Thoughts about the Trot

Lately my goals have been about my being able to ask Try for a good trot without an instructor helping us. That means I need to not only have "arrows in my quiver" but also I need to know by FEEL what is going on with the trot.

To me a "good" trot:

• Steady rhythm with relaxation
• Using HQ
• HQ and FQ balanced but more from HQ
• Power rather than speed/"runny"/emotional
• Tracking up
• Lovely loose but powerful feeling
• (pushing from the HQ rather than pulling from the FQ)
• Lengthening and shortening the trot
• Turn on the haunches
• HQ yields
• FQ/lateral flexability
• Start from a good walk
• Transitions: think forward to avoid losing momentum
• Even if using HQ--Try is not engaged without pickin up her shoulders
• Trot is generally better AFTER we Canter

• From Dawn: using speed as a puzzle for Try to figure out a better balance and comfort. Release comes from stretching, lengthening. Reward the release. Then back to tap/tap/tap. Freestyle with a long rein, really push forward motion. Try will figure out how to get more economical, legthen and stretch. Christoph Hess/Linda Parelli using it to teach young horses--take them too forward so they figure out for themselves a better feel and then they will start to offer it. Don't give up too soon. It may be ugly in the beginning. Play with this and film before Tuesday.

• From MH: Use lots of transitions i.e. trot walk, trot walk--that will help me to feel the trot better. Want to feel pushing (vs pulling). Also transitions within the gait. Then compress/shorter alternated with lengthening i.e. 70/30. Push out of the compression into lengthening. It is not about her head but about being forward.

Methods/Stuff that helps

Plan to video myself and speak into camera as to how the trot is feeling then go back and watch to see if what I felt matches what I see.

"Trotting" (technically a trot) in 2008:

Trotting in 2014 4 17 Lesson with Kathy:

This is a big improvement in development of Try's topline and how she carries herself and uses her HQ.

Next this is MH riding Try--2 different trots--warmup and a more shortened trot.

So Thursday--I had decided that it needed to be a fill Try's +s bucket day. Groomed then decided to ride although that was not the original intent. We took the big trot approach--see Dawn above--I am unsure but I treated it as freestyle--also freestyle in my body for the most part--don't know if that is what I should do. But Try had fun--she was happy to go and to relax. Dan always said "Try doesn't mind playing hard--just not for very long. So rather than just keep pushing her to keep that big trot we would do 1/6 of a mile and then walk 50 yards or so then go again. We did this about 3 times on each side. This just felt right. We did get one time the biggest freestyle trot I have felt AND interestingly I bet a year ago she would have broke to a canter. I can't say that it felt ugly or out of control--just really moving.

BUT if I had MADE her keep going in that big trot--would that have led to her wanting to "balance" herself--she felt pretty balanced to me--but by balanced does that mean she would have eventually offered coming up through her topline to be balanced.

Saturday: walk (tap, tap, tap, my energy, pushing with my seat), trot, walk and stretch, going forward in the trot etc. (20 minutes condensed to 3 minutes--off camera much of the time anyway.) I guess I would call this a forward freestyle trot. ??Shoulders??

1. in the walk I ended up working harder than she did--pushing with my seat and still did not get a good walk. What if I hade gone to HQ yields etc.

2. Is Try forward? yes in the trot

3. Is she happy? yes

4. Is she relaxed? I would say fired up with positive emotion but not relaxed.

5. Is she maintaining a good rhythm? no--she is not maintaining--each time she turns the corner she picks up energy. She is in front of me and then I catch up. When she rounds the opposite corner (not on video) she loses energy.

Monday April 28. Warmup only but I really liked our walk and trot.