Notes on equitation and horse training/Question 17
XVII.
Work at the trot—Rising to the trot.—The rider should always rise to the trot unless the slowness of the gait renders it impossible or, at any rate, difficult.
To rise to the trot, the rider inclines the upper part of the body forward and takes a firm grip with the knees in order to avoid throwing his whole weight into the stirrups and in order to have the lower legs perfectly free. He then allows himself to be raised by the thrust of one diagonal pair of legs, the right for example (i. e., right fore and left hind); he avoids the thrust produced by the planting of the left diagonal pair and drops back into the saddle just as the right pair is replanted, which raises him again.
The rider thus avoids every other thrust, tires himself less, and tires his horse less.
Necessity of frequently alternating the diagonal pair from which the rise is made.—But unless he is careful, he gradually acquires the habit of always rising from the same pair, or, as it is commonly expressed, of trotting on the same shoulder, and this habit has serious drawbacks.
(1) The pair from which the rider rises becomes much more fatigued than the other because it raises and thrusts forward the weight of both horse and rider; whereas the other pair, which acts while the rider is in the air, has only the weight of the horse to thrust forward.
(2) Moreover, the diagonal pair which thrusts both horse and rider can not project the horse as far as the pair which acts while the rider is in the air. Thus, if the rider is trotting on the right shoulder (i. e., is raised by
right diagonal pair), the thrust of the left diagonal pair will be the greater, and, since the thrust acts in the direction of the other diagonal, the right shoulder" will gain more ground than the left. From this there results, after a certain length of time, a disagreeable irregularity in the gait.
The results explained in the second remark above may be practically utilized. If the rider discovers that his horse trots unevenly and advances one shoulder more than the other, he should rise habitually on the shoulder that gains less ground until the fault is corrected.
These results may also be utilized to correct the fault of a horse always leading with the same foot at a gallop. Suppose, for instance, a horse that always gallops on the right foot: to lead with the right foot the horse sets the right shoulder in advance of the left. If, therefore, the rider persists, for a certain length of time, in rising from the left diagonal pair, the left shoulder, as has been explained above, will be pushed further forward than the right and the horse will be in a position at a trot that will induce him to lead with the left foot at a gallop.
From the preceding explanations it is evident that the rider should know how to trot his horse on either shoulder and to change shoulders without changing gait if he wishes to develop the animal's efficiency equally and have him always perfectly straight.
The only exception is when the legs of one diagonal pair have been injured and they can be saved by rising from the other.
Lengthening and shortening the gait at a walk and trot.—Lengthening and shortening of gaits must be executed gradually and by the steady use of the aids. The lowering of the head and the extending of the neck assist in producing a lengthened gait. The raising of the head and curving of the crest favor a shortening of the gait.
In all changes of gait the rider must accommodate his seat to the movements of the horse. The lengthening of the trot should be moderate and of short duration. By demanding more than the horse is equal to, an irregular gait will soon be developed and this will be difficult to correct later.