One horse walks on as she swings her head and takes long, ground-covering strides down the trail. Meanwhile, the second horse is left in the mare's dust before finally jigging at the jog to catch up. The lagging horse transitions to the walk, starts to relax, and then falls behind once again: jig, walk, repeat.
More than likely, you've ridden the lagging horse at some point on the trail, and you know what it's like to be shaken like a martini in an effort to keep up with other horses in your party. At the time, you might feel hopeless, but the truth is there's something you can do to break the cycle. The trick, or rather technique, is teaching your horse to lengthen his stride so you, too, can cover more ground with fewer steps.
Being able to lengthening your horse's stride has all sorts of applications, including making that trail outing more enjoyable, says trainer Leslie Lange of Greeley, Colorado. Lange is an AQHA world champion trainer who also coaches youth and amateur riders. In the show pen and out, horses need to be able to lengthen or shorten their strides while remaining relaxed, supple and obedient no matter what the class or discipline. Lange's show pen prep for extending your horse's strides at the walk, trot and canter applies equally to the horses you ride at home.
Before You Begin
Lengthening your horse's stride is a relatively advanced movement that requires an initial level of strength and obedience. In fact, the skill is required of dressage horses as they work their way up through levels of training.
"Your first attempts will probably be fairly awkward," Lange predicts. "But eventually you and the horse will feel the rhythm and lengthen the stride."
Before you get started, make sure you have some basic skills in your toolbox so the lengthened strides have a strong foundation. "You want a horse that's established rhythm, is comfortable, and can carry himself in an even rhythm," says Lange.
Reach For It
- Remember a lengthened stride is longer, not faster than a regular stride.
- Keep lengthening sessions short in the beginning as your horse develops strength and flexibility.
- Use ground poles to help you visualize and achieve longer strides.
- Reward your horse for even small increases in the length of his stride.
- Practice lengthening and shortening your horse's stride between obstacles, such as trees, fence posts or pylons.Only ask for lengthening at the lope if your horse is well schooled at the gait and under control.
Your horse needs to:
Work obediently at all three basic gaits.
Move freely and forward off your leg, seat and voice aids.
Give to your hands with his mouth, head and neck.
Be physically supple and in shape.
You need to:
Have a secure and balanced seat.
Maintain soft and giving hands.
Develop timing between your hands, seat and legs.
Understand that the walk has four beats, the trot has two, and the canter or lope has three.
A Look at Lengthening
A lengthened or extended stride covers more ground than a regular stride, which means the horse is taking longer rather than faster strides.
"The horse takes fewer steps to cover the same amount of ground," Lange explains. "A horse that takes six strides from points A to B will take maybe only three strides when extended."
To take those longer strides, the horse has to lower his haunches, lengthen his rounded back, and power from behind as he takes bigger steps behind and reaches forward with his shoulders and front limbs. The resulting strides stretch the horse's muscles and loosen his back, shoulders and neck.
"Lengthening is a good exercise to supple a horse's body," Lange says.
Of course, not all horses are built the same, and they each have their own individual talents. "A lot of how much lengthening you get is going to depend on the horse's physical composition," Lange says.
