The French master horseman Francois Baucher said that he could take a horse and ride it for a year only at walk, and at the end of the year the horse would be fully trained to perform all the school movements in all the paces.

Baucher radically changed the art of classical dressage in the 1800s with his new techniques promoting lightness. Baucher was driven to change his own method after a terrible accident had left him with very limited use of his legs.

He recognised that the walk was a very good pace for training obedient reactions to the aids, and developing the suppleness, strength and balance required for the higher movements. At walk the horse is calm – even an unstable rider can sit with more stability – so it is easier to explain to a horse what is required of him.

We should not underestimate the importance of the walk and should learn to ride it well. Sometimes people will avoid training the walk because they’re afraid to make the quality of the walk worse. I would like to help you learn how to ride the walk well. When I was a kid doing picnic racing, we had two races with walk. The “Walk, Trot and Gallop” required a furlong at each pace. A big extended walk gave you a head start. If the horse jogged, you were penalised with a circle. In the “Bang and Go Back”, you walked as slowly as possible, so you were closer to the start when the starting pistol went off the second time, and you spun around and galloped back to the start. These races really helped you develop feel in the walk, but I think they have gone by the wayside.

In dressage tests, the walk marks are doubled, and then counted again in the mark for paces. The EA rules describe the walk as “a marching pace in a regular four-time beat (left hind, left fore, right hind, right fore) with equal intervals between each beat. This regularity, combined with full relaxation, must be maintained throughout all walk movements.”

A CLEAR ‘V’ SHAPE

Generally, the horse will have three feet on the ground and be moving one leg at a time. Correct rhythm is always paramount. A horse walking with the correct rhythm when observed from the side will show a clear ‘V’ shape as the hind leg steps up towards where the front leg is about to push off. Sometimes a horse will lose the rhythm in such a way as the front and hind leg on the same side almost move together, almost on the same beat (a ‘lateral walk’). The walk starts to look bit like an amble or a pacing stride. The clear ‘V’ shape is lost, and the quality of the walk is lost. This may happen because of tension, or rushing, the tempo getting too fast, or can happen when a horse with a naturally very big walk is having difficulty developing a collected walk. It can also be a problem when the horse is anticipating the passage or piaffe. More about what to do about this later.

So the walk is not just something we allow the horse to do just to take a break. In fact, Rozzie Ryan says the horse should never be allowed to think that the walk is just a rest. The horse should still be working, walking purposefully, having the right connection with the bit even in a free walk. Of course, we use the walk as a break and to allow the horse to cool off after a period of more intense work. It is important to walk to cool down tendons and allow lactic acid to drain away to prevent injuries – but the horse is still working.

So how do we ride the walk well? I think the first thing to work on is the rider’s ability to keep an even contact with the horse’s mouth. If you watch a horse really walking actively you will notice that the horse’s head moves a lot. The rider’s hands should remain still in relation to the horse’s mouth so that the contact stays the same. So, your hands should move, forwards and backwards (in relation to your body). The fingers must always be closed on the rein, the elbows and shoulders being relaxed so that the arm is free to allow the hand to follow the mouth and the rein does not alternately tighten and loosen.

This important skill is actually quite hard to develop. But luckily every time you ride you will start in walk and you can practice. While you are walking in the warm-up also be aware of your position. Stretch up from the waist up and down from the waist down, stretch the front of your thighs and the back of your calves. Start you ride walking on a free rein and see if you can keep walking until you feel your horse let go in his back and really swing. It may take 10 minutes before you feel the stride really lengthen and his head drop in a relaxed way. Before you go to trot do a few repetitions of picking up the reins and making a more usual contact, keeping the energy and the rhythm as you walk on. You do not want the horse to think that shortening the reins at walk is an aid to go to trot. Of course, it is a leg aid that means trot, but if each time you want to trot you shorten the reins he will quickly learn that shortening the reins is an aid meaning trot.

PENDULUM EFFECT

While you are walking, noticing the movement in the mouth, try to notice as well what is happening in your legs. The ribs of the horse flex to the left as the right hind leg steps up and the ribs flex right as the left hind leg steps up. It is a little bit like the ribs of the horse bump your leg. You can think of this a bit like your legs as a pendulum and you can emphasise this little bump. We know that our leg aid will always be more effective when we use it in the timing that we influence the leg as it is pushing the ground. So, learn to feel that pendulum effect and use your legs alternately, exaggerating the pendulum. Left leg on when the left hind is pushing, right leg on when the right hind is pushing.

One of the benefits of using your legs this way to indicate walk and to make the walk steps longer or quicker, is that it is clearly a different aid than the generic two legs used together, which means go faster. I like to only use my two legs together to indicate trot or changes within the trot, or halt to walk or halt to trot. If I want to make the walk more active or want to ride the extended walk, I prefer to use my legs alternately as a pendulum. My legs used this way will help him understand that I want a variation in the walk, not trot, useful in walk pirouettes when you want to maintain the rhythm but might need to use your legs to get more activity.

There are four defined walks in dressage. The medium walk is the normal walk on the bit. Young horses and developing horses show a lengthened stride in the free walk. We ride this on the diagonal. Turn on to the diagonal line, head straight to the marker, let the neck out (give the reins) and then encourage him to make longer steps. Your hands will move more than in the medium walk. The most common error that I see is riders not giving enough rein, or being slow to give the rein. The extended walk is the long active walk still on the contact. The ears stay at the level of the wither, the neck lengthens. The hind legs should track over the imprint of the front hoofprint.

When we ride from the extended walk to collected walk, we do not usually have to think of collecting the walk so much as just shorten the reins and the frame, encourage the ears to come up. The horse will collect the walk himself as you do this. The rider must keep the activity in the walk to ensure the horse is marching and the hind legs are engaged. The steps will be short and there will be no overtrack.

A GOOD CONNECTION

There are a number of things that will help correct a lateral walk. Make sure that you have a good connection and that your hands are following his mouth. He must be confident to walk in to the rein/hand. Ride a small but comfortable circle. Ride a little shoulder-fore position in the walk circle. This is like a little leg yield, the shoulders on a slightly inside line, initially with a straight horse but it can be developed into a shoulder-in at walk on the circle. You can alternate this with a soft quarters out, and a soft travers on the circle. You can even get the shoulder-fore position and change the bend very carefully into renvers at walk.

All these careful lateral movements done at walk help him become more supple and balanced in the walk. In the test you can use the corners to ride a little shoulder-in at walk and even keep him in a little shoulder-fore position on the short side to help him maintain the correct rhythm. Training over poles at walk can help him maintain the rhythm. Training the walk while hacking out can also be helpful as he is likely to be relaxed. Ride the free walk and transition to medium and repeat. You can still use the shoulder-fore at walk when hacking out. Any time you lose the rhythm, go to shoulder-fore.

Going back to where we started with Baucher’s comment, remember that all the new work can be introduced at walk. If there is a problem you can go back and get the reaction you need in the walk, and then try again in the trot or canter. From recent articles you will recall the benefit of riding transitions trot-walk-trot in all your lateral work to improve the balance. If you have tension in a movement, you can walk a friendly small circle to settle him and go back to whatever was difficult. A good example of this is if the simple changes become tense, just walk a circle on the new rein until he settles and then pick up the walk to canter.

Training in the walk is especially valuable in our hot summers when we do need to be careful not to overheat our horses. They take a lot longer to cool down.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe summer season. EQ

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ BY KERRY MACK:

Scott Keach Makes His Own Luck – Equestrian Life, December 2022

No Room for Bullying in Our Sport – Equestrian Life, November 2022

Avoid the Mud (Play Indoors) – Equestrian Life, October 2022

Why We Love Our Sport – Equestrian Life, September 2022

Getting on the Bit – Equestrian Life, July 2022

Positive Training Really Clicks with Horses – Equestrian Life, June 2022

Learn From Your Mistakes – Equestrian Life, March 2022 issue

Young Horse Classes: A Fun Launching Pad – Equestrian Life, February 2022 issue

Making Sense of all the Bits & Pieces – Equestrian Life, January 2022 issue

The Secret to ‘Soft Hands‘ – Equestrian Life, December 2021 issue

Ask Less, Reward More – Equestrian Life, October 2021 issue

So You Want To Go To The Games? – Equestrian Life, September 2021 issue

The Ins & Outs Of Bitless Bridles – Equestrian Life, July 2021 issue

Taking The Plunge With The Lunge – Equestrian Life, June 2021 issue

Dressage for Showjumpers – Equestrian Life, May 2021 issue

23 Shoulder-In Exercises to Improve Your Horse – Equestrian Life, April 2021 issue

Understanding Your Horse’s Inner Thoughts – Equestrian Life, March 2021 issue

Make the Most of Your Seniority – Equestrian Life, February 2021 issue

Building Better Relationships – Equestrian Life, January 2021 issue

Whipping Up Controversy – Equestrian Life, December 2020 issue

The Importance of a Trusting Relationship – Equestrian Life, November 2020 issue

Welcome to Kindergarten for Foals – Equestrian Life, October 2020 issue

The Carrot or the Liquorice? Positive Reinforcement – Equestrian Life, September 2020 issue

Submission or Stress? Something to Chew On – Equestrian Life, August 2020 issue

A Relaxed Horse is a Happy Horse – Equestrian Life, July 2020 issue

The Literate Horse Rider – Equestrian Life, June 2020 issue

Why Horses Love Ingrid Klimke – Equestrian Life, May 2020 issue