On Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 07:03:59PM -0700, Judy Ryder wrote: > Cues for trot and tolt, even tho different, can still be imperceptible to > anyone watching. > > Basically, if you use aids (versus cues), you can have a very quiet, > unnoticeable conversation with the horse that no one else can see / hear. > > What are the aids for trot and tolt?
stjarni's trot and canter are *very* dorsoflexed -- he likes to carry his head low, especially his first stride of canter (one of my students was at first worried he was going to buck!). so for those gaits, i lower my hands a little bit, to accomodate that dropping of his head. for tolt, i don't really change my haand position from the walk; for trot->tolt or canter->tolt i may lift my hands a little bit. stjarni's trot is also huge, a bit bouncy, and quite fast (we have been working on rating all his other gaits first, and encouraging him to just trot out -- he has a beautiful trot but i think his previous owners preferred his tolt) so sometimes i just post once and we're in it :) --vicka
