Reviewing some competitions on-line recently I noticed one particular horse that double beats in the piaffe. Can someone explain to me why this happens, is it a conformation or training fault and what can be done to correct it.
What do you mean by ādouble beating?ā I have never heard if the term. It sounds like tapping one hoof twice, but I canāt even imagine what that looks like.
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I think it is a balance issue and/or strengthā¦ or jsut training. Iāll bet that horse (and the others I see do it) is worked with a ground person to try and correct it.
Double beat to me, and Iāll admit I may be using incorrect terminology, is when the horse nearly puts the foot down but actually lifts it again before it is actually grounded.
Have you seen this on a ridden horse? I never have, Like Lorilu says, it seems to be when someone is on the ground and tapping the hind legs and the horse is just moving one. As she says, it would be from the horse thinking itās about just lifting the foot and not about a super collected trot.
Double beat is like when the horse lift its hoof, then touch quickly the ground with the toe, and lift it up again before stepping down for the other diagonal to lift.
Itās a serious fault and itās scored accordingly.
It can been seen under saddle or in-hand. To me, itās usually a sign of tension/anxiety/excitation.
Itās quite hard to Ā« train out Ā» as the horse needs to slow down itās tempo, and hold its limb longer in the air.
Half steps/moving more forward can help.
Making sure the horse doesnāt want to Ā« step back Ā» or who kinda kicks out behind.
Those horses benefit from doing transitions to and from a good walk.
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I understand what you mean by ādouble tappingā, OP. The toe of one or both hinds taps almost like a hop before the weight bearing phase of the movement, or during the flight portion of the foot before planting. Does that sound close to what you are referring to?
The footfall has a toe tap before the firm plant to bear the weight behind. I would generally say that it indicates the horse is on the forehand, and the hind end is not taking the weight, and the hind legs are not articulating and moving forward under the horse. Without truly taking the weight, the toe/foot has time to add an extra movement. Almost like a hopping movement, instead of a weighted, controlled springing movement with impulsion from behind. Almost by definition, the horse is not in balance in such a movement. A correct piaffe is not so much about a highly collected trot with diagonal pairs landing equally, it is more the test of articulating all the joints behind to take the weight, which allows the front to elevate and also allows the very small forward movement. Usually with the double toe tap, the horse is not showing an uphill āframeā, but instead looks downhill from the hind to the front, as the front legs hop and take the weight instead of the hind end.
I canāt pull up in my mind which horse/rider combos I have seen in competition that show a piaffe with it, but I know I have seen it in the arena. It may be considered a temporary stage, until the horse can build enough strength and coordination to do the movement correctly. But I have also seen it at levels where it really should be a confirmed, correct piaffe. I suppose that it could also happen if it is NOT corrected to develop a truly correct piaffe. It is a noticeable incorrect version of piaffe, and the lack of strength and willingness to load the hind end may show up in other movements.
This is a video done by Anna Beran that demonstrates collection and developing the piaffe, and some of the ways the piaffe can be incorrect. It is a short video, but go to the 2:00 mark when she begins talking about piaffe, if you want to skip ahead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJNTgiOwyok
Using animation of actual rides, she points out some of the incorrect āversionsā of piaffe. In one of them, the horse has a different movement of right hind vs left hind, with the right hind toe moving in an extra circular motion while in the Flight part of the footās movement. That is one example that could easily turn in to a double tap, i think. I will try to see if I can find another video that demonstrates the toe-tap in piaffe.
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@keyfins, interesting, however the horse Iām looking at is double-tapping with a fore rather than a hind. The horse is currently competing at FEI but the rider also has another horse at that level that doesnāt double-tap. Iāll try and take a look at the Anja vid later, thanks!
IW, itās pretty noticeable, and based on her scores, she isnāt being penalized.
Not sure why not but if you look at the photos of her in the warm up, there is much more than double beating going on with her riding right now.
(no, I donāt ride FEI, but the whole metoo movement has affected how I do or donāt choose to keep my mouth shut. Or in this case, fingers still.
not ok. Doesnāt matter who you are.
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RHRT, I also do not ride at GP or FEI Level, nor will I ever! I saw IW (from up on high in the stands) at the World Cup this yearā¦which horse is double-tapping? Very curious to see a video of this action. The quality of piaffe at the WC was something I watched closely, albeit with my rather untrained eye. Thanks!
Could someone post a video of a horse ādouble tappingā?
I know of a horse who did a heel, toe step when cantering - he was not sound, and ridden very backwards, but that is the closest example I can think ofā¦
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I would also love to see a video of this, very interessting!
You said if you look at āphotosā of IW. How could you possibly tell this from a still photo? I can tell you, and yes I DO ride at that level, (Not internationally - I am presuming you mean GP) and have taught several horses to piaffe, both in hand and under saddle, and have never seen what you are discussing here. Add me to the list of people who would like a video of what you observed.
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Iāve only ever seen the double tapping in the passage and really only a hind leg not front. In piaffe I think itās usually a toe that doesnāt quite leave the ground in a poor piaffe, and again would probably be a hind leg.
Isabell Werth on Don Johnson, shows incorrect passage as well as piaffe.
Not just the double tapping, the diagonal pairs are not moving as pairs. The hind end is not taking the weight shift correctly, you do not see enough āsitā with the hind leg joints articulating, so the front end is āearthboundā and hopping. Well, both ends, really (IMHO). From the side view in P&P, the horse looks downhill from the loin/croup to the shoulders, opposite of the correct movement, again IMHO.
2017 Freestyle, two different competitions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbnrPV2vhF4&t=63s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7dnipxlcgA
2017 GP, from about two weeks ago:
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I definitely recall seeing it in the hind in the piaffe or passageā¦ I think actually because someone on here pointed it out? Iām interested in hearing perspectives on this.
Re: IW, thereās a lot more going on in the recent GP ride that needs help than just Pi/Paā¦ I am no expert at all, but I know I donāt find her rides pleasant to watch. DJās hind end looks (in my very very humble view) disconnected, in multiple movements, which would explain his toes dragging in the extended trot, the lack of rhythm in the piaffe and passage, etc.
Am I seeing things? Can someone explain if Iām missing something?
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I agree, although he seems to do better in lateral work. There is a transition in the freestyle video, I think it is from passage half-pass to trot half-pass, and his movement is quite different in each. More fluid in trot half-pass (IMHO).
Not sure if it is strength, balance or tension that makes some of the work look less fluid or disconnected. Given the scoring values for piaffe (coefficient of 2), passage, and transitions in to and out of each, there are a lot of points to earn if the movements are all well done. Or points to lose if not done well. There is probably somewhere to find scores for each movement for this pair, but I donāt know where that might be.
Directive ideas (from current FEI GP test scoring sheet):
Movement 8, Piaffe 12-15 steps: Regularity, cadence, collection, self-carriage, balance, activity, elasticity of back and steps. Transition to passage.
Movement 9, Transitions Passage - Piaffe - Passage: Maintenance of rhythm, collection, self-carriage, balance, fluency, straightness. Precise execution.
Movement 10, Passage: Regularity, cadence, collection, self-carriage, balance, activity, elasticity of back and steps.
And the collective marks include [LIST=1]
thatās not what I said. I have seen it in a ridden horse. I thought that the trainers were probably working with it (at other times) in hand to correct it.
Ok. I still have never seen what is described in a ridden horse.
Good videos, keysfin. I donāt see double tapping there, but just a lot of problems. Iām not a fan of the horse. He does this almost circle thing with his front legs and barely moves the hind end. Itās a pretty big mess.
But the rest of her tests are usually strong so she still earn +70%. Heās one of her horse who gets her lower scores. Also, the problem is more systematic on the right side and not so consistent. Yes, the lower limbs are dangling down but not necessarily touching the ground (faulty) everytime. Iād be curious to see her scores for those mvts.
And clearly, if Isabell Werth still has trouble finding the right rhythm for DJā¦ we can assume itās hard to train it out of a horse. Itās like a jumping horse with its front legs not snapping up togetherā¦ style and form are difficult to change/improved, especially if itās the horse kinda natural way of moving due to whatever conformation/stamina/style.
Thatās what remember us that horses are not robots and have their own style and challenges. 
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