RE: Transistions

[Wendy Milner <wendy@wendy.cnd.hp.com>]

Lysane Cree
>I was wondering if anyone could suggest some exercises or work I
>could do with my horse to help him make his transitions between walk 
>and trot and trot and canter better. When i ask him to change gaits, he 
>will tense up and want to speed up, and so raise his head and hollow 
>his back. Once he is in the trot or canter, he will settle into the 
>gait just fine after a stride or two, and lower his head and round 
>his back more. He used to throw his head around a lot and be really 
>nervous when I first got him because people had been hard on his 
>mouth, but he got over that. And he is not really fighting my hands 
>when he is raising his head to make a transition, but it seems as if 
>he is not 'balanced' enough or bringing his hindlegs underneath him 
>enough (??). Any ideas? He does not have a problem with slowing 
>down and changing from a canter to a trot or trot to a walk.
>Thanks for the help,
>Lysane and Buck

It sounds as if Buck isn't quite ready to trust the hands that hold
his sensitive mouth.  He may also not be ready for the transition.
It is up to you to set him up for it.

In a nice arena and on a 20 meter circle, get Buck into a really good 
and round walk.  Ask him to really give to the bit, be very light to your 
hands.  At the same time, you must be very light as well.  When you think 
the walk just can't get any better, ask for the trot.  Make sure that you 
do not change your hands.  The contact must remain constant and light.
The worst thing you can do is to jab his mouth.  Only let him trot for
half a circle at most.  Then ask him to walk again.

Get the good walk back and do it again.  It is very helpful to have
some one evaluate you to make sure you are not hindering what he is
doing.  

Repeat.  The half cicle or less tell Buck to not speed up because he's
going to stop pretty quick.  Your very quiet hands tell him to trust you.
You have to make sure the walk is good first.  You almost want him to
be over round to compensate for his hollowing out with the first couple
of strides at the trot.  But as you repeate this exercise, you'll find
that the transition gets smoother.  It may takes several days to get it,
don't give up.  It's a real dream when you can move from a walk to a
trot without the horse changing anything except the rhythm of his feet.
No change in speed, no change in his back, no change in the feel of your
hands.  It is great.

When you get the transition very smooth, then let Buck trot a couple of
circles before transitioning down to the walk.  Work on a nice round
trot each time.

Do not bother with the canter until you can get the walk trot transition
down.

--
Wendy

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  Wendy Milner                     HPDesk:   wendy_milner@hp4000
  Hewlett-Packard Company          e-mail:   wendy@fc.hp.com
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