They finish the ride with trot work where they do a controlled lengthening on the long side or diagonal into a halt transition. Steffen reminds the rider to use the rein to bend or for a half halt, but not to let the horse pull on the reins. In addition, the horse has to settle in the halt and not try to go forward until the rider asks.
Up Next in Second Level
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Warm-up to Improve the Connection
Laura rides her Arabian/Oldenberg mare that she has raised and trained herself. The mare has shown through Prix St. Georges but recently has been working more at the lower levels. The horse struggles the most with the connection because she can be busy in the mouth, hides from the connection and...
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Connection in Shoulder-in
Laura works on improving the connection in the trot because the horse mouth is busy, and she is a little low in the poll. She works on shoulder-in and goes through the what, how and why of the rider aids and the horse responses. She demonstrates what happens when the rider body gets imbalanced in...
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Second Level - Trot Transitions
In this ride, Laura points out that the horse is a little long in his body. Horses with this type of conformation, she says, often would rather go left and right instead of closing up their bodies. If that the case, transitions between and within the gaits can be very beneficial. The ability to m...
