Ways to Slow a Fast Trot Down

The first part of slowing down a fast trot is figuring out why the horse is trotting so fast. Some horses simply have a lot of energy or are overly excited and express it with fast, barely controlled gaits. In other cases, the fast trot may be the result of rider inexperience or confused cues where the horse believes that the rider is asking for the fast gait. It is also possible that a young or green horse may not know any better if it has never been trained to travel at a slower or more relaxed pace.

  1. Why is Your Horse Trotting Fast?

    • You can determine why your horse is trotting fast by looking at a few different scenarios. Consider how much training your horse has. If the horse is very well trained, it may be bored or you may be giving it the wrong cues. If your horse's trot settles down after you have been riding for a while, it may be excited or have a lot of excess energy. If the horse is green or was previously used for speed events, it may just need to be taught what a slow trot is. Determining why your horse is going so fast is a big part of figuring out how to slow it down.

    Control Your Riding

    • Riders have a lot of control over their horse's gaits, whether they realize it or not. Inexperienced riders with poor leg control have a tendency to squeeze and bump the horse's sides when riding. A responsive horse will respond by going faster. The inexperienced rider will then have to struggle, bounce and bump even faster, which will tell the horse to go even faster and lead to an out-of-control situation fairly quickly. Green horses may simply chug along at high speeds because they do not realize they are not supposed to. Either way, you can slow the horse down significantly with good riding.

      Control your own legs and seat to control your horse's trot speed. Focus on sitting deep in the saddle and minimizing jostling. If necessary, post the trot at a slow speed. Posting is an English riding technique where the rider rises up and down in the saddle in rhythm with the one-two beat of the trot. Your horse will not trot a different speed than you are posting, so if you can post at a regular to slow speed, your horse is going to be physically forced to slow down. While slowing down, squeeze the reins briefly to deliver a series of half-halts to gain the horse's attention.

    Round Pen Work

    • If your horse is trotting fast due to excitement or energy, work it in the round pen at a trot for 10 to 15 minutes before riding it. This should take the edge off your horse's energy and put it in the right mindset for working properly once you mount. Allowing your horse to work the energy out before your ride will keep you from having to fight your horse for control.

      If your horse has a lot of energy, you may want to take a closer look at your feeding program to determine if you need to cut down the amount of sugars, fats and protein in your horse's rations. Horses that are being fed a high-performance diet but are not living a high-performance lifestyle often develop excess energy and may misbehave.

    Engage Your Horse's Mind

    • Some horses just like to chug around the arena at warp speed. Focus your horse's attention by asking it to go in circles, figure-eights and ride through patterns in the ring. If your horse has to think about where it is going, maintain its balance on a circle or pattern and listen to your cues, it is going to slow down its speed to where it can accomplish everything you are asking of it. Keep your horse's mind engaged by varying your routines and asking for a variety of activities at the trot.

    Change Speeds

    • While you are working your horse, practice speeding up and slowing down the trot regularly to keep your horse from deciding it has a single trot speed and sticking to that one speed. By reminding your horse that it can trot at a variety of different speeds, you will keep its attention and reduce the likelihood that it will maintain a single, fast trot speed at all times.