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Pace and Rhythm Keeps Horses Focused
Whether you are wearing a helmet or a cowboy hat, riding in an arena or on the trail, you should be thinking about “pace and rhythm”. When a horse’s pace and rhythm is steady, there will be even spacing between each of the footsteps that make-up a stride. This will demonstrate a confident horse that is both balanced and relaxed in his movement. The stride will be energetic, controlled, consistent, and flowing. This horse will be focused on both the rider and the job at hand.
The term “pace” is commonly used when referring to the tempo of a horse’s stride. I can remember as a young boy taking music lessons where I had the “rhythm” of a metronome sounding out a continuous hypnotic beat: one – two – one – two…. By changing the speed of the metronome I could make the beats go faster or slower. In other words, I could change the “tempo” of the rhythm.
Tempo and rhythm work hand-in-hand. By maintaining a steady, continuous tempo,
you are actually preserving the integrity of the rhythm. Just like the metronome,
we can change the tempo or pace of the rhythm in our horse’s stride.
Walk, trot, and canter gaits can be ridden at different tempos for different
reasons, although in most cases a “working” gait is preferred.
However, regardless of the gait, rhythm faults most often occur when the pace
is too fast, the horse is tense, or the horse feels restricted by the riders
contact.
Of course, in their natural environment, horses have very little difficulty
maintaining balance or rhythm because there are no unnatural obstacles to
restrict their movement. However, we are continually introducing obstacles
not found in nature that challenge our horse’s movement, balance, and
rhythm.
The first obstacle every horse is challenged by is equipment; a saddle, bridle, and side reins. When we lounge the horse, the side reins help to control the outside shoulder aiding the horse to stay straight as well as encouraging him to use his back. This may seem simple, but it is very challenging for the horse.
When we add a rider to the equation, we have substantially increased the challenge for the horse. In fact, a rider poses the most difficult challenge to any horse. Our job is to maintain a steady pace and rhythm despite the obstacles, metaphorically speaking, we need to become a human metronome.
Did you know that the average man weighs approximately one sixth the weight of a horse? Just imagine how much that influences a horse’s movement, balance, and rhythm. To use an analogy, try taking a thirty-five pound child for a ride on your shoulders. How long would it take before you tired? I’m guessing it wouldn’t take long! In short order you would try almost anything to get rid of him or at least make sure that he pays attention to how much you are struggling to stay balanced, never mind trying to keep a rhythm.
Our body weight disturbs our horse’s balance and makes it more difficult for him to maintain a steady pace and rhythm. However, the more balanced we are in the saddle, the less of a burden we are to the horse. To improve your balance in the saddle you need to develop an independent seat.
An excellent exercise for developing an independent seat is to practice riding without reins while your horse is on a lounge line. By eliminating the reins to rely on for support, you will have no alternative but to learn how to sit centered and balanced over top of four legs. Once your balance is established, you will find it much easier to pick up the reins and communicate to your horse to maintain a steady pace and rhythm.
We add yet another obstacle with the “sitting trot”. At first it is important to sit for just a few strides, allowing our horse’s back to build strength over a period of time. Gradually, we sit for longer and longer until eventually our horse will accept our seat while maintaining a steady pace and rhythm. If you, or your horse, lose the rhythm or get tense, just stop and start again.
Adding complicated movements such as figure eights or serpentines increase the challenge even more for. Can your horse bend or change directions without losing the pace and rhythm? Can he move laterally in perfect rhythm such as in a leg yield or can he lengthen or shorten the stride in each gait? Always ask yourself if the rhythm was maintained throughout.
We can anticipate disruptions to pace and rhythm by understanding the nature of horses. Horses have an unfortunate tendency to slow down when beginning corners or circles and to speed up when leaving a circle or approaching a long side or a diagonal. If you keep this in mind, your horse’s pace and rhythm won’t degenerate to a point where you will need to make an obvious correction.
As your training exercises get more and more difficult always pay special attention to your horse’s pace and rhythm – it is a priority! A major measure of your horse’s success, at each and every level of his training, is dependent upon whether he can keep a consistent pace and rhythm in his movement.
Remember - “Success with horses starts with us”!
This article was written for the October issue of Horses All.