How to teach a section C to gallop ?

[shp]

Has anyone got any ideas on how to teach a section c with a very rocky canter to gallop ? Thank you ?

[sarahp]

In a field, with company? Out hunting (OK, not this time of year though!)? Practice increasing and decreasing the pace for a few strides while schooling, then he'll get the idea that a pace isn't just one speed but variable when you ask for it, if that makes sense.

[gillwales]

free school over poles. This does not mean chasing around flat out... you could do this on a lunge but you put the pony into canter and have the poles or small jumps on a grid just a bit more distance apart than his standard stride. It is not about speed but the length of stride. This is the start, you then progress to astride. Go for a ride with others, you are aiming for length of stride rather than speed again, do not encourage a choppy stride.vIf you are near a beach which allows you to ride on it then try there.

[kateanne0]

We had a C mare that didn't know how to gallop. Granddaughter took her into the fields and eventually over a week cracked it! Thereafter the mare always gave a lovely smooth gallop in her show.

If you are anywhere near farm rides, then that's a good place to go as well, a bit of excitement helps.

Good luck

[catkin]

all good advice above. I think what you are describing is a cob that is very round in its action. This sort find it harder to cover ground,so I think its important to teach them to lower into gallop as well as gain speed.

[ponymum]

Try on the lunge , but not in a circle ... and go a few strides up the long side to encourage him / her to lengthen - as others have said its more about dropping and lengthening...Good Luck , otherwise I taught my rh to gallop by going down the field and galloping up the hill....took him a couple of attempts before he sussed it , but didnt ever let me down in the ring .

[hazeysunshine]

I'm having this issue as well with my fell. I've got him fit and forward with active transitions. I'm just struggling with the extension / gallop now.
He doesn't really go anywhere.
Can get him up a speed out hacking, he will gallop on the beach and hunting just not in a show ring.
I'll have a go at changing length of stride and speed in the school see if I have any joy with that

[hack]

We taught my highland to gallop out hunting, didn't think she had it in her until she was out in company!

Once we knew she could do it (proper lowering and lengthening) we did the same as mentioned above, canter down the field, gallop back up. Then gradually refine until you can work it into the ring.

[gillwales]

On this subject, but not just for the OP, all of you with natives need to remember that natives were never bred to gallop, a lot of the bigger ones such as Highland, Dales and Fell were more pack animals, therefore their main pace is walk. Sec D's and C's more for driving therefore their main pace would be trot. Don't mis-understand me, they are very capable to canter, gallop etc, but if you have this you will understand why other paces need work on them. You will often see the welshies jog a lot rather than walk. Watch your pony in the paddock and see what they do when loose, that will be their favourite pace, the one they are most comfortable with, you then work on the rest

[chloesmum]

Totally agree with gillwales we must always remember what our native breeds natural paces are. My personal hate is seeing people coming off the bend in a show and thumping like mad, flapping reins to try and look like a gallop.
It is a tough one, anyone who knows our old boy will know gallop doesn't really enter into his vocabulary! We have lost many a class as he attempts a few strides and then goes 'thats it thank you!'. He will gallop with a tow (another infront especially a mare!). Also for many C's their canter is very bouncy, Jacob often looks like a carousel pony, or Tigger| some judges hated it others just laughed. Trot is his pace and he can still outpace most in the ring even at the grand old age he is, we love doing the traditional trotting classes with him now
Good luck shp hope you succeed.

[sarahp]

gillwales, please don't condemn Cs and Ds as basically trotters - some lines have three good paces, and if you want one to ride I'd suggest looking for one of those rather than a trotting/driving type. Normally if they have a good long walk they can canter, gallop and jump too. Jogging is a matter of training, nothing else, and even those without a good walk have a walk they can use instead. I always teach mine never to jog while doing in hand training as foals, it's not allowed.

I have no experience of the Highlands, Fells and Dales, but in general the Welsh are much more athletic, many are great jumpers and the right choice can be top class dressage animals.

[gillwales]

May 22, 2016 18:26:59 GMT sarahp said:

gillwales, please don't condemn Cs and Ds as basically trotters - some lines have three good paces, and if you want one to ride I'd suggest looking for one of those rather than a trotting/driving type. Normally if they have a good long walk they can canter, gallop and jump too. Jogging is a matter of training, nothing else, and even those without a good walk have a walk they can use instead. I always teach mine never to jog while doing in hand training as foals, it's not allowed.

I have no experience of the Highlands, Fells and Dales, but in general the Welsh are much more athletic, many are great jumpers and the right choice can be top class dressage animals.

Please read the post fully, I did not say they couldn't canter or walk, merely that when the breed was established it was has a driving animal, infact in Georgian times a Welsh Sec D was the sports car of it's day. The advent of the car replacing horses and ponies has only been fully established since the war; these breeds and therefore their original traits have been in state far longer than that. There is nothing derogative in talking about the job of work an animal did originally, they obviously were ridden has well.

I stand by what I said that whatever breed or type, when you turn them out they will use the pace they are most comfortable with. Some of my ponies trotted and others cantered, whichever it was was the pace they excelled in.

[Philippa]

As sarahp has said. A good walk produces a good gallop. When buying yearlings etc from the bloodstock sales to go on the track it was always the walk we watched.

[sarahp]

I will always remember reading in H & H re buying TB yearlings to resell later the quote "if he walks like a West Indian cricketer I'll buy him, if he walks like an English one I won't"! Not my quote, and no offence intended to any cricketers! I totally agree re them using their most comfortable paces when out loose.

If you read Dr Wynne's books he makes the point that they were ridden to war from the earliest days, and provided many army remounts from the 13th C. A poem from the early 16th C specifically states that the Welsh horses (sic) should both trot and gallop, as well as swim and jump, and carry weight. I did carefully say "some lines" - I wouldn't want readers who don't know the breed to think they are ALL principally trotters, even if most of those we see these days in the IH ring are of that type.

[chloesmum]

A good walk is usually the pace that sells to me and Jacob has an exceptional walk but not an exceptional gallop! I think sometimes C/D's don't have a good walk when ridden if they have done a lot of inhand as they often go in the ring at a trot and all fired up, but that is digressing from the original question.
Of course there are many C's with great gallops - our current C has a brilliant gallop but her paces are very different to Jacobs. She is far more forward going and learned to gallop by having the use of a gallop track on her hacks which she loves, she naps to go up the gallop!
shp I am not sure what you mean by a 'rocky' canter but am guessing it is more a bouncy one? and that can be more difficult to achieve a gallop but lots of good advice above to help.

[sarahp]

Yes, a digression but worth making the point I think that those C/D individuals that have been shown IH a lot are both very fired up and also very much dissuaded from breaking from their trot into canter and so can be VERY difficult to retrain afterwards to show three good paces when ridden instead.

I think the use of a gallop track or field is the way to go - but maybe once they have got the gallop point on that, then varying the pace while still on the track/field will help to transfer the skill to the school or show ring?

[catkin]

... and also slightly off the OP, but linked and in support of SarahP's comments is that there are types within types. Every breed has differences of lines and types, they are all true to the overall breed standard, just a matter of taste. And thank goodness for this diversity. I believe some of the cobs to be more of a riding type because of their lower action. I could name lines, but that would probably be perceived as too personal! Those with more exaggerated knee action do find it very hard to canter and gallop, so my personal preference when selecting cobs has always been more of the riding type. About 20 years ago these were very popular and of late have seemed less so, which I think a great shame. Many of the more modern judges favour those with more of the driving action. The riding types (who can canter) also find it easier to jump and those lines do better in WHP and other disciplines too. Back to the OP, I think you need to work with the movement (and yes, sometimes temperament ie. those that can physically gallop but choose not too) you have and maximise this. The stretching and lengthening can be trained in all paces and then usefully applied to gallop. Good luck.

[sarahp]

Just to expand a bit - often "riding type" is used as an insult of Ds to mean tall, leggy and horsey. I, and I'm sure I speak for catkin too, are talking just of the movement here! it is entirely possible to find Ds whose conformation fully complies with the breed description while having a lower, extended action suitable for riding.

I could name lines too, but won't!

[catkin]

Good points Sarah, though sometimes its not just about the movement but the overall scope of the animal. The very, very short backed are quite hard to ride too!

[sarahp]

Very, very short backs are NOT part of the breed description!