Short stride...advice please!

[CAH7]

T (m/w, TBx, rising 6) has always had a slightly short stride at the start of a schooling session, and is worse on hard ground. It's especially noticeable working on grass in the summer and on the lunge on smallish circles (15m and less), when his off hind doesn't follow through quite as far as it should. As he warms up and stretches down and works through more his stride length improves (and in a large open field with the wind up his tail he can produce some fabulous big trot work!). I was concerned when I bought him about his rather flat feet and inability to over-track more than one hoof's worth in walk, but he passed a 5 stage vetting with flying colours, and the vet wasn't concerned about these issues (goals include Elem BD, Disco BS and PN BE). He's worse at the moment, possibly due to the hard ground, or the fact he's due to be shod, or maybe because I've increased his roadwork... but should I be concerned? Saddler coming back in 2 weeks and has been difficult to fit as quite wide, so could be shoulder pain...? Any advice/ideas/suggestions gratefully received!!

 

[Carefreegirl]

After ruling out all the usual i.e back pain, wrong saddle, feet, teeth etc try trotting down hills. My tb has a short choppy stride and my instructor said to trot down hills and build up to canter (obviously not on the roads !!!!!) Luckily I live in a hilly area with lots of woods. The difference is amazing as she has built up the muscles behind the saddle and therefore is much stronger behind which in turn makes her stride longer as she is truly working from behind. It took a month to notice the physical change in shape, much quicker than I could of achieved by schooling and as a bonus she is also much better at balancing herself going down hill which helped xc.

 

[CAH7]

Thanks Tillythreeshoes, I have actually recently moved to a yard where I can do much more hacking, to build up his back end and behind the saddle, and he finds walking down hills quite hard at the moment, so I'll take you advice on board. I'd rather hack him than drill him in the school at the moment anyway, as we seem to produce much better, more forward work out of the arena! Thanks ever so!

 

[Carefreegirl]

Fingers crossed. I now trot down hills I wouldnt of walked down before and canter down hills I wouldnt of trotted down. I just feel I've wasted 20 years by not knowing this before. Good luck.

 

[teddyt]

Trotting and cantering down hills puts more strain on the forehand though, particularly on the road so you do have to be careful not to over do this.

If the stride is noticeably shorter on one side than the other then i would get the vet to investigate. If its only slight then suppling exercises, proper warm ups & cool downs will help. Worse on hard ground indicates hard tissue whilst getting better once warmed up indicates soft tissue! could be an issue with both though. Could all be connected to the saddle too.

 

[CAH7]

Thanks teddyt, it does seem a bit inconsistent, I agree. I am hoping that he will improve when he's been re-shod (and will mention worries to farrier who is vg), and had saddle checked/changed, and ground has softened up. If no improvement I'll contact my vet, who's very happy to give advice. Interestingly, his stride length and softness improved quite dramatically when I tried a narrower saddle a couple of months ago, but unfortunately this saddle didn't fit me! Possibly the saddle is an issue, as he has def lost weight. Thanks for your advice tho.