before you have generated enough power to push forward, you are then pushing him slightly off balance by rising higher, something I don't find helps and frequently hinders even established horses.
I would hold for longer and only "give" once he takes the hand forward, I would be sharper with the leg, and possibly a tap with the whip while remaining slightly behind him in the rise until he is pushing for just one or two strides and you can start to feel him understanding what you want, a vocal aid can really help, I had one that needed loads of voice, seriously loud and encouraging with plenty of praise when he started to go, once the penny dropped everything quietened down and he could be asked normally, he did well at elem but always had a better med canter than trot, he also picked up marks for other movements such as counter canter and acute transitions, it is not all about one movement so don't be afraid to work on his strengths and try one anyway.

Other things to try, get him lit up in canter going uphill then come back to trot and ask him, work on the med canter aid using a vocal aid then use the same or similar for trot so he connects the two, work more on collecting so he is taking more weight behind they need to be pushing and the more he can collect the more he should be able to extend, ask for 1 or 2 strides, come back and ask for another 1 or 2 as soon as he has rebalanced and continue around repeating the exercise, he needs to be coming back clearly before he runs or loses energy and you need to be really on the ball with the aids so he never gets disappointed by an effort, reward him every time he gets a decent stride but don't lose momentum when you do tell him he is doing well, the reward can be a quick pat or a vocal praise but be consistent.

Finally don't get despondent there are many competing that don't have a decent med trot so as already said work on the things he finds easy so you pick up extra marks for the rest of the test, 2 5's are nothing if you can increase everything else to 7, 8 or 9, even 10 if he has a really good moment somewhere, don't spend all your time working on something he may always find difficult keep improving the rest of the work and you should find the marks go in the right direction.
 
i spent about 6 months doing trot and canter work uphill to get one of mine to learn to power from behind.

the 'giving with your hand' might be what is stopping you, it could be letting him flatten and run on before he has the collection and power behind maybe?. but your dressage teacher is the only one who can tell from seeing you.

My lad took ages to get the medium, and we still weren't great in it. A good tip i got was to really collect a bit more before the move, and especially around the corner, so that the difference between it and the medium was more obvious.

In the end though i sent him off to a pro for a week as i didn't feel we were cracking it, and he came back better.
 
The best advice I ever had to get medium started was this - do it on a hack alongside a horse who is already established. After a couple of months of trying to explain to pony what was wanted we had a couple of hacks alongside and established dressage horse practicing medium together at suitable points. By the second hack the penny had dropped and we were able to replicate easily in the arena.
 
Thanks all, some great ideas. Sorry I wasn't very clear in my explanation. Medium canter is much better than trot, he isn't a flashy warmblood type horse and more of a "on the spot mover" so we do lots of on and back in canter to get him motoring along forwards and not going up and down. I make sure that he is the one taking the hand forward but I don't keep holding, so allow him to lengthen top line a bit to but don't throw the reins at him, and we do lots of hillwork practically every time we hack (3/4 times a week if not more in nice weather). Funnily enough he has a much better trot on the road than in the school but obviously I don't practice this a lot, just keep my aids the same and use voice cues so he can make a connection. At the moment he is getting 5's for the mediums so even if I could increase this to a 6 or 7 I'd be beaming as that would finally get us more towards the elusive 70% I dream about 🙏🏻
 
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