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      Riding Within the Gaits

      Riding in the beginning stages is all about the working walk, the trot, and the canter, but as you advance in your skills, everything becomes more complex. For instance, you must learn how to move seamlessly from one gait to another. You need to include paces in your repertoire; for instance, the walk paces include the free walk, the medium walk, the extended walk, and the collected walk. While jumping, you must learn to adjust your stride within the speed of your canter, hand gallop, or gallop, depending on the style of fence. Advanced riders also need to learn how to advance a horse’s knowledge with a method of training. In dressage, this is primarily the training pyramid or scale. Because this is a universal, integral concept among riders of all disciplines, I urge you to incorporate this technique into your own training sessions.

Transitions

      A well-ridden transition seems a simple thing. After all, in essence you are only switching gears: walk to trot, trot to canter, or trot to walk. But many things that appear easy are in actuality very hard to do. What people see in that easy transition is a horse that smoothly changes rhythm; for example, from a one-two, one-two beat in the trot to a one-two-three beat in the canter. Nothing else changes: the horse should continue to move forward with the same energy (unless you’ve halted), remain on the bit or accepting the bit, and stay balanced. But what brings about the shift in gaits is indiscernible to observers. That’s the rider’s job, to make his aids invisible to spectators and obvious only to the horse—to make the whole thing look easy. A great transition is one that is prepared and well trained, but most of all one that shows the true harmony and partnership between horse and rider that has developed over time.

      If you’re a dressage rider, bad transitions will keep you stuck in Training Level because the further you advance in the levels, the more important transitions become. If you’re a hunter or jumper rider and you can’t pull off a transition on the flat, you’ll be in trouble when it comes to jumping because you won’t be able to gauge your distances. You’ll come into the fence too deeply or chip in an extra stride. Your hunter won’t make the proper strides between fences, and your jumper will most likely pull rails.

      A common fault in the downward transition is that the rider leans back and braces against the horse and uses his stirrups as brake pedals. Or he leans forward and lightens his seat. Because there is no preparation, the result is an awkward transition, or the horse either braces back and ignores the rider completely or responds by going faster. When riders brace and fall to the back of the saddle, their seat drives the horse on and makes her go faster. Everyone instinctively leans back to stop, and that’s good if you’re a beginning rider and you’re going to fall off, but not at this stage in your riding. The answer is to keep your position through your transition.

      Using the bit for a brake is another common fault. If this is your issue, go back and review your half halt and make sure you are applying it correctly.

      Making an upward transition by chasing the horse until she reaches the required gait is also a common error. For example, instead of simply moving from the trot to the canter, riders gun the horse forward from the walk to a fast trot and then to the canter. In this error, the rider’s seat has shifted too far forward, and he has not started with his horse balanced and accepting the bit. In the upward transition, keep the energy flowing from behind. Ask when your position is correct, and don’t ask for the canter if your horse begins to run. Bring her back and try again, this time with better preparation. You may have also used too sharp an aid to jolt your horse forward. Ask with a softer cue.