Before anything, to train a horse is to develop the purity of the gaits.
Only after he walks, trots, canters with harmony, relaxation, rhythm, in a correct posture, light and vibrant, can the horse start on the harder exercises.
Other horses might learn complicated and spectacular things too, if their rider is skilled, but they will never give the impression of ease, beauty and harmony that shows the signs of good horseback riding.

The true “Haute-Ecole” (French for “High School”) resides in the perfection of the gaits, starting with the walk.

The slow and soft quality of the walk favors the communication between horse and rider.
Problems with posture, balance, muscle relaxation and even fear for some, are less difficult to handle, as much for the horse as the rider.

The walk is the training gait. The horse accepts lots of things in his body and his mind. The relative slowness of the walk allows the rider to have enough time to be more precise, and the horse to understand what is asked from him and to “slow motion” the movements. The horse stiffens a lot less, and the exercise is easier.
 
 

· Great relaxation

· Great straightness

· Unchanging posture

· Rhythm and regularity

· Good collection

The famous formula “Calm, forward, straight” sums up the essential of the walk, and it applies to all gaits.

A good walk is defined by how regularly the feet hit the ground. The stride are nicely equal, all of the same size and rhythm. The horse is straight, his back functions with limberness, the base of his neck is not moving, the front end is not too high, and the poll is flexed. The hind end is active. Each hind leg gives an equal forward thrust. The shoulders are free, the movements of the legs are limber, and without stiffness.

A straight horse is:

 Straight in the shoulders and the haunches
 Stretched out by the forward thrust, the"impulsion"
 Ready for any change in direction or gait.

To be straight, for a horse, is a mental and physical attitude. It is a state of mind.

Regularity, vibration, range and fluidity are constant worries for the rider; the collected walk has a goal and is a stage in the horse’s training. The development of these qualities, day after day, will take the young horse toward the collected walk, which is the principal goal of the work in a walk.
 
 

The young horse, if broken correctly, goes forward freely, in a horizontal balance, the neck relatively low, in an open posture.
He goes faster at any move of the rider, worries easily, sometimes gets stuck, often deviates from the straight line, stiffens in the corners.

The back of the young horse still lacks strength. It is required to muscle up this link between front and hind end until you get a limber carriage of the back.
The rider has to reassure, regularize and balance the horse, looking to obtain and develop the limberness of the horse’s spine. This work is done at a walk.

The correct horse is straight on a straight line, follows exactly the curve of a circle whatever its diameter is. Each corner is a quarter of a circle.

The young horse does not bend naturally at the corners. He has to be taught.
 

At the corners

To bend the horse, proceed in the following manner:

>Move the shoulders of the horse away from the wall during the straight line, keeping your reins equal and turning your shoulders slightly inward (a touch of a shoulder-in).

>When getting to the corner, use the bending aids:

• · Indicate the bend with the inside hand by opening it a little.
• · Drive the outside shoulder of the horse toward the corner by opening the outside hand toward the wall, keeping a very focused contact with the horse’s mouth. Be careful to, at the same time, keep the horse’s bend by keeping his nose inwards with the inside rein.
• · Simultaneously tap the inside shoulder of the horse with a switch.
• · Help the bend and keep the horse active by using your inside leg right at the girth.
• · Stop the haunches from escaping, controlling them with your outside leg more or less toward the back.
• · Keep your chest parallel to the shoulders of the horse, with your weight spread equally in your buttocks.

Everything is a matter of balance and tactfulness.

Maintain your aids without using strength, which would stiffen the horse. The actions of the outside hand will be done without a fixed contact, in an intermittent manner.

The circle at a walk

The work in a circle is the next logical stage. If each corner is a quarter of a circle… the circle has 4 corners!

Keep your bending aids and work on circles, lots of circles. The essential goal is to keep the horse in the channel of the aids. For that, do not hesitate to work with your hands well spread, at the beginning with a young horse.

Keep going on a given circle, with the same curve from the beginning to the end. It is impossible to relax, to keep your rhythm and to put your horse on the bit if the circle is hesitant or badly drawn. If the parameters constantly change for the horse, he is going to stiffen, to twist, to hold back or to run, depending on his personality.
Making the walk better startswith the accuracy and the rigorous geometry of the figures, especially the circle.

Little by little, the horse will relax and have a free walk. The placement (on the bit) will be possible, the neck will find its place and the hind end will become active. The beginning of the correct rhythm is born. Voltes, half-voltes, serpentines, diagonals… will maintain and renew the attention of the horse.

Work on two tracks, work on foot, lengthening, transitions, outside work, halts and backup will progressively bring your horse to the collected walk and to the School Walk (Pas d’Ecole).
 

Shoulder-in and Half-pass

Corners, circles and shoulder-ins are all of the same family of exercises.
The shoulder-in by limbering, by lowering the haunches, by placing and raising the forehand, will limber the horse up and submit him.
It is the mean you cannot leave aside to obtain a good walk and later the School Walk.

With all the necessary sequencing, do not hesitate to use all the different exercises on two tracks (shoulder-in, half-pass), in all possible variations.
 

If you ask too much, too hard, too often, you will discourage your horse, contract him and finally stop his progresses in a walk or anywhere else.

But if you do it right, the acceptance and the relaxation of your horse will allow you to get closer to the ideal model.

See in the themes:
 >Shoulder-in
 >Half-pass

Simultaneously, the well-conducted work on foot will help to make the walk better. Without the weight of the rider (important for the young horse), it is possible to put the horse on the bit, to relax him, to go in the corner with the right bend, to engage him in the shoulder-in and to obtain a rhythm.

The extensions

Until now, you just let your horse lengthen his strides freely between exercises or on the straight line, with the neckline open, relaxing his muscles and his mind.

When the horse stays in place with no difficulty, in a active relaxed walk, it is time to ask for variations in the gait.

Start asking progressively for extensions at the walk:

First raise the vibration of the walk (more energy, relaxation, better placement, attention of the horse) and the degree of forward thrust, of "impulsion".
Move your contact (meaning your hands, with horse’s mouth following) toward forward and down
Lower your belt forward and down
Follow with your relaxed legs by using your right leg/left leg alternatively (left leg when the right front leg of the horse goes forward).

The transitions

The quality of a gait or of an exercise always determines the quality of the next gait or exercise. Therefore, the quality of the walk is essential. It directly determines the quality of the trot or the canter that follow.

Perform upward transitions (walk/trot, walk/canter) often, and the downward transitions (trot/walk, canter/walk). They keep the horse interested, they demand straightness and submission, because he must stay active and available.

During your transition, make sure of the following:

 The horse stays quiet, in the same frame of mind.
 The transition stays fluid.
 The poll is always at the same height, in the same place… however without being stiff.
 The general balance stays the same.
 The actions of your chest, hands and legs are never hard, but smooth and relaxed.

The walk outdoors

Your horse continues to “learn” how to walk, to collect, and to carry himself. You will work hard and with thought. You try to feel, to be precise, light.

Mostly at the walk. Calmly. Alone or with another experienced horse, who moves well at the walk.
On flat ground first, then up and down hills.
At the beginning, your horse will have a hard time following his companion. His walk will be irregular, sometimes hesitant. With work, in the arena and outdoors, progress will come fast.

Watch carefully: always have a correct horse, in the right bend.
Most of the time, try to put him on the bit (“on your hand”), even outdoors.
Watch the regularity and the rhythm of the strides.
In short, continue to educate his walk… and sometimes, also to let him be totally free, to swing his neck, to stretch, on loose reins… in four words “go for a walk” and see other things.
 

The halt from the walk

With the very young horse, simply ask for a beginning of stillness, gently, along the rail.

Next, ask for the halt during the shoulder-in, when the horse is more engaged with the hindquarters.
Still at the walk, you will confirm this beginning of collection by leaving the rail from the short side and half-passing toward the long side of the arena: halt when reaching the rail.

To halt, proceed as follows:

Raise the vibration of the walk.
 Stretch yourself from your chest to your neck, lower your shoulders, push your stomach forward.
 Close your fingers without hardness.
 Because of the movement of your chest, your hands will raise slightly.
 Keep your legs in contact.

Be less demanding at the beginning. Ask progressively for more engagement by pushing the hind end, and for a longer, well framed halt. Vary the places where you ask for a halt, and the exercises you do before and after a halt.
 

Backing up at the walk

It is still walking… but backwards.
When the halt is framed, soft, the horse straight, light, the neck relaxed, the jaw smooth, then the horse is ready to back up.

Proceed as follows:

Give a very light and very brief indication with your legs.
Open your seat by putting your chest a hair forward.
Support your wrists, close your fingers for an instant.

Backing up correctly is like walking correctly. It requires regularity, equal strides, rhythm and lightness.
The neck stays at the same height. The horse is straight, the haunches are controlled.

Always send your horse forward smoothly –never with roughness- and without neck movement.
 
 

The walk in its most absolute perfection is called the School Walk (Pas d’Ecole). It gives the horse strength, beauty and majesty.

The classical School Walk is a raised walk, round, of diagonal properties… almost a Passage Walk. It is very different of the nowadays school walk, which is a beginning of Spanish walk.
It demands well balanced horses who are generous, strong and limber, and who are ready for serious collection and capable of flexing their joints hard.

What to look for:

A very collected horse, working on shortened bases.
A perfectly balances horse, spreading his weight equally between forehand and hindquarters.
A horse who supports his lower back while keeping a limber back.
Very active hind legs and haunches, very flexed to allow the raising of the forehand.
A neck placed high, supported.
Free moving shoulders.
Supporting front legs that have to gain in height what they loose in length.

By working on the collection of the horse patiently and methodically. By seeking balance, dynamism, roundness, all that in a relaxed manner, to get closer to this ideal.

Passage, the transitions from walk to Passage and from Passage to walk, done in lightness, will be very helpful. Try to obtain a slow walk to allow the horse to elevate his movement, to round it.

Take particular care of your posture.
Sit deeply, in a perfect position, relaxed.

The School Walk cannot be taught directly, there is no secret… it is an outcome.
 
 

Each horse has his walk, his interior music.

Feel what the rhythm of your horse is. When your horse walks relaxed, in the right rhythm, with forward thrust, you will know that the tempo is the right one.
 

The walk is not a mechanical problem. Do not try to analyze the mechanics of the walk… Rather try to feel if your horse is in tune, that he is not changing his speed, his rhythm, or his posture.

Do not ask your horse anything difficult before he can walk relaxed, in place and in a forward thrust.
With a young horse, apply the principle “hands with no legs, legs with no hands”. The horse is forward without being held back. He is simply in the channel set by your aids.

The height of the poll and of the front end is due to a visible lowering of the haunches. Not the opposite! Do not forget that!

When walking, you should prefer to have a poll that is too low rather than one that is too high, because it stiffens the horse and hollows his back.
Have a light horse, but do not completely let go.
At the walk, two dangers await the rider: limpness and agitation (abandon and excess of control). Do not fall in either one.

To have a straight horse along a wall, take the shoulders slightly away from the wall, because the shoulders are a little narrower than the haunches.

Every now and then, take the inside track or the center line to check the quality of your walk and the straightness of your horse.

Take care of your posture. The quality of your walk depends on it.

When walking, use your legs sparingly. Act little but at the right moment. Do not squeeze your legs.

Let go of the muscles of your back, simply support your lower back.

You must push and slow down with your back, without moving your seat.
Dominate your horse with your chest, the rest is secondary!

Follow the walk of your horse with your belt, not with your hands.

Look for a fluid, regular, and very even contact between mouth and hands.
Have a very soft hand, light, supple, especially during extensions and slowdowns, and transitions, and while bending and changing the bend.
Try not to slow down, not to “turn off” the horse, but just to channel him.
Do not let your horse put weight in your hands.

When the horse is on the bit, in rhythm, practice lowering your hands and lowering your legs.

When walking, pay close attention to the corners, and the drawing of your circles.
On a circle, with a young horse, do not hesitate to form a triangle between your hands and the mouth of the horse - spread your hands.

Do not shorten a circle; always keep the possibility to widen your circle, to open it up if stiffening occurs.
On the circle, pay particular attention when leaving and joining of the rail. When leaving the rail, channel your horse to avoid getting into the circle too abruptly. Do the same when joining the rail.

To go from one circle to another, keep your attention on the change of bend of the horse. Slightly open your fingers, play with your fingers to slightly lower the neck: you will gain on fluidity.

In the straight lines between the circles, open your fingers just a hair. Your horse will keep the same position, he will relax.

In a walk transition, look for fluidity, with no abruptness, no excess of reaction, and no limpness.
Before any transition, slightly lower the neck of your horse and check your forwardness.
Do not stiffen yourself when extending the walk, do not wiggle, just go with your horse; be supple.

If you want to halt your horse, count down the desired amount strides before stopping. You will make the preparation easier.

Never back up using strength. Never when the horse is resisting.
When backing up, think about the famous quote, and apply it: “calm, backward, straight”.

Do not forget that if backing up is an outstanding tool to lower the haunches when done straight and correctly, it is harmful, even dangerous for training the horse if asked with strength, on a crooked horse.

Also, work on backing up on foot, slowly, along the rail, with the switch parallel to the body of the horse, to keep the haunches from coming into the arena.
On foot, be very smooth and economical with the actions of your hand. Move your upper body back.
Determine how many steps you want your horse to take back, than carry him forward with tact.
 
 
 

Frequently encountered problems

Should I always start working at the walk?

The best is to start with a good workout on the lunge, at the trot mostly.
Then you can get on your horse and start walking. When a horse gives everything at the walk, is relaxed, attentive and reactive, do not wait, do not bore your horse: take the trot. You have to feel the right moment.

With some very energetic, generous horses, it is better to start working at the trot, always calm, and than work at the walk.

Generally, a gook workout starts with a quality walk.

There are no absolute rules. You must, before all, feel the quantity of walk to give to each horse, and trot at the right moment.
A stiff or nervous horse has to work longer at the walk. You will only trot when your horse is relaxed, loose, regular. Then, walk again to check if your horse stayed calm. This work can take half of your workout.
With a less energetic horse, who has a tendency to “fall asleep” during the walk, your will trot sooner and then alternate short periods of walk/trot, walk/canter…

The young horse needs to walk for a fairly long time, until he is calm, listening, dominated. It will then be easier to channel him at the faster gaits.

The length of the walk is also determined by the degree of training of the horse, and by the goal established before each workout.

I He is not correctly framed, one leg or hand action is stronger than another.
You must realign the shoulders and the haunches of the horse with an opposite rein, to straighten him.
This will be done with no abruptness, but with suppleness, within two to three steps.
As soon as the horse is straight again, take another two to three steps back, halt and carry him forward.
Start backing up again being particularly careful.
Reward.

I am the owner of a 4-½ year-old horse.
I currently have to resolve a problem that will condition the entirety of my work: it is putting the horse on the bit, the stability of the placement of my horse. I manage it at the walk, but he does not stay placed because my technique is uncertain: I start a circle, bend the horse toward the inside. I use my inside leg, my inside hand, then my outside hand, playing this way with both reins to lower and place the head of the horse. When this is done, I give in, the horse stays in place for several seconds and then puts his head up again.
 
 

Your horse is young. It is of utmost importance to put him in the right posture, on the bit, and in a stable and relaxed place.
To place a horse (put him on the bit) is not the result of tricks, miracle recipes, mechanical actions of the hands or any other miscellaneous means used by all kinds of people.
It is the result of the general balance of the horse, of his forward thrust, of the engagement of the hindquarters and of his relaxation.
To place your horse better and with more stability, look for all that as a priority.

Work your horse on the lunge at the trot.
After he is warmed up, use the side reins to place him (see TROT… what to look for… work on the lunge). Do several workouts just on the lunge and always lunge before riding.
Your horse is young, do not ask for the poll to be too high, but find the position in which he feels good, and relaxes. Feel, think… Frame your horse well in the channel of aids. Take care of the bend on the circle (see the WALK… how to better… the corners… the circle).

Pay lots of attention to your posture. A horse cannot place his head if the rider is not in balance and relaxed.
Keep your hands fixed, rather low, above all do not try to use the right hand, left hand, right hand… and making the head of the horse swing.
Do not move your hands, but play with your fingers.
Steady your inside hand and use more your outside hand, softly. Keep your legs relaxed but aware.
Work a lot on circles, half circles. At the change of bend, make him lower his poll.

You will see that your horse will start to come on the bit.
Act with softness, do not ask much, and keep him in a rather low position. The shoulder-ins will help.
First, ask him to come on the bit in a walk and a trot. Confirm it.
At the canter, let him relatively free for the moment, in a slightly open position, but always in balance.
This is how you put a horse on the bit !

My horse is not straight

The left hind leg of my mare lands to the left and, on the track left, she often puts her  haunches in. Is it possible to correct this problem with the right gymnastic (set of exercises),  and if yes, what should I do?
Your mare moves in a bad posture on the track left. She is not “straight”. She “crosses over”, meaning her 
haunches do not follow the axis of direction, they come inside to escape your control or refuse to engage.
Your posture on the horse might be off balance. Spread your weight better, make sure your equally on your two seat bones.
Maybe your aids are not symmetric. Balance them.
Too much inside rein, too much bend or a neck angled toward inside twists the horse. He then leans on that rein 
by becoming harder, sticks to the inside leg and places his haunches inside.
Use less inside rein, do not abandon the contact on the outside rein.

It could be that the mare has difficulty using her haunches to the left, that she has a bad posture, a thorough gymnastic should help you put your mare in the axis.
Work on shoulder-in at the three gaits on a straight line and on the circle. It will take her shoulders away from the  wall (the rail), and will supple and engage her inside left hind leg.
You are sort of asking for the opposite posture…
Also work on left-hand circles, as an exercise, and make her put her haunches out.
Work on straight lines with a hair of shoulder-in…
These exercises will put your mare straight, so that she will move on one single line, the shoulders in front of the 
haunches, with no bend.
At last, a good impulsion will make her stretch out and put the haunches back behind the line of the 
shoulders. If your mare is holding back, she will have the tendency to cross over.

     Voila… what you can do to straighten your mare…

Posture-position / Walk / Trot / Canter / Shoulder-in / half-pass /Flying change of lead/ Tempi changes / The canter Pirouette / Piaffe

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