can you make a trail horse want to move out more?

[Nezzy]

I got a great appy last year. He is safe and sweet. He is 13 yrs old. He is 15.1h. He will move when asked, but otherwise is not a fast walker. I find myself asking him to trot a lot of the ride, bc he does not walk fast. We try to stay with the horses we are riding with. if i never asked him to move, he would be so far behind, we’d lose the group. When i ask him, he sometimes gets annoyed. I don’t want to say he’s lazy, bc he enjoys cantering. but at the walk he seems a bit lazy.

Has anyone here ever had a horse like this and were you able to get him/her to want to go a little faster on their own? I have time. and i really don’t want to part with him.

[walkinthewalk]

1. I was going to suggest making sure he isn’t in pain but you say he canters without issue.

2. Some horse are naturally slow. My blessed Arab always had the mindset that he would get there when he got there, even if we were headed for home. He was the best kids horse ever.

3. Keep your Appy for a children’s lesson horse and buy a Tennessee Walker – even with the slowest of dog walkers, you will never again have to worry about falling behind — unless you’re riding with faster Tennessee Walkers:)

[Nezzy]

i don’t have kids, and i am keeping him. don’t like gaited horses for myself. He is not in any pain. If i ask him he will trot to catch up. but i hate that i have to ask him so often. Just thought maybe i could encourage him enough that one day he will just move out better. Wondering if anyone has a horse who has improved with this.

[Chips_mom]

I’m not sure how , but I’ve been lucky enough to have 3 out of 4 of my trail horses learn to move out. I sometimes think it’s because I took them on the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail ride. After a couple of days, they seem to figure out that we are not circling back to the trailer, but we go to the next camp, where their food and rest is. Also, I had an old trail rider friend(miss you Harvey) tell me that it takes a while for horses to learn to walk out because initially it’s easier for them to trot or canter. They use different muscles. I know this is not much help. I think I’m rambling again…

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

I had one…he was ridden at the back of the pack for beginners, never ridden alone. After I got him, I rode him a lot alone, and after a few weeks, he realized that he could walk out. A few months later I rode with his previous owner and she was so surprised that I rode at the front of the group at a walk and their horses had to trot to catch up. He will still poke along if I put a newbie on him to take care of them, so I also wonder if he realized I was not afraid and it was okay to go faster. Can you ride alone, and are you a confident rider? Maybe your horse is sensing you tense up?

[Nezzy]

yes, i am a confident rider. Especially on him. he is very safe. I encourage him to move out. thanks CM and J&S- that gives me hope. i know it won’t happen instantly, and i am willing to put the time into it.

[Guilherme]

Find a teacher who will help you learn how to rate a horse. There are many strategies but each has it’s own context and must be matched to the temperament and conformation of the horse.

Good luck as you go forward.

G.

P.S. I should get points because I didn’t tell one Appy joke!!!

[rainpants]

Yes.

Ask him to walk on - if he breaks to trot, slow him down to walk again. If he speeds up, praise. Repeat this a million times until you can get him to give you the walk you want without breaking gait.

He’s probably never been made to walk fast. He may not ever be the fastest walker, but you can definitely improve his walk.

[gothedistance]

I might be the lone voice to say: “No, unless the weather is truly miserable to them and they are headed home, there is pretty much nothing you can do to encourage them to maintain a longer stride ON THEIR OWN at a walk than what they are comfortable doing.”

Sorry. You can nudge, cajole, push, kick, spur, etc all you want, footfall by footfall, but you won’t be able to achieve an automatic faster walk without continual effort on your part. The best you can do is ride with people on horses that match your horse’s walk speed, or ride alone and don’t stress about it.

Your appy sounds like a nice horse. Enjoy him for what he is, and just trot when you have to catch up. Otherwise all you’re going to do is tire yourself out, get pissed off, and annoy him.

[The_Centaurian]

The walk is the hardest gait to improve. (The trot is the easiest). I think if you make an effort to school him between trail rides, working on taking bigger steps, both at the walk and trot (and gallop, if you have space and you’re comfortable with that). To some degree, you can teach him to step under, using his hocks more, and move more freely, stretching forward from the shoulder.

Depending on the other horses’ pace, in addition to teaching bigger, relaxed steps, you may also need to “rev his engine” to create a bouncier, more energetic step.

Are you sure your saddle is comfortable for him, his feet aren’t sore, he isn’t lacking fitness, ground isn’t too hard, etc?

When you’re on the trail, you can try to encourage him to walk out a bit using one leg, then the other. Does he step out a bit more heading toward home? Sometimes you can harness that “big walk,” but it’s a fine line between teaching him that you want him to step out and teaching him to rush for home.

If you really want to school him and get him fit, you might be able to keep up exclusively at the walk. Even then, if you don’t keep after him, he might revert to a slower pace. But trotting to catch up isn’t the end of the world, if he’s otherwise a good horse.

[GreyDes]

I’ll also be the voice of caution/how hard do you want to work at it?

I own a lovely Arab whom I bought at 2.5, and did dressage, foxhunting, low level eventing, and lots of trail riding on. He is safe, sane, willing to keep up with the group, ride on his own, etc.

But… his comfort zone was a slow walk. He would do this going out, coming home, horses moving out ahead of him, etc. No physical issues, saddle fit well, so no reason for this other than how his brain was wired.

I could get him to march, but it was work. I never got him to the point where he would consistently do a fast walk on his own. Either I worked the entire time, or I trotted him to keep up.

My husband’s Paint is a marcher - it doesn’t matter where he’s going, he’s going to get there quickly. Riding the two of them together was not fun.

I ended up loaning my Arab to a good friend who really appreciates a low key, slow horse. She adores him, and mostly rides solo so a slow walk works for her.

My coming four year old loves to march out, and she and my husband’s horse go about the same pace. She’s also a relatively calm horse, but thinks “forward” in a way my Arab never did.

Good luck!

[invinoveritas]

In my experience, turning a horse towards home makes him move really fast if you are not careful. To get one to walk/trot/canter faster going out/away from home, have him follow a bold horse.

[candyappy]

We can teach them to lengthen their trot or slow their canter , so I truly believe you can teach them to move out at the walk–IF HE IS ABLE–. Conformation as well as attitude is a factor as well.

My horse has always been a fast walker I love this My daughters horse is content to be way, way behind us at all times. I find this annoying but it doesn’t bother the horses or her.

I would work specifically when you are alone to see of you can get him to lengthen his stride and keep it going. After a time you will know if it is worth the effort. Either he will speed up or you will have to get after him constantly which is bad for you both.

[Huntin_Pony]

It may also be useful to check your own level of suppleness in the saddle. If your body is stiff or in any way opposing the motion of his body, even subtly, it will discourage him. Taking this to the next level, try to use your relaxed body to encourage him to swing more in the walk. That’s different than using just your legs and feet.

I find that my horses always walk faster when I ride them than when others do. Even if we swap horses in the middle of a ride, the one that I am on will outwalk the others without any deliberate action on my part. I believe that this is because we are “walking together” and there’s no dissonance between our bodies.

The best suggestion I can make for how to practice this would be to synchronize your breathing with the walk rhythm and consciously soften your seat and back while following generously with your hands. If you’re musical, you might sing a little so the horse can hear the rhythm too.

I hope this makes sense. I don’t know if it will help you but it might.

[Mukluk]

It’s very easy. Just turn around and go home

[Nezzy]

where i ride is a state park, the farm is on the edge. i ride onto the trails and there are many ways home, so any direction we go in, could be the way home. He knows this. He doesn’t rush home, which i find is a good thing. i don’t want him doing that regardless. he is a great horse, i just wanted to know if anyone has had success with this, and a few have, so i am confident in trying. I am supple and confident. I can get on from the ground. He has no health issues or unsoundness.

[SuzieQNutter]

Yes a horse can be taught to do anything.

Pepper was a very fast walker. He learned to walk moving cattle.

We used to ride out with Major. Major was very slow, he could not catch Pepper.

Months later we went out with the pony club. Pepoer was way out in front. The interesting thing was that Major was half way in front. He couldn’t catch Pep but with trying all those months he was now faster than everyone else except Pep.

[2enduraceriders]

Yes, just never let him plug.

[Guilherme]

The idea that you can’t teach a horse to walk faster is as misplaced as the idea you can’t teach them to walk slower.

If you can teach a horse to charge cannon or jump through flaming hoops or canter backwards you can teach a quicker walk.

G.

[katyb]

I think you can teach him to walk faster, but you asked can you make him want to walk faster - and I think that answer is no.

You have a horse that is willing and not buddy sour, both wonderful things.

I have one that walks slower than I do. We taught her that zip, zip! means get moving, but she still returns to plod as her natural speed. She is what she is. I prefer to move a bit, but if you otherwise love the the horse, you adjust.