Dressage movements are done in three different gaits, the walk, the
trot, and the canter. While even a dumb dressage dad can tell the difference
between these three gaits, there are simple cadence counts that can assist.
Moreover, there are also a number of paces within each gait that will make the horse/rider
appear to be moving slower or faster by covering more or less distance. I say
“appear” because regardless of the pace within each gait, the rhythm should
remain consistent (like a metronome). And rhythm is the foundation for all
dressage work as outlined in the dressage training pyramid (to be discussed in
a later post). Finally, throughout all gaits and paces, the rider and horse
must constantly show good balance.
The Walk
The walk is a 4 beat cadence, counting – 1, 2, 3, 4 – to follow the
steps. Starting with beat 1, the horse’s back foot is stepping into or ahead of
the hoof print left by the front foot on the same side. Beat 2 is that front
foot stepping ahead. Beats 3 and 4 are the same but on the other side.
There are four different paces within the walk: collected walk, medium
(or regular) walk, extended walk, and free walk. Remember that the rhythm
(tempo) stays the same; it’s just the distance covered, head and neck position,
and leg movement that changes.
The collected walk covers the least distance but shows much more action
in the joints (or flashiness). The back hoof should step into or just ahead of
the front hoof. And since less ground is covered, the movement of the joints is
much more pronounced, with more action in the hocks and higher stepping. The
neck is high with the head held vertical (an inverted V).
The medium walk covers more distance and shows less action in the
joints. The back hoof steps ahead of the front hoof mark. The joint action is
not as pronounced because the rider has to keep the same rhythm while covering
more distance. The neck is lower and the head is held in a more natural
position.
The extended walk covers the most distance and shows the least action
in the legs. The back hoof steps well ahead of the front hoof mark because of
the greater distance being travelled. And, accordingly, the flashiness is muted
because of the stretching required to cover more distance. The neck is held
lower, almost horizontal, almost horizontal as they cover greater distance.
Finally, the free walk is a relaxation walk for the horse that allows
the horse to stretch out the head and neck. The hind feet again well ahead of
the front hoof mark as the horse stretches. It is a good sign if the neck and
head are long and low as the horse stretches.
The Trot
The trot is counted on a 2 beat cadence, with opposite front and hind
legs. In between each beat is a slight suspension where all four feet are above
the ground. Like the walk, the horse and rider should show good balance and a
consistent rhythm within and across gaits.
(Source: USEF. (2014). Chapter on dressage division, Subchapter DR-I
dressage governing regulations, pg. 8)
There are 4 paces in the trot including a collected trot, a working
trot, a medium trot and an extended trot. Like the walk, the rhythm is constant
across all with differences between paces being in the amount of joint
movement, head and neck position, and distance covered.
While having similar paces to the walk, the only one that is different
is the working trot. This specific pace is more of a training pace for those
horses and riders who are not yet accomplished enough to do a collected trot.
It is the start of showing more flashiness in the hocks and joints. It also is
the beginning of showing more spring where the horse is pushing from its hind
quarters (impulsion – to be discussed in a later blog post).
The picture below provides a good illustration as to the distances and
joint movements of various paces in the trot. Notice how as the paces move from
collected to extended, the height of the step decreases as the length
increases. So with longer paces, the flashiness of the step with springy exaggerated
joint and hock movement gets less and less because they are covering more
distance. (Note that the diagram also shows the piaffe and passage – two movements
that are much more advanced and done by expert riders. These won’t be discussed
here other than the fact that these paces show the most flashiness and joint
action and cover the least ground. In fact, the piaffe should be done in a
stationary position with no to very little forward movement)
The Canter
The Canter is counted on a 3 beat cadence. But unlike a traditional
waltz that is actually 3 beats (3/4 time - think of a song like “Moon River”),
the canter has an extra 4th beat when the horse is in full
suspension (all feet off the ground) – a silent beat. So in fact it’s a
deceiving 4 beats (4/4 time –if you hum the opening of the song “We Will Rock
You” by Queen where there are 3 strong beats and a pause or silent beat making
it a 4 beat cadence).
The paces in the canter mirror the paces in the trot moving from collected to working to medium and extended in both the flashiness of the joint movement and distance covered. Like both the walk and trot, the horse and rider should show good balance and a consistent rhythm within and across paces.
The principle difference of the canter from both the walk and trot is
that both walk and trot are unidirectional. The canter can be either a right
canter or left canter depending on the direction. The picture below shows a
right canter. Notice that in frame 2, the front right leg and left back leg
meet the ground at the same time. Moving from frame 3 to 4, the right front is
extended as the last step in the canter. The final frame is the suspension
where all four legs are in the air – this would be beat four in the cadence. So
to count the cadence of the canter, beat one would fall in frame 1 of the
picture, beat two would be frame 2, beat 3 would be frame 4, and beat four
would be frame six (the silent beat).
(Source: USEF. (2014). Chapter on dressage division, Subchapter DR-I
dressage governing regulations, pg. 10)
Sometimes a counter-canter is required in a test. This can be done by
not switching leads when the direction changes. It can also be done when doing “flying
tempies”. That is, when the horse switches leads during the canter in either 4
strides, 3 strides, 2 strides or 1 stride. The fewer strides between the
change, the more difficult and advanced the movement. Flying tempies are usually
done along the diagonal path from corner to corner of the arena going through X
(see previous post on Where the Hell is X???).
So we’ve covered a lot of ground in this post, no pun intended. Seeing
a walk, trot and canter may make it easier to understand the movements and count the
beats There are many videos available that can illustrate them. Here is a link
for one that I found that shows a trot and then walk and canter. It's helpful because it actually uses a metronome to show the constant rhythm in each gait.
I could have gone into significantly more detail on all gaits and paces with respect to head and neck position, the bit and rider, etc. But it's long enough already. For those interested, go to the USEF or EC websites (links in Useful Links section) and read the dressage rules. It is certainly reading for insomniacs. Also, the Dressage Academy has videos of all gaits for those interested.
Cheers,
DDD
My apologies for mixing up the term "gait" and "pace" in a previous version of this post. It has been corrected. What can you expect from a dumb dressage dad :s
ReplyDeleteGreat posts! Thanks DDD :)
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