Counting Strides

6/21/2017

At the western States Horse Expo a week or so ago, Chemaine showed an exercise for helping to know if your horse is truly lengthening the stride or simply getting quicker. I've been doing the exercise at home and have seen some excellent results with Speedy G.

I put two cones down the long side of the arena and a matching pair on the other side. I start out in a working trot or canter and count how many strides it takes to get from one cone to the other. Initially, I try to match the number of strides on both sides to ensure that my tempo is even.

Later, I do trot lengthenings and count to see if Speedy's stride is definitely longer. I can tell he's truly lengthening when we get fewer strides than we did before. It's the canter work that is really showing the most improvement though. And it's not just because I threw out a couple of cones, but that has helped.

Yesterday, I focused on the 15-meter circle into a canter lengthening from First Level. The lengthening has been tough for us because I have a hard time getting him back to a working canter. With the recent work I did with Chemaine, Speedy is now pushing off from behind (instead of dragging himself on his forehand) which helps him sit when we come back to a collected canter. At least that's how I am riding it.

Chemaine informed me that I need to ride the First Level tests as though they're Second Level. Thinking about it this way has forced me to really insist he pick up his poll, accept the contact, and sit.

We have a CDS-rated show on Sunday. I am really hoping to see our scores improve if I actually ride him more forward like I do at home.

emma link

6/21/2017 10:10:53 am

as a former h/j rider i'm kinda a zealot about counting strides lol - but still constantly find myself amazed at the applications of counting in dressage. counting down the long side to test for true lengthening is great - but you can also count the number of strides in each quarter of a circle to make sure the circle is really..... circular lol (something i personally struggle with). also there is supposedly some calculation for saying how many strides you should get in each quarter of the circle based on circle size (i think it's 4 strides for 20m, 3 strides for 15m, and 2 strides for 10m, but could be wrong) - but i've had better luck just trying to figure out what the 'normal' number is at circles of that size on each horse. i don't always remember to count tho, but when i do it makes a big difference!

Bakersfield Dressage link

6/22/2017 12:46:37 pm

Without a real dressage court, counting strides on a circle is harder to do! And really, it depends on the size of your horse. Speedy's working trot and Izzy's working trot are very different in length. LOL

Elinor Yee link

6/21/2017 04:37:13 pm

Fingers crossed for you at the show!!
From what I saw from you in that exercise with Speedy, you're going to do JUST fine!!!

6/22/2017 12:47:23 pm

Aw, that's very kind of you, Elinor. It was fun to have someone count for me and challenge me to get a certain number. :0)

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage