Teach Your Pacey Horse To Trot
By Gaye DeRusso
I teach many pacey horses to trot when loose. Why? Because it helps their gait, decreases tripping, makes them stronger by using different muscles and helps the vet to evaluate them if any lameness issues come up.
Gaited horse people sometimes freak out when they hear about letting the gaited horse trot, but many gaited horses trot when they are loose and yet they can gait very well. Letting them trot loose or on a lunge line is not going to ruin their gait, in fact if it is pacey, it usually helps their gait.
I set up cavaletti poles in a line or in a circle, I start with just a couple of poles and lunge them over them. Once the horse can get over them well at a walk and then at a faster gait even if that’s a pace, I add a couple more poles and then every couple of days or so if they are doing well, I add more poles. So, in the end I end up with 6-8 poles. I put them just about a foot apart or 3-4 of my feet, If the horse has a big stride and keeps hitting them, I move the poles farther apart, until they can get over them well. If they keep leaping to get over them, I move the poles closer together.
By having so many poles close together, it makes it very hard for the horse to gait or pace through the poles. The easiest thing for them to do is trot, and they usually learn that in time. If they keep trotting after the poles, I let them trot, when they go back to gaiting or pacing, I take them back through the poles. This is easiest done with the horse on a lunge line, so you can control where it goes and the speed of the horse, too fast, wiggle the rope, too slow wave the whip and create energy.
I will do this exercise for 5 - 10 min at the most in the beginning, because it is a hard exercise and they need to use their brain, but also their bodies to get through the poles without tripping or falling down. It can be stressful, so best to do for short periods 3- 5 days a week before you ride when they are fresh and have energy. Doing this exercise after the ride can make it too hard for them because they are tired. But you could do after your ride if they are barn sour!
What happens overtime, is the horse becomes better with its feet, less tripping because it learns better proprioception. It also learns to pick its feet up higher to get through the poles, which also helps with tripping. It learns how to balance itself better and It increases the strength around its stifles, back and abdomen from trotting through the poles. Once it learns to trot, it makes it easier for them to canter, because now they have learned they can switch their legs from lateral to diagonal which is more like the canter. Also, it will start to trot when loose and there are no poles because it can now. It is pretty amazing to see them change.
Now you will have more tools to help that pacey horse. If you do it enough, you will see the horse start to get a better gait when it is loose. And when riding, now when you round them out and get their back to relax it will gait better.
Now you might say, well what if it trots now under saddle? No big deal, if it falls out of gait and goes into a trot, just raise its head up and sit back, this will invert the horse's back and take it back into its gait.
I do not recommend trotting under saddle and this is why. Most gaited owners do not have the gaits down and you want to make sure you can get all the gaits and keep them before you add a trot under saddle if you want them to trot. Otherwise, you will totally confuse your horse on what you want.
You also want to make sure you have a specific cue for the trot that is different from their gaits, so the horse knows when to trot and when to gait. Until you get to that point, only let your horse gait under saddle, when it paces round it out, bring its head down and relax its back and if it trots, bring the head up and sit back and invert its back.
Now why would you want them to trot under saddle? Some people do, they do endurance, or they are doing dressage or jumping, and they want that option. Remember many Icelandics and Saddlebreds trot and gait. So, it is possible, if you have the education to do it with your horse, but you must make sure their gaits are solid, as the pace and trot are easier to do than the gaits. And if you just let them trot anytime, they will choose to do it more often since it is easy and then your horse may not gait as well.
Teaching the trot is just to help you get a better gait if your horse is pacey. It is a tool to use and can be a very good tool, if you use it correctly. I specifically like to do with the very hard pacers and the ones that pace at a walk, as those types can be trippier since they swing their feet instead of picking them up.
Lastly, it really helps the vet if you can get your gaited horse to trot, it is so much easier to tell if a horse is lame from a trot vs a gait or a pace. In fact, most horses that pace look lame even though they are not.
I like nothing more than someone seeing me lunge a gaited horse and blurt out your horse is lame, because people love doing that and I go, hold on he was pacing, let me show you, his trot. Then the horse does a beautiful trot and of course they say nothing and walk away.
So, to trot or not to trot, is your option but it really does help the pacey horses be more surefooted, coordinated, increase its proprioception, and build a better topline.
By Gaye DeRusso
I teach many pacey horses to trot when loose. Why? Because it helps their gait, decreases tripping, makes them stronger by using different muscles and helps the vet to evaluate them if any lameness issues come up.
Gaited horse people sometimes freak out when they hear about letting the gaited horse trot, but many gaited horses trot when they are loose and yet they can gait very well. Letting them trot loose or on a lunge line is not going to ruin their gait, in fact if it is pacey, it usually helps their gait.
I set up cavaletti poles in a line or in a circle, I start with just a couple of poles and lunge them over them. Once the horse can get over them well at a walk and then at a faster gait even if that’s a pace, I add a couple more poles and then every couple of days or so if they are doing well, I add more poles. So, in the end I end up with 6-8 poles. I put them just about a foot apart or 3-4 of my feet, If the horse has a big stride and keeps hitting them, I move the poles farther apart, until they can get over them well. If they keep leaping to get over them, I move the poles closer together.
By having so many poles close together, it makes it very hard for the horse to gait or pace through the poles. The easiest thing for them to do is trot, and they usually learn that in time. If they keep trotting after the poles, I let them trot, when they go back to gaiting or pacing, I take them back through the poles. This is easiest done with the horse on a lunge line, so you can control where it goes and the speed of the horse, too fast, wiggle the rope, too slow wave the whip and create energy.
I will do this exercise for 5 - 10 min at the most in the beginning, because it is a hard exercise and they need to use their brain, but also their bodies to get through the poles without tripping or falling down. It can be stressful, so best to do for short periods 3- 5 days a week before you ride when they are fresh and have energy. Doing this exercise after the ride can make it too hard for them because they are tired. But you could do after your ride if they are barn sour!
What happens overtime, is the horse becomes better with its feet, less tripping because it learns better proprioception. It also learns to pick its feet up higher to get through the poles, which also helps with tripping. It learns how to balance itself better and It increases the strength around its stifles, back and abdomen from trotting through the poles. Once it learns to trot, it makes it easier for them to canter, because now they have learned they can switch their legs from lateral to diagonal which is more like the canter. Also, it will start to trot when loose and there are no poles because it can now. It is pretty amazing to see them change.
Now you will have more tools to help that pacey horse. If you do it enough, you will see the horse start to get a better gait when it is loose. And when riding, now when you round them out and get their back to relax it will gait better.
Now you might say, well what if it trots now under saddle? No big deal, if it falls out of gait and goes into a trot, just raise its head up and sit back, this will invert the horse's back and take it back into its gait.
I do not recommend trotting under saddle and this is why. Most gaited owners do not have the gaits down and you want to make sure you can get all the gaits and keep them before you add a trot under saddle if you want them to trot. Otherwise, you will totally confuse your horse on what you want.
You also want to make sure you have a specific cue for the trot that is different from their gaits, so the horse knows when to trot and when to gait. Until you get to that point, only let your horse gait under saddle, when it paces round it out, bring its head down and relax its back and if it trots, bring the head up and sit back and invert its back.
Now why would you want them to trot under saddle? Some people do, they do endurance, or they are doing dressage or jumping, and they want that option. Remember many Icelandics and Saddlebreds trot and gait. So, it is possible, if you have the education to do it with your horse, but you must make sure their gaits are solid, as the pace and trot are easier to do than the gaits. And if you just let them trot anytime, they will choose to do it more often since it is easy and then your horse may not gait as well.
Teaching the trot is just to help you get a better gait if your horse is pacey. It is a tool to use and can be a very good tool, if you use it correctly. I specifically like to do with the very hard pacers and the ones that pace at a walk, as those types can be trippier since they swing their feet instead of picking them up.
Lastly, it really helps the vet if you can get your gaited horse to trot, it is so much easier to tell if a horse is lame from a trot vs a gait or a pace. In fact, most horses that pace look lame even though they are not.
I like nothing more than someone seeing me lunge a gaited horse and blurt out your horse is lame, because people love doing that and I go, hold on he was pacing, let me show you, his trot. Then the horse does a beautiful trot and of course they say nothing and walk away.
So, to trot or not to trot, is your option but it really does help the pacey horses be more surefooted, coordinated, increase its proprioception, and build a better topline.