THIS X 1000!!!
I used to handgallop my TB out on trails alone & I was in my late 30s then.
Even at that pace I could feel him drop his back & flatten as he approached gallop speed.
BUT: I knew he would listen if I asked him - with seat, back & minimal pressure on reins - to slow down.
I never asked for more as I was not dead certain the fields & trails I was on were free of holes or any object he could stumble on.
Until you can say the same, shelf the idea of galloping in an open field.
My trainer took my horse out on a groomed carriage trail that had a mile long uphill trail.
Still I don’t want or need galloping in my riding repertoire.
As others have said, you are basically going to just start slowly increasing the speed of your canter for short periods of time over time as long as things continue to go well. You don’t just go out one day and let her rip.
This.
Because not just your safety is at stake here, your horse’s soundness is as well.
A horse not conditioned to gallop can easily injure itself if you just take it out and let her rip. Bowed tendons, ligament damage, ankle or hock injuries are a few of the possibilities.
Horses that have galloping as part of their job description spend many hours over the course of weeks or months slowly developing the strength and fitness to gallop safely.
Those conditioning hours can be the same ones you spend teaching your horse to be relaxed cantering in an open space.
An event rider who has experience conditioning horses to at least the 3* level would be an excellent person to help you plan a program to gallop safely at speed.
@LunaHorse🎠You keep waving away the required steppingstones that posters have brought up with “oh we can do that already” when nothing about your posts really indicates that you can do these things. I suspect you are just itching to gallop and don’t really want to hear about the homework required before you can gallop. Please understand that no one here wants to be a killjoy, but these steppingstones are so important to the safety of both you and your horse.
Set up some cones in your field in a line-- do like 8 to 10 of them placed about 24ft apart. Then 8 to 10 more placed about 100 ft apart. If you don’t have cones, that’s ok, you can use lots of things as markers. Just make it something you can easily see from horseback, won’t be unsafe to step on, and won’t blow away in the wind. Ideas: a case of 16oz plastic water bottles. Do you have any old tshirts (I know if I ever actually cleaned out my closet, I could easily come up with 16-20 junk tshirts :lol: )? Heck, fill a wheelbarrow or two of manure from your stalls, or pick up manure from the field, and make small piles to use as markers. If you can’t come up with anything at all to use as markers, then just count strides.
Now practice trot-canter transitions. Approach your line of cones at a trot, and at the first cone, transition to canter. Be precise-- the canter transition should be exactly at the cone, not a few strides later. At the next cone (again, precisely), transition to trot, and keep repeating down your line of cones. Between the 24ft-spaced markers, you should get 2 canter strides. Between the 48ft markers, 4 canter strides – if you’re not getting that, work on adjusting your horse’s canter stride to shorten or lengthen it as needed.
When you can do those transitions perfectly every time, next arrange your cones in a big circle. Have one circle on the inside where the cones are 24ft apart, and another wider circle outside that where thy’re 48ft apart. Do same transitions exercise, both directions. And not just once – repeat it until it’s easy and reliable and perfect even when your horse is fresh, like on a windy day.
When you’re solid on this, switch to canter / hand gallop transitions on a big circle. 4 strides canter, 4 strides hand gallop, 4 strides canter, etc.
Be brutally honest with yourself about how well you’ve performed these exercises. Have a friend on the ground help you by calling out when you’ve nailed or missed your transition timing. When you can do all this stuff reliably, many times in a row, then I’d say go for a short gallop and see how it goes. Totally agree that you should start facing uphill, even if it’s only a mild slope.
You’re probably chafing at getting all this advice to WAIT. None of us here can see you ride or evaluate how much you really know (vs what you say you know). Sorry but it’s just really common for younger riders to want to progress faster than they’re ready for, and to think they know more than they really do. That just stems from your natural enthusiasm for riding and it’s awesome. But the reality is that this is a dangerous sport and you can’t short cut it. Proper development of you and your horse is more important and more respectful of your horse, than thrill-seeking.
The horse CAME WITH A WARNING. Your posts don’t sound like you have experience. I would heed every piece of advice here. How old is this horse and how set in her ways? She has already learned this behavior. It is going to take some patience and effort to turn it around. A horse that runs like this is not the definition of real riding. What do you aspire to in your horse life? Slow down and think about what you want and need to learn.
Are you riding Western? How many horses have you ridden, have you galloped before? ever been run off with before? Do you HAVE medical insurance? How close is emergency care? Are there other people at/around the barn or do you ride alone? Have you seen bad riding before - do you recognize it? What did you think of it? Have you seen GOOD riding? A tank of gas and when this isolation thing is lifted - go watch good riding. It’s a partnership and two-way conversation. You have to learn who the horse is, and each day it can be a different horse, and both of you need to listen. Get to know her first. These exercises that these very respected horse people here have given you will help you get that conversation going. Best of luck; wish you had a good mentor to teach you.
Yes. Don’t do it.
No one here has a clear idea of what this horse has actually done in the past, either with you or with its former owner. It’s hard to give advice when we don’t know if she just gets into a bit of a fast hand gallop and is harder to stop, or if she’s full-on bolting uncontrollably.
Until you have set, leg, and hand aids down, until you are an effective and balanced rider, and until this horse is trustworthy enough, don’t do it.
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My cousin did it once. Got dumped and broke her shoulder out of it’s socket.
Going fast is fun. Going fast without control is terrifying. Your horse could step wrong and snap it’s leg - it happens to racehorses on groomed tracks all the time. Your horse could turn suddenly and send you flying to snap bones like my cousin. Your horse could run into a fence and break it’s neck.
You’ve been warned not to do it. I highly recommend you listen to the posters here and get control first, before getting your or your horse seriously injured or killed.
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