Mary Allen
In training and in daily training with the horse, the focus is often on the trot and canter – the walk is the real touchstone. It is the gait that is most difficult in terms of timing and therefore deserves special attention.
Horses in the wild are in no hurry. In search of the best herbs and grasses, they walk for many hours every day at a leisurely pace. Occasionally herds of horses cover longer distances, for example to a waterhole, at a slow trot. The energy-consuming gallop is only used when there is a perceived or real danger. In young horse scuffles, ranking fights, and chases, the trot, and canter play a role in the short term, but once peace reigns, the horses fall back to the walk and continue grazing.
Even under human care, the horse moves mainly at a walk, be it in an open stable, in its box, or in the pasture. When riding off-road, the walk is also the most common gait. You can only trot and canter where the ground conditions permit. In training, when working with the horse in the riding hall or on the sand arena, the walk is the gait of choice in the warm-up and cool-down phase – in between it is often neglected.
Wrongly so, as the walk is an important touchstone for a horse’s rideability. Based on the quality of the step, not only the level of training of the horse can be assessed, but also its state of mind under the rider: Does the horse stride forward willingly, relaxed, and detached in a stretched posture, or is it nervous?
Four-Beat to Keep Track
The walk is the gait with the greatest “susceptibility to failure”, which is why it is also of particular importance in dressage tests. In some programs, step lessons have a coefficient of 2, meaning their score is double-weighted. But what does the judge want to see and what makes a good step?
The walk is a smooth four-beat gait in eight phases. If the horse is walking on a hard surface like asphalt, this rhythmic four beat is clearly audible and easy to count: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. After starting, which a horse can start with the front of the hind leg, depending on how it is standing, the step changes into a smooth movement.
The hooves move diagonally-laterally with no levitation phase: right hind leg starts, front leg follows on the same side, then left hind leg comes forward, then left front leg, the movements overlapping a bit. The horse’s head and neck make a slight nodding movement. The regular up and down movement of the hind legs creates an even, rocking up and down movement of the croup. The rider feels these movements, which lift his buttocks left and right in rhythmic alternation.
No Pace-Like Gait
If you look at the horse from the side, you can see an even “V” between the front and hind legs. If the rear “V” is too small, the hindquarters are not active enough and the horse steps too little under the center of gravity. A front “V” that is too small indicates a blockage in the shoulder: the horse cannot move freely, the step does not come out of the shoulder and the steps of the front legs are therefore shorter than those of the hind legs.
However, if the front legs reach far forward and the hind legs step one to three hoof widths over the track of the front legs, one speaks of a good space grip. The dressage judge likes to see this, as it is one of the characteristics of a “good step”. The most important criterion, however, is the beat: the horse must walk in a clear four-beat. Irregularities in the foot sequence are faulty. This applies in particular to the pace-like gait, in which the horse swings the same pair of legs back and forth, similar to a camel, a giraffe, or an elephant. This can be desirable with a gaited horse, but not in the basic gait walk.
There are horses that naturally walk in a pacing manner, even horses with a very large, slow stride can tend to do so. More often, however, the rider is to blame for the horse’s loss of beat. Rigid, unyielding hands are poison for the walk: If the hand does not allow the slight nodding movement of the horse’s neck and head when walking, the pace-like gait can result. If the rider’s interfering hand is gone, for example, if the reins are left long at the beginning or end of the training, the horse usually relaxes again and walks in a clean stride.
In addition to space and tact, diligence is another indicator of a good step. This is the case when the rider drives well in step with the pace, is carried along by the movement of the horse, and responds to the nodding movement of the head with the hands. The horse is thus virtually framed by the rider’s aids. At the same time, the horse accepts the rider’s thigh without rushing away from it and willingly stretches towards the bit. So that the horse can walk relaxed and relaxed, the rider must also be relaxed and in balance. He should breathe deeply and evenly and allow the horse’s movements.
It Also Benefits Health
A horse does not develop a good stride through the rider practicing this gait over and over again, but through solid basic training and proper training in trot and canter. If the young riding horse has learned to allow itself to be placed safely at the rider’s aids and can be ridden in a balanced manner and with good stretching in the trot and canter, this is also reflected in the quality of the walk.
The basic training in the field can be optimally supplemented: riding downhill and uphill, riding on different, even uneven surfaces causes the horse to walk. The inclusion of obstacles also helps to improve rhythm and surefootedness as well as the horse’s back activity and balance at a walk. Finally, the health of the horse also benefits from a cultivated step: joints, muscles, and tendons are spared, the movement competence improves decisively, and with it the quality of life of the four-legged friend.