Tips for teaching horses medium trot

[paddi22]

Just curious what process and training people use to help horses learn medium trot? was chatting to a friend who uses a totally different process and aids to me, so am wondering could I be doing it better?? What your training process/theory for teaching mediums?

 

[j1ffy]

Kick and hope ?

Not really, although occasionally it comes to that. I try to think of getting the medium in the hind legs so I won't ask more than the hind legs can offer. That means starting with a very tiny (probably barely perceptible to the naked eye) on-and-back, encouraging the hind legs to take longer steps with the back still lifted. Then over time ask for a little more and a little more until I feel 'that' medium trot kick in.

Obviously all exercises that engage the hindquarters and build strength there will help - so lots of preparation work using lateral movements, transitions within lateral movements (to help the idea that leg = engagement, not just faster), and collected work as well as the mediums.

That's the theory anyway, but sometimes kick on and hope the penny drops is necessary if they're particularly sticky!

I'm curious about your process now paddi22

 

[paddi22]

yeah I was the same, I do a lot of work on uphill roads/ field slopes and hills teaching the push in the hinds. Then kind of just improving the trot and adding more push as they are happy with, and gradually increasing depending on how comfortable they are with it. I kind of just play with it. . I think I have my aids for it totally wrong tho. I was taught, sit in, sit back slightly and push legs forward a bit. My friend does nearly the opposite, and she rises doing it, because it helps her horses back and she says it helps them realise you want longer strides by your higher/slower rising? she also does a lot of more spaced out trot poles etc to teach them to stretch the stride. Her focus is more on increasing the stride length and rhythm than I am. I kind of try to build hind and increase the push.

A few of us also have totally different theories on what the rein aids are doing it.

 

[NinjaPony]

Depends on the horse really, it’s easier to teach a horse with a naturally good ‘sit’ and push from the hind leg. Then you can focus on keeping the energy contained, pushing on with the leg and seat gradually to open up the horse and the frame. With a horse like my connie, who didn’t really have a medium trot, it was a case of pole work, work out in the field and actually pushing him forwards more than was comfortable to find that button. Once we found it, I used repetition eg trotting along the same side and opening up, and also specific aids to set him up, so collecting in the corners, then rising slower whilst asking with the leg and stopping after three or four good strides instead of letting him run on.
I’m inclined now to go with an open rise in the seat, and dropping the hands to allow the neck out, rather than sitting deep and driving, but that’s just my experience with a horse who didn’t have much ‘push’ naturally.

 

[spacefaer]

For a horse that's never really done it, back in the old days, we used to get an established horse with a good medium/extended trot, and take them into a large field and just kick on, trotting together, until the novice horse learnt to produce that lift and push from behind himself.

I personally don't like teaching it in a school as you are perpetually fighting the horse's tendency to back off the corners (unless you have a massive school!)

 

[j1ffy]

I think the 'sitting deep and driving' approach can block a horse that doesn't have a natural medium - I've found rising (as you say, on a hack is often most effective) in good balance is more useful to begin with. If you watch some of the top dressage riders they often do a very slight mini-rising, there was a controversial video of Isabell Werth last year when she got away with a more obvious rise in a World Cup GP!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Edit: wasn't a useful post.

 

[milliepops]

many many roads to rome and it depends on the horse's ability, natural paces and temperament quite a bit i think.

i've done the roadrunner approach before with a top trainer and for that horse it elevated us from something mediumish to a much more ambitious pushing off the ground trot, so it can be absolutely the right thing

also done the trotting alongside a horse with an established extension and to just get a penny to drop it can really help.

With a horse that has no natural inclination then it can be effective to almost trick train it from a passage type step.

an averagely talented, averagely paced horse though i would tend to build from on & back work, maintaining the contact and use rising trot to gently encourage a bigger step. you can improve it using various techniques later on but to just get the push off in the first place i think it's best to not overanalyse what you are doing

Last one i worked from scratch i asked on every diagonal because i figured almost all tests use a long diagonal for an extension so having the anticipation built in would be useful. so it became a normal thing we did, and if i wanted to change the rein in between then i'd just use a different line.

 

[Goldenstar]

I move both legs a little farther back and use them both at the same time .
I tend to start out hacking up hill .
My best extender learn out hunting .
In the school I use the shoulder in and go from that for not many strides and then start again with shoulder in

 

[tatty_v]

I took @milliepops roadrunner approach with my Connie who just didn’t “get” what I was asking for. Had previously tried all the usual exercises (10m circle to get hind leg under followed by asking for more push across long diagonal etc) with no success. Once he’d cracked what I was asking for, I had problems *not* doing medium for a while ? he’s 22 now and it’s still his party piece out hacking!

 

[palo1]

We are not really training atm at all but it has taken aaaaagggeeess for my Welsh D to learn Medium (as opposed to faster/higher lol). The things that helped most have been to do loads of hill work to build the strength, to slightly tire her out so that she was more inclined to use her engine than just 'showing off' the front end or offering canter and to work with a standardbred mare next to her who will trot as fast as most horses can gallop lol. That horse has an inbuilt 'super-medium' trot (not necessarily the usual trotter style trot but a true 'medium) that is just lucky for me. In the school, when I have been able to, I have then asked off the corner across the diagonal for the medium. She has it well now and I am extremely proud of her for learning this!! It feels lovely on my little Welshie as it has helped her to really learn to use her engine. I did wonder if she would ever get it though hahahahahaha!