When schooling piaffe, the horse needs to close the trot with the muscles flexed. The rider needs to hold the contact and ride the horse up to that. If the horse is willing to hold the contact, he can come back into a more collected trot. The horse is brought back little by little until the rider feels it is too much. Then the horse can go forward into a regular trot.
Up Next in Piaffe
-
Prix St Georges Schooling Passage and...
Laura suggests building the passage from the trot rather than the walk. She wants the horse to get a big, bouncy trot before asking him to come back. She advises passaging to the hand rather than bringing the horse back to passage. Similarly, she wants the half-steps to come back from a bouncy, f...
-
Prix St Georges Schooling Piaffe
Laura takes some time to explain how to take the next step in training the piaffe. If you drive the horse in the piaffe, you are basically telling him not to stay on the spot. However, the horse needs to be more active. To make this happen, bring him back in the trot and then ask him to have quic...
-
Grand Prix Piaffe and Passage Part 1
They start working in passage. Laura suggests moving him slightly laterally in the passage so the horse loosens up throughout his entire body. When transitioning from passage to piaffe, the horse tends to get tight and lose the tempo behind. She feels the tempo is most important and, with this pa...
