Walk this way

Photo by Francy Haupt

The walk is one of those things to which one could dedicate an entire book, but since I lack the mental fortitude complete to complete such an ambitious project (just ask my husband how my "novel" is coming) and the internet has programmed us all to have TL;DR syndrome, I'm going to address two components that will help set the foundation for a quality walk.

Rhythm

The first major component of the walk is its rhythm.  Each gait has its own, unique rhythm which differentiates one gait from the next.  If your horse changes rhythm, he is in fact changing gaits.  While your horse's tempo (speed of footfalls) can change within a gait, his rhythm cannot.   With that said, the walk is the gait most prone rhythm irregularities, so what's generally happening there is that the horse is inserting little steps of trot into walk which alters the rhythm.  This is caused by tension of some form, and because dressage should always be ridden with a relaxed horse, rhythm irregularities are often a dead give away when the horse is not relaxed.

So in order to recognize when the rhythm is irregular, we need familiarize ourselves with the correct walk rhythm in the first place, and to help you with that, I'm going to give you a bit of a music lesson. 

So here we have the humble quarter note, which is equal to one beat, and for the purpose of understanding the walk rhythm, we're going to say that it also equals one stride.  Below is a short clip of Helix walking, and what I'd like you to do is tap your hand on your thigh every time his right front leg touches down.  There is your  quarter note/stride.

1 quarter note = 1 stride

Ok. I know I said my pony wasn't fancy, but he has one heck of a walk!



Below we have a sixteenth note (noted by the two tails). It takes 4 sixteenth note to equal 1 quarter note.  In our analogy, the sixteenth note is equal to one footfall, and it takes four, evenly spaced footfalls to create one stride.

 

Each sixteenth note =1 step and 4 sixteenth notes = 1stride

So let's go ahead  and count along with Helix's walk including each footfall, again, beginning with the right front leg.  ONE, two, three, four, TWO, two, three, four, THREE, two, three, four... etc. That rhythm needs to stay constant at the walk, otherwise you are no ling walking. In order to get a good feeling for this, walk your horse on a hard surface like the cement aisle at the barn and really listen to what that sounds like.

The balancing gesture

At the walk, the horse's head bobs along in what is called a balancing gesture.  You can see it a bit my clip above, but  I have also attempted to make an animation demonstrating it below.  Don't worry, I won't be quitting my day job to join the Pixar crew at anytime in the near future.

So your horse's head moves at the walk.  It is one the defining characteristics of the walk, but all too often it gets blocked by unyielding hands.  When riding the walk correctly, it is important to move your hands WITH your horse's balancing gesture.  Doing otherwise might cause him to stop, or move  up into a gait with no balancing gesture like the trot causing rhythm irregularities.  See what I did there?! I think that's called a callback.

Go riding!

Ah yes. The 20 meter circle, something that seems like it should be so simple, but still so many wind up looking like amoeba with flailing pseudopodia.  Is it because we all failed geometry in high school, or is it harder than it looks?  I'm gonna go with the latter if only to feel better about myself.

illustration by Joseph Leidy, 1879 

So what is the purpose of  riding a 20m circle?  First off, it is a simple test of geometric accuracy.  Schooling figures helps to strengthen and supple the horse, but only if the figures are ridden accurately.  Inaccurately ridden figures can lead to incorrect alignment and asymmetrical muscle development, so being accurate matters even while schooling.


The most common geometrically-based mistake I see is caused by the unmistakeable gravitational pull of the rail.  Being away from the rail is scary, so people have a tendency to stick to it, and instead of riding circles, they wind up riding squares with rounded corners.  So if you find yourself on the rail for more than a stride, you are not riding a circle.  I repeat! You are not riding a circle!

This is NOT a circle.

Illustration by Back to Basics Horsemanship

This IS a circle

Aside from testing our geometry skills, the 20m circle  requires us to create bend throughout our horse's body with our inside seat bone and inside leg, while controlling the degree of bend with the outside rein.  You know how people are always yelling "inside leg to outside rein!" That.  You need to be able to do that.   

Why you ask? (P.S. you should always ask "why?")  Well there are a few reasons.  First off,  lateral flexion (bending side to side) supples the horse over the back allowing for increased flexibility. Secondly,  a horse exhibiting a correct bend will be stepping diagonally under the belly by engaging the abdominal muscles, encouraging him to lift his back and become round.  Check in with my previous article to learn about the importance of a round back. 

Lastly, when the horse bends, you'll notice his neck presses into the outside rein as shown in the figure below, creating increased pressure in your outside hand.  You have two choices.  You can either open your ring finger or release your outside hand forward to allow for bend, which you will want to do to a certain extent on  a 20m circle, or you can keep your outside hand static and use that pressure on the outside rein as a restraining aid.  So seeing that the pressure in the outside rein comes from the bend in the horse's body, and the bend in the horse's body is coming from your inside leg, you are essentially creating pressure in the outside rein, which can be used to slow or rebalance the horse, with your inside leg. OMG!  There's that inside leg to outside rein thing again!

Illustration by Back to Basics Horsemanship

Illustration by Back to Basics Horsemanship (Don't worry, Morgane.  You clearly have job security when it comes to the whole illustration thing!)

Ok, so I know I started off this series telling you not to drill test movements, but the 20 m circle is one worth drilling.  You will be aligning, suppling, and strengthening the horse by doing so.  As I stated before, riding accurate figures is a key part of schooling, so I'm going to give you a few tips to ride an accurate 20m circle.  Start off by asking your horse for the appropriate amount of bend for a 20m circle.  This will require some trial and error and/or someone helping you from the ground.  Then just move forward while holding that bend and you should create a perfect circle.  I like to imagine it like an ice skater carving a circle in the ice.  Find your bend and carve that circle!

via GIPHY

Go riding!