[Bella]

My mare is 5 this summer, and naturally has a very short stride. I've tried to use more leg while holding her head, but she still manages to just speed up, without extending her stride.

Any tips and pointers on EFFECTIVE ways to get her to extend her stride? I'd love you forever! lol

Thanks in advance.

-Bella running_

[Blistering Winds]

Are you sure she's not extending her stride and you just can't see it? Have someone on the ground watch. I had to do that cause I thought my horse wasn't either. Come to find out, he has a PRETTY extend.

[ridegrrl]

Your horse may be unsure of what you want her to do. Of course the extended trot shouldn't mean she moves her legs faster, as she assumes, it means she pushes off with more power, stretches her legs out farther, and maintains suspension, that moment of 'hang time' at the completion of a stride before the foot strikes the ground.

Though the extended trot is something you can really 'showcase' by riding in a straight line, like down the long side of the arena, some horses need to learn to "reach" in other ways first.

Try bending her and using your inside leg to ask her to step well under herself at the walk and trot. When she learns to push farther and reach deeper under herself with her hind legs on a bend, she'll be better able to do it straight, and deliver that powerful stride in the extended trot.

Teaching her to take longer strides works well on an arc because she won't be as likely to think that your inside leg pressure means "go fast", it will mean "step farther under yourself". Then when you straighten out, you can use both of your legs lightly and equally, as encouragement to reach well under herself with both hind legs.

Hope this helps you!

[saraa]

hey,, what i would try doing is setting troting poles and try lenthgining them to how far apart they would have to be for ur horses exteneded trot * hope i helped

[Catapultcomformation]

well most horses do it naturally when coming out of a canter so If you were to come out of a couple of canter strides and feel that extended trot wich you will definetly feel just knead your reins with some half halts and push with yourlegs and seat keep her going for a little bit not too long though because she hant built up muscles needed for this and just do a regular trot then canter come back down to a extended trot and push and knead this is how I have seen people do it and is how I do it when Im on a lunge line with my horse I lease

[slc]

those are some good ideas. getting the horse kind of supple (not real curved, but just relaxed in his jaw, like from leg yields) and some bending helps to get him warmed up for the harder trot work. cantering is very important too. a horse will do a really good free and loose moving trot most of the time right after they canter.

the toughest thing about getting them to lengthen their stride is to have them really straight right before you try to do it, so they can push really hard with BOTH hind legs, and the push will push them forwards. it can only do that if they are really straight. a coach can help you get the horse very straight, so he can really push off. mostly that is learning to use the outside rein and other aids to be sure the shoulders are in front of their hind legs, really straight, in other words.

i have a set of exercises i do in order to get the horse first suppled up, then to get him really pushing off.

so what i do is some stretchy walks, then canter and trot on some big circles really forward, and some really forward leg yields, then shoulder in to get really straight, then i canter and really go down the long side, and try to get the horse really round, straight and going strongly forward, even if it gets him a little strong in the bridle, and then trot, and go just on a very short diagonal, say just from e to f, and try to develop just a couple good steps. i don't try to go the long diagonal when the horse is learning it. another good place to work on it is a big circle. that really makes them use their back legs. the secret is to not try to do it a really lot at first. just a few steps and gradually add more steps.

it takes a lot of time for them to really develop it. they can't really do an extended trot til they are at about 3rd level. before that they are doing a lengthening of stride at the trot, it is not quite as much but is the same idea.

[Bella]

Thanks everyone! I will try the things you have suggested, and see what works best for Babe. And I will certainly have someone watch to tell me if she is extending at all.

One more quick question though.. whould I be sitting or posting while working on this?

-Bella running_

[zorse]

Depending on her breed, conformation, and movement..she may not be able to lengthen her stride like you'd see a WB or good-mover do. My friend's draft/qh couldn't for the life of him even dream of extending...he just quickens his trot, or canters.

You can either sit or post...it might be easier for you to sit since then you can focus on driving her with your seat and legs.

[Bella]

Okay, thanks zorse. Babe is an Appaloosa, so i'm definetely not expecting her to extend like a warmblood does, but it would be nice if I could get her to have a slight extension, so the judge can at least notice a change.

-Bella running_

[zorse]

Ooo! Another app! I love the appies I've seen some nice moving appies...and also some not-so-great ones. Some apps have awesome movement...hopefully yours is one of the lucky ones
I'd love to see pics of her! I'm a su.cker for apps

<small>[ May 04, 2004, 08:34 PM: Message edited by: zorse ]</small>