This message is from: Lori Albrough <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Teressa Kandianis wrote:
I don't know what level Grand Prix is
myself, but with the best walk of all, I'm guessing its an upper
level??
Hi Teressa,
Thanks for posting that about Anne & Wez. Glad to hear they made such a
great impression on your friends from the barn. Grand Prix is indeed the
highest level in dressage. Not many horses of any breed will make it to
Grand Prix - we should all be SO PROUD of Wez! And of Anne for getting
there with him, because not many riders will get to that level either. It
takes a lot of years of training and perserverance.
When your friends noticed that Wez had the best walk of all the
demonstration horses that day (YAY!) they are looking at several qualities.
In all paces the most important quality is the purity of the rhythm. In walk
you want to see an even four beats. Most Fjords I've seen DO have a good
rhythmical four beat walk, that is a trait in the breed that we definitely
want to be aware of and preserve. Some horses with a not-so-good walk can
lose that 4-beat rhythm, and instead start to move the legs on the same side
in close unison, and almost appear to pace. Sometimes this is caused by
tension. A tense horse will have a hurried rushed look to the walk which is
undesirable, you want relaxation and long, loose, free steps in that clear
four beat rhythm.
You want the walk to look like it is going somewhere, activity and march are
words you will hear to describe a good walk. In the free and extended walk
you also want to see a clear over-track, where the hind foot is landing past
the print left by the fore hoof. Some of the bigger moving horses, like some
warmbloods, will have a huge amount of over-track in the walk, and the
judges love that. The problem is that when you try to collect or even
organize their walk a bit, they can tend to get lateral or pacey.
FEI judge Dr. Volker Moritz told us at our Symposium last year "You can't
make a bad natural walk good, but you can ruin a good natural walk". (by
mistakes in riding and training)
Lori
Lori Albrough
Bluebird Lane Fjords
Moorefield, Ontario
