06/20/2025
The walk.
The mother of all gaits.
I don't know that I've been clear on just how much time I spend in the walk, and how important the walk is! I bet in a 30 minute ride, 20 of it is walking, and not just walking to warm up. Not walking just any old way, kicking sand. Truly mindful work in the walk.
In the walk the horse's head should move down to the left, down to the right, down to the left, down to the right, but it's very common to see horses walking with their head moving, up and back, up and back. Having healthy biomechanics in the walk is a critical component of the foundation of healthy movement and longevity.
Skipping this basic step of a correct balanced walk is the equivalent of building a new house on an old crumbly foundation just because it was there and you thought you could use it. If the horse's back does not swing correctly at the walk, everything you build upon it will be a farce.
In an ideal walk, the horse's head will move down to the left, and down to the right. The horse will not kick sand, and will feel like at any given moment you could ask for the trot, or halt and back. Upon this, we can then build the laterals to help the horse understand and coordinate use of each hind leg as the function of an inside hind leg, or an outside hind leg, as well as start to carry more weight instead of just pushing it.
I explain this further, with pictures and videos (along with many more topics) in the online library, "Setting Your Horse Up For Success". Once you're in, you also have access to the private fb group for further explanations, and it's lifetime access for only $185!
You can find "Setting Your Horse Up For Success" in my website store at shade tree stables dot com ;)
