I have a 15 year old QH gelding named Nevada that I recently bought from one of my old bosses and boarding at my old work (side note: never doing that again). Honestly, I looked for a new horse for less than a month after being given the go ahead. It was love at first sight. And it still is… except for his trot. It’s absolutely horribly jarring. He isn’t lame, I had one of the hands hop on him for a check, he looks normal. But at whatever speed (he has a lovely slow collected trot and a faster extended working speed), it’s enough to unbalance me at every step. He also has a tendency to lunge into his gaits, however that’s not really an issue because I’m expecting it and can handle it. Are there any exercises or things I can do to smooth it out or is it something to just hang on and deal with?
Is your horse truly balanced, or heavy on the front end?
The better balanced a horse is the smoother their trot gets.
Then, there are some horses that have a really jarring trot, no matter what you do.
Those are really rare, I think on a lifetime with horses I may have seen less than a handful of those.
Some times, it was due to conformation, built on stilts, but other times, it just was the way all the parts didn’t quite fit right.
One such mare, a Hungarian trakehner, possibly the roughest horse I ever rode, was built with a huge shoulder, very short back into a skimpy behind and all those parts just fought with each other.
We never could find anything physically wrong, but she felt like riding a car with square wheels, very bumpy.
Was the test pilot rider you used also bouncing mercilessly on him?
A video would help to see what is going on there.
He is built level, but his hind end is definitely lacking in muscle. I will try to get a video when the weather clears up (silly South Texas weather and the almost constant rain!) but yes, she (the other rider) did have trouble keeping balanced when trotting. In my (relatively inexperienced) eyes, he does seem to be balancing more on his front. Could it just be that? Because we were working on using his booty more before all the nasty weather set in. I try and post his trot, but it seems like he’s taking two steps for every stride, if that makes sense?
Have you a trainer handy, that could ride and evaluate your horse, maybe show you some pointers on how to work with a horse so it learns to be as balanced as it possibly may?
That would be one more way to learn something and also making your ride more comfortable.
On the strange trotting beats, that extra one you feel, are you sure it is not that, the horse being rough trotting, you lose your rhythm and so end up with an extra half a bounce?
Hard to tell without seeing what is going on, best find someone that can act as “eyes on the ground” for you.
No, unfortunately I burned my bridges with this trainer (not going into detail). I’ll be moving barns soon, so hopefully the trainer there will help me out a bit. And it’s very possible that the extra beat may be me just trying to recover from bouncing. I never thought about that.
Have to say that jarring trot on QHs and Western breeds with QH in them, is the reason that slow trot developed! No one could sit that gait, so they did everything possible to minimize it rattling your teeth out. Slowing them down until almost at a stand still, fixed trot for many animals so you could ride them and appear smooth. A real legacy from the old Foundation breeding, horse with a leg on each corner like a table, lots of muscle that kind of made them tight muscled. This trot is why so many cowboys cantered their animals, it was so MUCH smoother to ride.
I really have no tips for you for fixing it beyond trying a number of speed variations, get him moving out, then slowing, then moving again. He may not KNOW how to trot well, never allowed to go faster to develop good muscle memory, with correct muscling to do a better gait. Maybe with the variations of speed, not always in a smooth ring, he can improve his gait. I am not saying ride him in deep going for long times, but maybe he needs to look where he is going more, like in a pasture. Deep going for footing can fatigue muscles FAST, cause soft tissue injuries if done very long. Most Western arenas are way too deep in footing, never reach solid ground in hoof travel to push off of. Maybe with trot speed variations you can find something more comfortable to use for his trot, though it might not be what the show ring wants to see in slow. Posting will help YOU not get beat to death trying to sit him during the trot.
Good luck with him, having a poor trot is no fun to ride. I really look for smooth trot on horses we purchase, since it is the gait we use the most. Smooth makes the hours in the saddle enjoyable, especially if it is all day riding.
Try adding in some dressage, getting him to balance and work hind end to front end and lift through his back a bit more. A horse that’s moving back to front and travelling more in balance will develop better gaits. If you search the dressage forum there should be some good threads with exercises people use to develop the trot and create more energy from behind. =) Happy riding!
I currently have a short backed, foundation bred quarter horse that stands about 14.2. He is all cow horse and is built slightly down hill. When I got him as a green broke 5 year old his jog and extended jog (trot) were very hard, if not impossible, to sit quietly.
I will say that it was a combination of my inability to absorb the bounce with my seat as well as his lack of collection. It will come down to balance and strength of the horse more than anything.
My favorite exercise to help him collect and strengthen at the jog and trot are spiraling circles. Your horse will need to move off of leg pressure so you can expand and collapse the circle. And keep the horse off of the rail at all times, in my experience especially with pleasure horses is that they will rely on the rail to hold them up.
In my case after about 6 months of consistent work, he jog was noticeably smoother and easier to sit. And now after about 2 years of consistent work, its very smooth and easy to sit as well as extremely smooth when he extends the jog and lengthens his strides.
A nice thing is that when he gets uncollected and out of frame, you will immediately feel it because he gets kind of bouncy.
Hope that helps…
It could be conformation; steep pasterns; straight back end. It could be the trim or shoeing. It could be pain in the hocks that won’t let him “sit down” on them. It could be conditioning and the need for momentum to keep going. And it could be saddle fit.
I would have him thoroughly examined for lameness (even though you can’t see any), get him a chiro exam; Have the vet check the saddle fit while he/she is there. and the ease him into relaxed conditioning. I like dressage for that.
I agree with Ranch Rider and Ezduzit. Ezduzit said what first came to my mind.
I love the spiraling exercises and I incorporate them in my flat work all the time.
To go into more detail - I start on a large circle - counter bend and spiral in ( so to the left I would flex the neck shoulder to the right and use my right leg to counter bend/spiral in to make the circle smaller and smaller) then to spiral Out - I put my left leg on and flex to the inside and move him out to make the circle larger and larger.
With everything, repetition is key, reward with a pat when they do it right and eventually you will see ( feel) I difference.
Good Luck!
