Walk this way
QOn my test sheet, a dressage judge has written “horse must march and stretch more”’ in the free walk. My horse doesn’t march and prefers to put his head up to look around. What can I do to work on this? Annie Smith, Cornwall
Kate says... To improve your horse’s free walk, you first need to work on the medium walk. Walk is usually the most difficult pace to work on as it is so easy for the horse to drop behind the leg and lose engagement of the hindquarters. It is often best to work on the walk initially while out hacking or riding in the open rather than in the school.
Relax…or don’t do it
Your first priority is to ensure that the horse is relaxed. If he isn’t, it might help to work him in trot, or even canter, until he is ready to listen to you. Once he is relaxed and paying attention, make some walk-trot transitions, keeping the horse in front of your leg at all times.
Remember that when you are making a transition from trot to walk you need as much impulsion as you do to move from walk to trot. The same applies between trot and canter as well.
Quick, march
To get your horse to march more in the walk it often helps to ride out with another horse that walks out. If this cannot be done then you need to ask with your lower leg, giving the aid for each step while encouraging the horse to remain in an outline. Pole work will often help with this as well. Once the medium walk is starting to march forwards, you can work on the free walk.
Look out for the language
The first thing to remember is that the movement is ‘free walk on a long rein’, not a loose rein, and therefore there must be a contact down the rein. This does make it easier to keep your horse’s concentration and maintain the outline.
At first, do not expect your horse to stretch too much and for too great a distance, as he will need to gain confidence and learn to maintain his concentration. Again, pole work can help — gradually increase the distance between the poles, making sure that you maintain the increased length of stride after you have walked over the poles. The poles will often encourage the horse to stretch the neck and look forwards and down.