Now that I have Whisper over her refusal to go forward on the trail, I have started trying to refine her gaiting and trotting on que. I was really trying to pay attention to all that goes into the different gaits, and hopefully will refine my ques when Whisper and I see Liz Graves in the April clinic I am signed up for. What I have been doing is to slowly speed up from a walk into gait. Right now, her gait is everything from a step pace, runwalk, to a fox-trot, and I will take any 4 beat gait at the moment. I rotate my pelvis back and keep my hands neutral unless I need to support her. If she morphs into trot before I ask, I use one rein to slow her and I find my seat goes back a little further and I will brace my feet in the stirrups slightly. When she comes back into gait, my seat and hands go neutral, and I leave her on a loose rein. I don't keep her in gait for too long before I ask for a trot. I do that by lowering my hands on either side of her withers and I get into a 2 point position. As soon as she starts trotting, I start to post. I am hoping that as she gets more used to the ques, my seat and hand adjustments won't be so extreme or obvious. I can't wait to see Liz to see which gait I should concentrate on with her - which one her confirmation is best suited for. Susan in NV
Happy High Desert Trails Susan in NV Nevermore Ranch http://users.oasisol.com/nevermore/ --------------------------------- Have a burning question? Go to Yahoo! Answers and get answers from real people who know.
