Horse Running on Loose Rein Trot

[Mondo]

It sounds like you figured out the problem before you got a correct response. You are right in that you should not ever be “on a loose rein.” That is a misconception. The directive in the test is very clear…“allowing the horse to take the reins forward and downward.” The idea behind the movement is to test the horse’s balance as he stretches into the CONTACT. You should never be on a loose rein or “down to the buckle.” This goes for free walk too which is often done incorrectly - people drop the horse like a hot potato. You help him maintain his balance as he stretches forward and down. If your horse is running it’s because he’s lost his balance as you surmised.

If anyone else posted that, I’m sorry for repeating. I didn’t read all the replies after your second post.

[meupatdoes]

Just explain it to him directly.

If he starts to zip past you when you pick up the reins, do a firm half halt or downward transition to let him know that’s not the answer you’re looking for.

Then carry on with your circle and try again.

Repeat until he gets it right.

[Skitten]

@Mondo

It sounds like you figured out the problem before you got a correct response. You are right in that you should not ever be “on a loose rein.” That is a misconception. The directive in the test is very clear…“allowing the horse to take the reins forward and downward.” The idea behind the movement is to test the horse’s balance as he stretches into the CONTACT. You should never be on a loose rein or “down to the buckle.” This goes for free walk too which is often done incorrectly - people drop the horse like a hot potato. You help him maintain his balance as he stretches forward and down. If your horse is running it’s because he’s lost his balance as you surmised.

If anyone else posted that, I’m sorry for repeating. I didn’t read all the replies after your second post.

Yes I think I’ve got it now. I’ve only just realised this because I simply did not need to worry about my other horse running away. Which is great that I’ve found this out now that I have to ride a different horse.
I don’t think he will have any issues stretching into the contact because he likes to go around with his head down and stretch out his neck. The only other thing is that he can drop his head too much but I won’t worry about that at this very moment. I am just expecting a nice controlled test.

[Skitten]

@TwoRoads

Here’s a video that kind of goes over training level as a whole, but there is a section with a couple of good examples of the stretchy circle starting at like the 1:20 mark. Maybe that will help at least to know what they are looking for?

Thank you! This would definitely be very useful!

[Gloria]

Your horse has lost his balance at the second half of the circle. That is why he runs. He is trying to catch up on his balance. It takes a lot of strength, believe it or not, to perform a good stretchy trot. By the way, you should not have loose rein in stretchy trot. The horse MUST stretch into the rein, which mean contact with the reins. It also requires good rider balance. It’s hard to say the issue you experience is rider issue or horse issue. You will need to get your trainer to evaluate. Also, be careful not to stretch down too far downward. The more downward, the more strength it is required of the horse to remain his balance. Get his pole below the wither, but above the knees.

[exploding_pony]

Since you only have a couple of days to work on this, I think you should take the “less is more” approach. Do not throw away your reins. I would wait until you are clearly on the circle (maybe a couple of strides), slowly let the horse stretch forward, down out, making sure to keep your posting a bit slow and keeping a little inside bend. Go for as much stretch as you can without loosing contact and having him race off.

This movement is deceptively hard and takes awhile to get right, so I would adjust your expectations. Better to show a nice even stretch and maintain quality than to chuck the reins away and have the horse race off.

It’s a double coefficient score, so you will get a bit of a beating on your score regardless, but it’s better to school it correctly (ie do less and do it well) than to have the horse get tense and rush off. You will get a “little stretch shown” or “more stretch needed” type of comment but for the horse’s sake, that is better than getting a “tense” or “rushing” comment.

[Angela_Freda]

OP how did it go?

[Angela_Freda]

Bump