# Training three trots



## My2Minis (Jan 30, 2010)

How do you go about training three distinct trots? I'm still in the ground training stage and she knows walk, trot, whoa, easy and speed-up-with-a-cluck pretty well. While free lunging she has a beautiful extended trot.


----------



## disneyhorse (Jan 30, 2010)

Don't expect too much of your horse yet. With time, they will get it! Worry about hooking your horse and all that comes with it. Once you are in the cart consistently (or riding, if it's a big horse) you can fine-tune your transitions and such.

Good luck!

Andrea


----------



## hobbyhorse23 (Jan 30, 2010)

What Andrea said, and to make it even easier you only need two trots for breed show purposes. (Roadster is a whole 'nother deal.




) It's important with your green horse to establish good rhythm in the working gait and get the horse to relax and move steadily through figures and transitions before worrying about any sort of power, lengthening or collection. Which three trots were you thinking of?

Leia


----------



## nbark (Jan 30, 2010)

My instructor uses "trot" for regular trot, "trot on" for working trot, "pace" for extended trot....hope this helps when the time comes...


----------



## Mominis (Jan 30, 2010)

"101 Longing and Long Lining Exercises" by Cherry Hill is a pretty good book to check out when you are developing a horse in the lines, especially if you have not done much lining. I refer back to it a lot. Since my boy won't come live here until March, I've been re-reading that a bunch myself. There are some good exercises for developing varying levels of collection in it. I'm sure you can find a cheap copy on ebay or at amazon. There's even a bunch of good prep work in that book for the young horse before he's old enough to work on a line.


----------



## My2Minis (Jan 30, 2010)

Thanks everyone! I was thinking of trot, working trot and extended trot. I've only been to watch one show- that was the fun show at the Monroe Fairgrounds last year and I seem to remember they asked for three trots, but maybe it was two. I know one was working trot.

(I am still learning and may be a doofus).

I'll check out the Cherry Hill book. I hope to be able to hitch Katie up this spring.


----------



## Farina (Jan 31, 2010)

I thin important for developing extension is that you work slowly forward. Don't expect them to trot the long side in a nice extended trot but to show you one nice step at first. After that working trot. Repeat this a few times short trot- extended trot. The next day if he feels right try two steps and so on. He so learns to carry himself instead of rushing and you will get a nice extended trot. Be patience and give him time for his muscles to build up.


----------



## hobbyhorse23 (Jan 31, 2010)

nbark said:


> My instructor uses "trot" for regular trot, *"trot on" for working trot*, "pace" for extended trot....





My2Minis said:


> I was thinking of *trot, working trot and extended trot*. I've only been to watch one show- that was the fun show at the Monroe Fairgrounds last year and I seem to remember they asked for three trots, but maybe it was two. I know one was working trot.


I was taught that the working trot is THE trot- the nice ground-covering gait the horse can comfortably hold for hours taking the family to town for church on Sunday. This gait is the primary one used in driven dressage tests and is the foundation of all others including the collected and lengthened trots asked for in more upper-level tests.

ADS Pleasure Driving shows have a different set of three trots, asking for the slow trot, working trot and strong trot.

AMHR asks for a "Pleasure or Country Pleasure Trot" and an "Extended Trot" in the normal three classes with the Extended being described as more of a lengthening by ADS definitions.

AMHA calls for a "Pleasure Trot" and "Working Trot" in Classic and Country Pleasure and a "Collected" and "Working" trot in Single Pleasure. In both cases the working gait is described as a lengthened trot with the Pleasure trot being what the working should normally be except perhaps a little slower. In Single Pleasure they want the horse more collected-looking in the slower gait instead of moving in a more relaxed manner.

In both registries Roadster requires the slow jog trot, the faster road gait and a full extended "drive on" trot.

We could REALLY confuse things by adding in the ridden dressage medium trot, the park horse trot, the shortened trot, the passage, the piaffe...you get the idea!





Needless to say, it depends on what discipline you're interested in competing in.





Leia


----------



## My2Minis (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks, Leia. That was very helpful.


----------



## MiLo Minis (Jan 31, 2010)

I have described how I like to train for lengthening before. I take the horse out on the road and on my way out I work on getting him relaxed and on the bit. This is after I have got him to that point in the ring at home. Once he is working nicely on the road I turn for home and ask him to lengthen. All horses naturally want to speed up going for home so they are usually quite willing to give me lengthening when I won't let them speed up. This gets the idea through to them that they can cover ground without actually going faster.

For training the slow trots I work on spirals. Starting with a working trot on a large circle I work down in size and slow the gait as I circle smaller, slower, smaller yet - slower yet, and then back out again increasing the gait as we increase the size. You can actually get quite a lot of different gaits from them this way and they are happy to collect themself as the circle closes - they feel better balanced that way. Look for a distinct change in gait as you begin each circle. You MUST have your horse working well on large circles before you even think to attempt this though or you are going to make them upset, tense and resistant.


----------



## RhineStone (Feb 1, 2010)

I almost always teach the three ADS trots on the longe line before I put to. I may even teach them before harnessing. It doesn't seem to take minis long to get it, and I watch that I don't put excess stress on their joints. We start learning a normal Working Trot, the everyday, "just get to town" trot. When the horse seems to have gotten that (after a few times working), then I might ask for an increase in speed, and I will "follow the wall" on the long walls, so that the horse has "room" to increase and lengthen in an oval instead of a circle. It won't be a true lengthened, extended, strong trot, as the frame is not there, but the horse learns that "Trot Up!" means go faster. Yes, a lengthened, extended, strong trot is not supposed to be focused on speed, but once they learn the cue for "go faster", we can refine it later in the cart. 

Then I work on slow trot. This works really well by "reeling" the horse into a smaller circle as I say in a long, drawn out way, "Jog". It's not a Western Pleasure jog, but it is slower than a Working Trot. The horse can't go as fast on a smaller circle and this way the horse learns to rate himself. Again, I can refine him later. Our 2-yr. old Arabian/Dutch Harness mare knows three speeds of trot on the longe line after only about 3-6 lessons. I can slow her down on the longe just with my voice and not have to pull on the line at all. You have to be consistent with your voice commands, though. We also work on "Whoa!" and "Stand" on the longe line, as well as Back, but I do back more in hand. A square set is also a good thing to teach in hand, as then the horse seems to "lock" his feet more during line up when set square. This is actually why Saddle Seat horses are "parked out", stretching the frame, because they were less likely to move, therefore they were "parked".





Myrna


----------

