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Boost the length and power of your horse’s medium trot with this helpful exercise

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • In this exercise to improve medium trot, we are using lateral work – specifically the half-pass – to improve the push in the more extended paces. Half-pass should only be attempted once your horse is established in both shoulder-in and haunches-in (travers), being able to bend around the inside leg, maintain a forward rhythm and move sideways in good balance.

    The half-pass enhances a horse’s longitudinal and lateral suppleness, enabling the hindleg to step under more and therefore boosting the power and push, to encourage ground cover without your horse losing balance. It also frees up the shoulders, which gives your horse more reach in the medium trot.

    Aim

    • Improve impulsion and engagement

    Setup

    No setup required: This flatwork exercise is easiest to do in an arena. If you are riding it in a field, we suggest marking out an arena to help your accuracy.

    Diagram showing horse training exercise to practise the half pass and improve medium trot

    How to ride the exercise

    1. Once warmed up, establish an active working trot and go large.
    2. As you come out of the corner, ask for half-pass across the diagonal.
    3. After six strides or so, straighten the horse and ask for some lengthened or medium trot strides.
    4. Proceed in medium trot across X. This should improve impulsion and engagement.
    5. After around six strides of medium trot, half-halt and position your horse in half-pass again.
    6. Half-pass back to the track.
    7. Repeat on both reins and from both ends of the arena.

    Tips and troubleshooting

    1. Failing to prepare

    Without preparing your horse properly either for the half-pass or the medium trot, he will lack engagement and balance. Try a couple of steps of shoulder-in before the half-pass to engage the hindleg and establish the bend.

    When it comes to the medium trot, make sure he is straight before asking him to lengthen.

    2. Too much, too soon

    Half-pass is a lateral movement for established horses. If your horse is twisting his head or struggling with his balance and bend, go back to basics. He should be well established in shoulder-in before you start attempting some steps of half-pass.

    3. Twisting head

    This can occur when the inside rein is forcing the bend, with the outside leg pushing the horse, which blocks the inside leg from coming through.

    Or, the rider is asking for more sideways movement than the horse is ready for.

    Did you find this exercise useful? You may also enjoy reading…

    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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