This message is from: Sarah Clarke <sarahmagdalencla...@yahoo.com> --- On Wed, 2/25/09, Hope Carlson <hillsidefarm...@att.net> wrote:
So how > to work on an extended > trot without seeming to her I am punishing her for the hard > won jog? Hope there is nothing incompatible with having a horse jog (when you want them to) and also do extended trot (when requested.) It's about developing a vocabulary of aids (cues) that let the horse know if you want the pace slower or quicker and if you want the stride longer or shorter. IF you want to do minimal posting, that may be an issue as you may need to do some posting to get the horse trained to where the extension can happen. The fact that her canter is non-existent may work to your benefit as there is less risk of her breaking as you push her stride longer. That being said some Fjords will have that trot you describe more than others due to conformations. The basic tenet of lengthening the stride is to hold gently with the reins (to say don't speed up)while pushing forward with the legs - to say but get your stride longer. This works best when posting because you can use the posting to help regulate the tempo. Usually you push the horse forward for a stride or two and then let them settle, then forward again, and over time you increase this until they can really go for a long time. How long until your race? It may take a couple of months of work to put a nice extension on horse that has only been jogging. Good Luck - Hope these comments were helpful. - Sarah Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
