Quiet Riding

"It is important that a horse should walk with long, regular and free steps, which can be obtained only by allowing the animal great liberty of head and neck."

"To follow the horse's back at the walk, you must have a deep, mobile receiving seat."

"There is a fine line between allowing your horse to slide your seat bone and your pushing. Try not to push. A generous slide will enhance your soft receiving and following seat. You will feel your horse expand his stride, reaching his hind feet well forward with each swinging step."

"To shorten the stride, simply reduce your activity. Do not become rigid, just less active."

"Using trot work as a gymnastic exercise greatly improves the walk."

"Debby [Sabin of Lovelane Special Needs Horseback Riding Program] explains that when a horse walks, the movement felt through the person's hips is almost identical to the human gait and provides the feeling of normal walking."

"It's very easy to ruin a horse's natural walk if he feels confined."

"...the horse's back is highest at the walk when its hind legs are directly under it pelvis. This happens twice every walk stride."

"...we can use the walk to train our sensory systems to tell us what we can't see about the horse's movement when we are in the saddle."

"The walk is unique in a few ways. It is the only gait with no phase of suspension. The horse always has two or three legs on the ground, so the horse is least likely to lose its balance at the walk."

"...the walk is more useful to teach the rider some things than it is for gymnasticizing a horse."

"The most common fault of the correctness of the footfall at the walk is a pacey walk, sometimes called a camel walk, in which the lateral pairs of legs touch down almost at the same time instead of in distinctly separated beats. This makes a walk, rhythm of 1, 2...3,4, instead of a clear, even beat for each foot: 1, 2, 3, 4."

"Another common gait fault at the walk is jigging, when the horse tosses in a few trot-like steps here and there."

"Quiet walk work is a regular part of good retraining."