Lengthening without rushing

[Kendra]

Anyone have any advice or suggestions on the right way to work on a proper lengthened trot?

 

[Farina]

For a good advice I would like to know what the pony is doing in training right now? Is she/he well balanced and bend to both sides? Have you heard about the 'Skala der Ausbildung'?

If she/he goes with rythm, subtleness and bends to both sides well (Anlehnung) then I would work her with some nice clean walk-trot transitions. Trot on a few strides than back to walk for some steps. Though the horse learns your aids what you want from him if you say 'trot on' and 'whoa'. If it does this well then I would ask for one lengthened step in trot. then slower and praise. Next day ask for two lengthened steps and so on, but only ask more steps if he is doing well. So work this out until the horse shows you a smooth transition working-trot lengthened-trot and back. Then you could build up muscles so the horse are able to do what is asked.

That's the way we are doing this.

 

[Kendra]

Hi Farina, thanks for your response! He's been driving for about 4 years, I finally feel like I can say, yes, he is nicely balanced and bending both ways (though still slightly better to the right).

He's been a show driving horse, and we both love to do roadster, hence the tendancy to rush as well as lengthen. However, I am going to show him only in carriage driving events this year, so we're ready to save the speed for the hazards.

I find if I give him any verbal cue he takes it to mean 'go like stink', so today I was trying to just give him a little bit more rein and let him reach into it, and we seemed to get a few good strides before our rhythm fell apart. I'm hoping I'm on the right track, now I just need someone watching to tell me how he looks!

 

[sassy1]

Realistically a friend with a video camera is wonderful! What you may "feel" is not good may well be excellent, and what you feel is ok may not be quite so good....

Do you do any work in long reins (ground driving)? That can often help - so long as you get forward and stepping through off the hocks.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Well, this old-timer had pretty good results from the only one of my horses that I really tried to 'take to this level', so to speak, by simply taking a very gradual approach, of asking for the lengthening once he was well warmed up and we'd gone up through the basics, and just steadying him into it. Each time, I'd ask him to stay inthe lengthened trot a bit longer. Yes, frequent clear transitions can be of help, also.) Listen for the cadence to remain the same, yet you are covering more ground, to put it very simply.

(Yes, the horse was solid on his basics, and it helped to have a very clear set of vocal cues for what you wanted...I had a whole 'other' vocal cue for the 'go like stink' of roadster, and it helped keep the horse from doing just that when that wasn't what I wanted!)

A simple explanation; trying not to 'overanalyze/overexplain'!

Margo

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I find if I give him any verbal cue he takes it to mean 'go like stink', so today I was trying to just give him a little bit more rein and let him reach into it, and we seemed to get a few good strides before our rhythm fell apart. I'm hoping I'm on the right track, now I just need someone watching to tell me how he looks!

The cues for lengthening are such fun to get right!

There's a fine line between giving the rein to allow stretch and throwing the horse away so he falls on his forehand and gets rushy. I struggle with it myself. What I found was important was to collect and balance the horse before asking for the lengthening and to push him forward into the bridle just before giving the rein; he has to ask for the room to lengthen, in other words. The feeling is like throttling up a plane on a short runway...you apply the thrust and then release the brake and let him push off.

Your contact should be soft and elastic at all times but you don't give that rein until he steps up under himself and pushes forward like a slinky extending. Then you allow him only as much room as he needs to lengthen frame but keep holding contact and balancing him with half-halts to keep his weight to the rear. The moment you feel him losing power ask him to collect and shorten again and praise him for good effort.

The problem I always had was wanting to give my horse too much rein in encouraging him to really lengthen and go. I'd surrender that supporting contact and after an initial good effort his balance would tip forward and he'd rush. I'd recognize what had happened and always tried to pick him back up again immediately but I missed the point that if I'd been supporting him in the first place I would never have had to pick up the pieces.

I also have to be aware of my own posture. I had a tendency when throwing away the rein like that to round my shoulders and push my elbows far forward which caused my own energy to drain into the ground as my ribcage caved and I "fell on my forehand." I had to learn to think of rocking a motorboat back on its keel and going. Now I take a deep breathe to expand my ribcage, collect my shoulders back and down and open, bring up my energy through my center and ask the horse to go forward into that elevating, supporting contact. Once he's powered up and starts to open his stride I can give a tiny bit more to allow his frame to lengthen for the most reach, but I stay with him and support him. When we reach the end of the lengthening I breathe down into my center and pull in my energy a bit, and he comes back to me softly and calmly.

For a roadster horse like Hawk with a real go button the energy work may be a big part of it. Keep your own energy very calm and flowing and experiment with "sighing out" into the lengthening or otherwise influencing his tempo with your own energy and see what happens. There will probably be something you find works for him and it may be different than what might work for another horse.

Good luck!

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

We are at this same point with Alax. He has a great strong trot, but it is much more elevated when he starts to lengthen his stride. You can see it in his shoulders from the box. My goal for this year is to really help him and me understand how to get an elevated, lengthened trot consistently. So far what I have found is that I need to "milk" the reins before asking for more impulsion. I suppose this is Leia's "collect and balance" she describes. If you have ever milked a cow by hand (it's a good analogy around here, as lots of people in Wisconsin have!), you usually pull one teat then the other (on that side, there are four teats total. Ya'll watched Little House on the Prairie, didn't you?). So if you "squeeze" one rein then the other, right, left, right, left, etc., that is what I use to set him up before and during asking for more impulsion.

As far as posture goes, Leia's description of what NOT to do sounds exactly like what I do in what I call Marathon Mode.

It's when I don't have to really help Alax set up too much, because he already has continued implusion from being "excited" in the obstacles, and I am "choked up" on the reins to help make harder turns. (The photos on my website where Alax is looking really good are from obstacle classes, not arena classes!

) What we need to work on is transferring that "ambition" to the arena, where he usually isn't quite so motivated. Yes, I need to think, too, about my motorboat, keeping that energy in the hind without losing forwardness.

I had a lot of problems last year with him popping a shoulder every time I asked for more impulsion in the arena, so then I would have to "reduce" his trot so he didn't canter. Ultimately, he would speed up some, but not extend or lengthen because of the popping.

We have seen some moments of brilliance this winter. I have a lesson in June with Muffy Seaton, and I am hoping that she can help us with this. That, and raising the base of his neck.

Myrna

 

[ClickMini]

I think you are getting some really great advice on this thread. Here is what I do to build impulsion, which is what releases into a good extension. I start off by doing walk/halt transitions. I start my work with this; I spend the first 10 minutes of every drive doing walk and halt. Making my halts a little longer each time. This builds in the relaxation, and also helps them release the topline. It also helps contract the underline as they begin to anticipate the halt. I then go into a series of walk/trot/halt transitions. Your horse should always be ready to transition into any requested gait, and I am including halt as a gait. As you go further into your session, make the transitions more and more frequently. What you are doing here is tuning the horse more and more to do what you ask at a moment's notice. You will see a noticeable lift in the gait, and the back end of the horse will be "sitting" more as the underline tightens and the horse gets more "ready." When you start to see significant lightening of the forehand, ask for the trot, half-halt, then release into a softer contact (don't drop it!) with a kiss. As a previous poster mentioned, it is important to only do a few steps in the beginning. Bring the horse back before it loses balance and drops onto the forehand.

You are not going to build beautiful self-carriage, collection, or extension without truly understanding the half-halt. There is a great article on Andy Marcoux's site about it: http://www.coachmansdelight.com/CGuidePage...k=21&s=#g67

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Kendra]

I wanted to (belatedly) thank everyone for the advise! I was waiting until I'd had a proper chance to work on it before I responded, but the wind the last couple weeks has been sufficiently discouraging that I haven't gotten a whole lot of driving in.

On Wednesday my friend Christine braved the windstorm to come over and 'play'. Everyone should have a driving buddy with a background in ridden dressage, I'm lucky!! She tells me that it isn't my imagination (which it sometimes is, I admit) and we really are starting ahead of where we finished in the fall, and that we're on the right track for a lenthened trot, so I'm feeling reassured that I'm making progress at least!

Very disappointed to discover the clinic I was looking forward to has been post-poned, but I'll set up a lesson to make up for it!

Quick photo from the other day that I liked:

And Emmett driving Hawk, cause I think it's a cute picture:

 

[Sue_C.]

Kendra...very nice photos. I soooo envy you too, that big flat area to drive on.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I really like what I see in that photo of him beginning to lengthen! You can see how he has lifted himself in the front end - his back foot is on the ground solidly before his front lands. He has one tiny wrinkle left in his neck just in front of the hanger strap and once you get rid of that wrinkle and push him up into the bridle just a bit more you are going to have some really nice lengthening! You are well on your way!!!