Overtracking in walk

[K9Wendy]

OK.. Loads of questions..

Is overtracking desirable or not?
How much overtracking is acceptable?
Does too much suggest horse is unbalanced?
Or on the forehand?

In a dressage test, at walk on loose rein judge has marked on sheet 'overtracking' I assume as a negative comment, but don't know, what do you all think? The mark was 6, comment 'overtracking, wondered a little towards the end'.

 

[seabiscuit]

Overtracking is absolutely fantastic!The more, the better!

In your dressage test comment, the wondering at the end would have lost you marks

 

[star]

the overtracking is the positive comment, the wandering is the negative comment. sometimes it can be confusing working out which is positive and which negative!

my horse doesn't overtrack in walk, even loose in the field and he gets marked down a lot for it in dressage.

 

[PapaFrita]

Overtracking veeeeery gooooooood!!

BOF won't even consider a horse that doesn't overtrack in walk by at least 20cms (or so he says)

 

[Evadiva1514]

I agree with Star, you seem to have the most difficult part cracked!!

If you can keep your horse straight throughout the movement you should earn a lot higher marks and of course these are multiplied by 2 in the majority of dressage tests, which is a big bonus!!

One of my horses used to really struggle with this movement as a baby but can now stretch right down and overtrack. Keep working at it and im sure you will gain an even higher mark in the future!!

 

[severnmiles]

[ QUOTE ]
Overtracking is absolutely fantastic!The more, the better!

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed!! I won't touch anything unless it overtracks by a mile...well not quite

you know what I mean!

 

[K9Wendy]

OMG she does something right!! Thanks everyone, nice to know something is heading the right direction lol.. She overtracks quite a bit, but is still a gangly baby so the wiggles and wondering is hard to contain! She was a bit spooky in this test as the judge tooted the horn to start the test just as they passed the front of the car and she nearly jumped out of her skin!!

 

[Fiona]

Ben and Flora overtrack by loads, Sophie just tracks up . She is prob the least naturally athletic of the three, so a good walker is v important I think.
Fiona

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Contrary to what a lot of people think the walk is one of the most difficult paces to work on. If your horse naturally overtracks then you've got a good head start. A youngster always wanders a little but work over time will sort that. As a previous poster has said in tests your marks are doubled in walk on a free rein so you should pick up good marks for that. A great start, good luck.

 

[maestro]

Overtracking is what you are looking in a horses walk but does need to be looked at in the context of the horse as well. Eg. A horse with a long back can be taking big steps but not overtracking much because it is physically impossible. The swing through the back is the good thing to see and when they take big steps from behind you have got it made. Straightness is the next challenge!

 

[xXxTraversxXx]

Well done! Sorry im going to thread hog, but in collected work, are you supposed to track up? I don't understand if that's possible!