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Part Two
Donald McMiken Ph.D.
This month we continue our examination of the forgotten gait... Balance and stability at the gallop
The idea is to go straight, at an even speed, not pulling, and to go up and down rolling ground in balance at the same pace. Find a nice rhythm and let the horse bowl along. Ride lightly in two-point jumping style. Gallop quietly for about 800 metres at an easy pace then pull up gradually and walk until recovered. Gallop at a hunting pace of 400-500 m/min not flat out. You don't want to teach the horse the trick of galloping full on every time you give it the aids to go!
Repeat at different speeds on different days to get a graded response until your horse goes calmly and ceases to plunge, pull or change pace of his own accord. Always gallop alone and in the same place at this stage. The horse learns your start and stopping points quickly. It is amazing how easy it is to teach a horse this, even with an ex-racer. It may take patience and a few weeks to get this right. Stability at a galloping pace is what you're looking for and calmness is crucial.
Responding instantly at the gallop.
When riding cross-country we want the horse to accept the bit, respond to aids and lengthen or shorten instantly when directed. The horse needs to gallop on-the-bit for this, so for some horses you may need to establish stronger contact. An easy way to do this is to gallop in company with another horse once or twice, that tends to bring them up to the bit nicely.
To teach acceleration ride at hunting pace, sit down and slow a little, let the horse come up to the bit, then close both legs hard behind the girth to obtain lengthening. Maintain rein contact, do not fling your reins to the horse. At first reinforce these leg aids by using a whip sharply behind the leg - always the legs first then the whip. Use your voice too with something consistent like Go..
Don't lean forward or stand up when you're asking to go, that's a nasty habit for a horse to get into. Sit down, let him move up to your hands then apply your leg aids. Exaggerate and sprint for 30 metres or so in the two-point position before sitting down and bringing him back to hunting pace. Using spurs is not a good move, it is not nearly so effective for this exercise as a whip.
In slowing, redistribute your weight from standing to a sitting position together with closing your legs on the girth and stronger contact; you will be surprised how easily your horse will learn to come back just by sitting down. Riding alongside another horse who is already well schooled is an effective way to teach it but only if he remains calm. If you do this be sure your horse also learns this control alone. Changing pace is a basic exercise and you will need to return to it often throughout your horse's career to keep his responses sharp.
Shortening and lengthening at the gallop using a related distance. This is another good exercise and the next progression: Set up two cavalletti or easy jumps exactly 16.5 metre apart. For those of you who are not into jumping, a couple of fencing rails on the ground will do (in that case make it 15 m). This is a distance of four easy strides at a good show-jumping canter (350 m/min).
Practise a nice steady approach a few times then work for shortening; ride the first cavalletti as you did before but this time try to fit five strides in. You'll need to sit down and apply the aids for the half-halt at the end of each stride to do it. Not checking the horse like the old-style jumpers - slowing him gently with the legs and seat. Don't distract the horse by pulling it about in the combination, sit down and work with its rhythm so its attention remains on the fence. Fitting six strides in this distance is even tougher on a big horse, especially if you use decent fences. Come back another day and work on it next time you're out.
That's fine for show jumping, now for an eventer we want to get the horse to lengthen at will too. Set the same jumps to about one metre or so. Try the same approach for the usual four strides, then work for three strides by sitting down in the combination and driving him on. It may take a few tries to get it smooth. To make it in two strides is a lot tougher, don't try it on the same day. Give it time, you'll have to increase your approach to a good gallop, maybe raise the jumps - jump in on a good long stride and really go for it.
Circles and changing leads at speed
Circle at hunting pace in your jumping arena, that's at a good 400 m/min. Commence with a circle more than 50-60 m diameter and gradually reducing in a spiral to 30-40 m - still maintaining speed and balance in the two-point position. You will find you'll need to use your inside leg strongly while holding firm on that outside rein, to maintain a correct lateral bend. Do the exercise both ways after some loose-rein walking as a reward in between.
Next ride a figure eight pattern, slowing to make a flying change of leads over a cavalletti or rail set in the middle. Sit down and apply your aids for a change of leads before the cavalletti. Who me a flying change? Horses do change leads naturally over a jump, even a little one and they do so more easily at the gallop, so this should not be difficult even for a young horse. Race horses have no problem with this - they will change leads several times in a race. Keep the circles large - progress by maintaining a good gallop and keep the as horse straight as you can while changing leads. A giant slalom course can be marked with witch's hats or whatever and be negotiated at the gallop - with a change of leads at each turn. Rails on the ground at each turn will help with lead changes the first few times.
Short turn at speed
At this point it is easy to teach a short turn so useful in stadium jumping, riding cross-country or out hunting. This turn is of course de riguer for polo ponies. We won't even mention polocrosse-the equestrian equivalent of a bush dance.
To commence the turn, find a good site next to a barn or even a board fence. Get a nice trot going and strike off at the canter on the leg next to the fence. Canter parallel with the fence about 20 metres or so out. With the horse on the correct lead make the turn by first sitting down to half-halt, then turning the horse toward the fence using the inside rein softly keeping your hands more or less together so you're neck reining with a firm outside hand.
The presence of a wall or fence will make him turn sharper with less unbalancing and less rein. Having made a U-turn accelerate back along the fence at the gallop. Acceleration is important for when the horse comes to it again he'll set himself up in the turn in anticipation. Try it again a little faster and closer to the fence, after a quiet trot around the arena, about three or four trials each session is enough. You will eventually progress to turns in the open - so sharp it's more of a turn on the haunches than a circle since the hind legs will not track the front. Again you want a graded response not a trick turn-on-a-dime as soon as you apply the aids.
Once he is turning nicely at jumping pace, set up two small obstacles side by side with about 10 m or so between them; jump the outside of one at a canter, U-turn and jump out over the other. To practise further, gradually increase speed and decrease the radius of the turn by moving the jumps closer. Again don't do this exercise too often, especially once they have learned it, it is so hard on the hocks. Give the horse plenty of days to recover and, between training sessions, stay away from hill work or sudden stops, which are also hard on the hocks.
Jumping out of a gallop
Most show jumpers are not comfortable when jumping off a long stride as one does in cross-country. Certainly most eventers don't feel real comfortable at steeplechase speed. I prefer to teach a horse to jump out of a gallop using a modest log with a good ground line set next to the galloping track. A telegraph pole on the near side of a log brings the ground line forward nicely. A steeplechase brush would be a better training obstacle, but I've never been in the position of having one available.
A slight rise in the ground on the approach helps the horse balance in front of the obstacle and lighten the forehand in preparing to jump. Don't ignore that little piece of advice, the difference is in the detail - level ground requires more preparation by the horse and certainly when galloping down hill to an obstacle the weight-shift is more difficult. Sit down as you approach in the three-point position, keeping your weight off the front.
Assuming the horse can jump this obstacle at a canter, gallop up on an even stride and sit down a good way out on the approach. Be sure not to drop your horse by releasing tension on the reins in the final stride or they'll pop in a short one.
Don't be afraid to adjust stride length in concert with efforts of your horse to approach at the right pace. Even turn your horse slightly in the last few strides to give him a bit more room if you think he's getting too close at the take off. A common mistake when jumping a green horse, is to ask the horse to gallop too fast and stand back too far. He doesn't and chips in a short stride instead (if you're lucky). The faster you approach, the longer the stride and the bigger your error if you arrive at take-off wrong. Don't relinquish control, sit down and adjust stride as unobtrusively as you can early in the approach. Again, don't try and place the horse like a show jumper. Ride for the right rhythm, length of stride and degree of bounce as you approach, lift the head a touch to get him to lighten the forehand in the last strides, and ride him on soft contact right up to the jump.
Gradually progress over a few weeks and extend your jumping grid and combinations in the arena too, so the horse feels comfortable in standing back. Be sensible, you can approach too fast and arrive so wrong at an obstacle it's impossible for the horse to jump. The end-over-end result of such an error on a solid obstacle is extremely unpleasant.
When you clear the jump it's important to gallop on strongly. This saves time in a cross-country, you'll be one or two seconds faster at each fence than a horse that dwells after jumping - a habit they pick up in the arena. Incidentally, a hard check on the approach can cost you two or three seconds each time you draw rein. The next progression is to try the same jump while changing down from a fast cross-country gallop to the correct jumping pace for negotiating that obstacle.
Changing down through the gears
You should be able to stop your horse easily from a gallop. If your horse stays calm and you give consistent aids, it is surprising how quickly he'll learn to stop without fuss. The key is not to ask too much at once. Apply aids for the halt in rhythm with his stride for twenty or so strides.
Starting lightly in half-halts and applying them gradually harder at the end of each stride as your body swings back in the rhythm. You don't want a distinct check on the bit, nor a trick stop, sliding like a Western horse. What we want is a graduated response to the strength of our aids-the essence of the dressage method.
Don't be perfectionist, tolerate a few cantering and trotting steps after you have asked for the halt, then a step or two at the walk - keep the rhythm. Ask for complete immobility in a square halt and hold it for a full five seconds. This asserts your authority clearly. Reining back immediately after the halt can be taken by the horse as punishment, so reserve that particular display of authority for when it's justified.
The aids used to stop are the same as for the halt (and half-halt) one difference on course is that there are no faults incurred for using your voice. You do need to be more forgiving at the gallop; sit down (stop moving in rhythm with the horse), close your legs on the girth , use a consistent voice command. Be firm with your hands while following the mouth, you need to give-and-take more as you stop, because horses do need to extend their neck extravagantly in balancing as they stop.
This is an adequate down change for most purposes. If you need a quicker stop for a polo pony or stock horse then persist with the exercise and progress to a halt with only a few extra steps. Deep loose sand in the arena will help to achieve a sliding stop but even for your camp drafter it's best to ask for a graded response. You don't want a trick stop with the horse slamming on the brakes as soon as you sit!
Stopping suddenly is hard on the front legs-it can do your horse in if you over do it. Since horses are prone to front-leg injury it's best to practise changing down through the gears instead. Anyway, this is the control that's needed in most practical situations.
Think of it this way, if galloping across-country is fifth gear, then you need to change down a notch or two to negotiate obstacles, turns or broken ground. The later you can apply the brakes, the smoother the transition, the faster you can take the obstacle and accelerate again, the faster you are going to be on course. This is the secret of fast cross-country riding. Some top riders like Matt Ryan are consistently fast riders. It doesn't depend on their riding style so much as on schooling their horses to this way of going.
The thing is that you need to do this downshifting and balancing by using your seat and legs rather than the reins. The last thing you want, when into the last few strides, is a pulling contest with the horse leaning on the forehand rushing at the jump. Use the natural terrain and use turns in the course to help you set your horse up for the obstacle. An astute course builder will set obstacles off the track a bit to give you a turn, look for them - use 'em. Still, a straight jump out of a good gallop is a legitimate test and you have to learn to downshift and balance the horse to take it. You can practice setting up the horse on a course. If you don't have access to a course then practice it on your galloping track, using your imagination instead of the jumps. Pick a spot, or put a cavalletti down, and ride for it as if it were an obstacle. If you're not into jumping then use turns as your reason for downshifting. From easy curves to doubling back kind of turns. Again using a slight rise in the ground helps a young horse. This is probably the best way to start teaching your horse the process.
Change down to fourth gear: Steeplechase brush or log.
Gallop along in two-point style at a good pace then sit down, well back from the fence, and half-halt lightly in rhythm with the stride until the horse is balanced on a steady even pace to the jump. Kick away from the fence and shift back up a notch to high gear after jumping. Change to third:: Oxer.
For an open square oxer you'll need to be slower, more balanced and accurate than you would for a brush fence. Again sit down well out in the approach into a three-point position. Pick up the rhythm and apply light forward half-halts getting the horse galloping up and round, off the leg, well before you arrive at such an obstacle. Kick off again after jumping bringing him quickly up to pace.
Change to second:: Upright.
For a very upright vertical, especially if you're barrelling down hill, you'll need to shift down to second gear and showjump accurately at about 300 metres a minute - maybe slower. You want the horse lightening his front end as you approach and rounding in preparing to jump. Again sitting down in three-point position, half-halts off the leg compressing the horse into a bouncy canter until he pops the jump, then let him stretch out and come back up to speed again.
Change to first: Drop into water.
When your horse is doing well with the exercise it's time for practising first gear. Imagine galloping up to a stiff drop into water, or a coffin at the bottom of a gully, from cross-country pace. You'll need to sit down well back in the approach, applying your forward half-halts down through all the gears until your horse is on a short bouncy stride, well balanced, compressed and in attack mode as you come up to the fence. The first few times you do it ask for a few strides of trot in front of the obstacle to make sure you're in first gear and to tell the horse that you're in charge. If you've done this schooling over a few jumps or rails at home, the next progression is to take your horse to a cross-country course for schooling. Following an experienced horse at a steady pace over a variety of fixed obstacles is ideal for reinforcing these galloping exercises before competition.
If you take the time for this schooling you'll have a faster and more confident ride the next time you go jumping. But then if you think this is too contrived and way too much trouble then you can always take your horse hunting for a season instead.