One thing Carl Hester warns about is a lateral walk…
“The use of the head and neck is so important in walk, it should be like a rowing motion, the horse has to take your hand forward and not fiddle and get behind the vertical. Practice a lot of correct walk at home and get your horse used to being ridden forward in walk.”
“We have a dog at home with an awful lateral walk, and at our open days, I use him to demonstrate.”
“When you walk, make it a slow walk, the quicker it goes, the smaller the over-track. If we have a one hoof over-track, the horse needs time on the floor, he doesn’t need to come off fast – a one and a half over-track is better.”
“If the hind legs are good, and the front legs are too quick, the horse has to learn to use his shoulder. Then we will get closer to two hooves over-track.”