Do you struggle with your horse’s Rhythm and Relaxation, the basis of the Dressage Training Scale?. This video gives a great exercise that will help you get your horse into a steady relaxed rhythm and increase their suppleness in the trot-canter-trot transition.
The elements of the dressage training scale are the true building blocks of successful and connected riding and in order to master them all, we have to start at the bottom. Rhythm underpins the whole training scale and without it, we can’t achieve any of the rest of it.
The following video has a great exercise to help create and maintain a steady rhythm with your horse while moving between trot and canter and back again.
The exercise is very simple, but very effective. Starting off in trot, count for ten strides in trot. Then ask for a canter and count ten canter strides Bring your horse back to trot and count for ten trot strides again.
Remember that you’re counting once every two bounces in trot as you’ve to take into account the two diagonal pairs!
Watch out that your horse doesn’t predict the aid for canter, increase the tempo and start rushing just before you ask it. If changing every 10 strides is too short an interval, increase to an increment that is comfortable for you like 15 or 20.
Believe it or not, counting out loud is a great way to find a steady tempo AND to help you and your horse relax. There is a big correlation between rhythm and relaxation!
This is a really fun and challenging exercise. It’s more difficult then it looks to get your horse to execute the transition exactly on the number you want them to. It also makes you very aware of the tempo and rhythm of your horse’s gaits.
Watch the video where I practice it with Mercurio and let me know in the comments if you like it and how many strides you count for!
Thanks for watching!
