Trot to walk transition

[Panda2000]

Hi all, does anybody have any idea how to get a horse to go forward into the walk, he just collapses when asked to walk. I have tried making to walk more interesting but it is the transition the he struggles with. It is the same on both reins. The trot and canter are fine.

 

[HeresHoping]

Half halt, half halt, half halt... ride him up to the bridle. Your aid should be forward into a blocked hand, not a pull.

 

[YourValentine]

Hard with out seeing you and your horse, but do you have a good quality trot coming into the transition? Are you shortening the trot stride so they are 'sitting'/ weight back as they come to walk so they are balanced and not falling onto the forehand.

I find thinking UP - looking, body position etc - in downward transitions helpful to stop me collapsing and not helping the horse. And thinking of the horse stepping out into walk not down into walk - if that makes sense?

It might be helpful to do lots of transitions with in trot, bring it back half halting till almost walking then ride forward in trot, practice lengthening and shorting the trot.

And then do lots of transitions, if you still feel they die in walk ask for walk - canter 4 strides later. Basically work on keeping them thinking forward, while preparing as best you can.

 

[DabDab]

Have you had some eyes on the ground to look at what you are doing in the transition? I think as riders that during transitions is one of the places we most often get into little habits with our bodies that we don't notice, and when I've had a horse collapsing into walk it has always been because I've started blocking their forward movement with my pelvis as I do the transition.

To get a smooth downward transition your pelvis movement has to go from one rhythm to the next just as the horse does. If you go from trot movement in your seat to a braced pelvis then you are instinctively asking the horse to transition from trot to halt rather than trot to walk, so if at the same time you are asking for forwards walk with your leg aid you get that first stride collapse effect.

If you have a regular instructor might be worth asking them to take a look specifically at that for a session?

 

[SEL]

I've got a similar problem going from canter to trot and eyes on the ground said I'm over-asking for the downward transition with my seat (in fact I think what DabDab has said).

The way she got me to ride it better and develop the right feel was not to just go canter to trot but something like back to trot at B and instantly onto a 20m circle. I suspect that by keeping my eyes up and looking at where I needed to go I wasn't blocking the forward movement.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Half halt, half halt, half halt... ride him up to the bridle. Your aid should be forward into a blocked hand, not a pull.

This

 

[Rumtytum]

“Forwards to Walk!” as per my RI

 

[Red-1]

I find my attitude to the new pace has great bearing. If I think I am doing a downwards transition from trot for the walk, then I stop the trot but the walk takes a few strides to dial in. However, if I more feel like I now want to walk, I feel for the beat from the very first step, in fact, before we have even got the walk. That way, the walk arrives with purpose. I decide which foot I'd like to start the walk, then ride each footfall after that.

I di agree with other's suggestions though, to instantly go back up to canter, for example, if the walk consistently fails. That way, the horse won't switch off for a rest as he expects more may be asked.

 

[daffy44]

Impossible to be specific without seeing you both, but there are two basic rules for making good downwards transitions.
1 Sit up, if you collapse forward, your horse will struggle to keep its shoulders up and that affects fluency and balance.

2 Always think about starting the new pace, not stopping the current pace, so you are starting walk, not stopping trot etc.

 

[Cortez]

Take a lesson from a good teacher/trainer who really understands what riding forwards is all about.

 

[SEL]

I find my attitude to the new pace has great bearing. If I think I am doing a downwards transition from trot for the walk, then I stop the trot but the walk takes a few strides to dial in. However, if I more feel like I now want to walk, I feel for the beat from the very first step, in fact, before we have even got the walk. That way, the walk arrives with purpose. I decide which foot I'd like to start the walk, then ride each footfall after that.

Same lines to what I was being coached through. Rather than 'come back to trot at B' it became canter round and trot a 20m circle at B. So I was thinking less about the downward transition (& riding it badly) and more about positioning him for a 20m circle which just happened to be in trot. Its why I like a good coach because I obviously I think I'm riding forwards into the transition, but just tweaking the exercise changed the thought process.

 

[Panda2000]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, i will try them on our next ride and mention it to my instructor.

 

[tristar]

i just stop moving my seat to follow trot keeping the pelvis still get walk, then follow the walk with my seat, i try not to use the reins just the seat

it also depends what kind of walk you are going into, is it collected, or a marching walk, or stretch down