The hidden gait

I had a plan. My horse had another. I wanted to canter. My horse wanted to bolt, spook, and gallop! So we trotted and cantered up hills and across trails until the poor guy was winded. I let him walk and catch his breath, which of course is a little challenging when he is still jigging. I thought he had calmed down and we could start practicing canter transitions when a pheasant startled in the bush. Poor Q was wired!

So we kept on trotting until finally 10 minutes later he asked to walk. I got this little clip after thirty minutes of trotting and just before he asked to walk. He is looking a little sedate, finally.

Eventually I got to do some canter work on a wider stretch of the trail. At first the circles were ovals but eventually Q figured out my game. 

Which got me thinking ... will I ever gallop? My old timer cowboy trainer told me many moons ago to be very careful about never “opening up” my QH on trail. So we kept our speed to hand gallops in closed spaces. But many trainers, both western and x-country, say that horses aren’t galloped enough. So, that got me thinking that maybe I need to include more gallops.

This summer was my season for cantering. But maybe next year we need to tap into the hidden gait.