slow walk

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Todmiester

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Baby pony is coming along nicely trot is much more balanced and steady due to the many half halts. She did her first novice ridden class at the weekend and I was aware that she has a really slow walk. Trot is forward and big. So what can I do to encourage a bigger freer walk. I'm so used to big walkers that i be never needed to know how to get a bigger stride.
 
*bump*

I'm interested in answers to this...my 9yo chestnut has a very slow and small strided walk...in trot and canter he works from behind and steps into the contact, but walk he is so sluggish and naturally slow....I can really kick him on, but it only lasts a couple of strides and the he returns to his natural slower pace!
 
I'm sure someone else will be able to come a long and expalin it much better than me but try to exaggerate swinging each of your hips with the walk. Or... To be more controversial, I put on a fairfax girth and instantly had a long, loose walk...
 
Hill work at walk really helps, but it is a slow build up process. You could also try some baby lateral work in walk.
 
Already do the swinging hips, but she hasn't quite got the idea of it yet. Will do more hill work, plenty of them where we are
 
I'd be quite wary of over-riding the walk, it's quite easy to turn a small natural walk into a lateral one, which is quite difficult to correct.

I'm not quite sure what the problem you are having is - is it small steps or actually that she is being stuffy and not marching along? Either way hacking out with a horse that has a good walk would probably be beneficial.

My mare has a big walk but her best, biggest steps come from acceptance of the aids, being in front of the leg and soft & relaxed in the contact.
Have you tried pole work? Just a thought that if the steps are small, a little set of poles might encourage her to reach a bit more.
 
Walk is the most difficult pace and easily hurried, pushed out of balance and ruined. I was taught to slow the walk until you can feel each limb and foot fall. As the horse gains balance he will lift his wither, sit a little and get himself into self balance. When he has mastered self balance then you can ask for bigger steps, but still with the wither up.

I am sure somebody else can explain this better than me.
 
She is stuffy in her walk where her trot and canter is forward and big.Introduced pole work last week and she stepped through the poles in both walk and trot confidently. I think in walk she has enough time to see things she feels anxious about so slows up and feels stuffy. While at in trot she just gets on with it.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Walk is the most difficult pace and easily hurried, pushed out of balance and ruined.
Click to expand...

This is what I've always been afraid of, personally! Probably too afraid as I've gone too far the other way and it's taken me years to actually allow myself to work on the walk - horse competing medium and has to finally learn to collect properly! eep, scary!

OP, when you say baby horse, how old and how far into her training is she? Sorry if I've missed some relevant threads :)

If you feel she's distracted in the walk then maybe she needs to be kept busy in general so that she stays focussed on you. That might be a deeper issue, with the quality of the walk being a by-product of inattentiveness. In which case you might approach it by looking at the type of work you do in trot & canter, and seeing if you can apply it to the walk too. e.g. are you doing lots of different interesting or challenging exercises in trot & canter but just going large in walk, allowing her to zone out? But AA is right, it's easy to spoil a walk by trying too hard, which would be a shame.
 
Pony is six but had only been backed since beginning of May so it is early on in her education. Ridden three to four time a week due to time. I tend to use the wings of the jumps to walk her round so lots of shapes, and changes of direction. I agree that I don't wasn't to spoil her walk. She is the first pony I've had (all welsh pony/cobs) who doesnt have a naturally big forward walk.
 
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