How to Make My Quarter Horse Extend His Stride

Horses are capable of extending their strides in all gaits. When a horse extends its stride, it is simply reaching further forward with its legs with every step it takes. Horses can be trained to extend their strides at their riders' command and several equestrian competition events, such as dressage and horsemanship, actually require riders to do this during the course of the competition. Your horse needs to have an adequate grasp of basic training concepts and a good responsiveness to its rider before it will be able to master extending its stride on command.

Things You'll Need

  • Horse
  • Appropriate horseback riding tack and gear
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Instructions

    • 1

      Warm up your horse so it is working well in each gait. You should be in full control of the horse's gaits and speed. Ask the horse to travel at a medium speed within the gait and maintain contact and communication with the horse using both your reins and your seat.

    • 2

      Squeeze the horse's sides lightly with both legs and push forward with your seat, encouraging the horse to increase forward movement. Maintain the horse's speed with your reins.

    • 3

      Encourage your horse to reach forward with its stride until you feel a noticeable lengthening of the stride. The extended stride will make the gait feel slightly smoother than it did with a shorter stride and if you count each footfall of your horse's movements you will notice that the footfalls will be slightly farther apart even though the horse is covering more ground with every stride. Allow the horse to travel at an extended pace for several strides and then allow it to stop extending. Continue this exercise until thevhorse lengthens its stride automatically at your command.