The Benefits of Walking

You can get a lot accomplished with your horse at the walk. A good walk should be an obsession with every great horseman. A good walk is something we ought to think about every time we go somewhere with our horse whether it is on the ground leading him or riding him.
I remember well the words of one of my mentors:
“If you can’t do it well at a walk don’t even think about doing it at a trot or canter with success.”

What is a good walk?
1. The horse is calm, relaxed, attentive, willing and in balance.
2. It looks light and effortless.
3. It is lively, but not always increasing in speed. You don’t have to keep holding the horse back.
4. The horse is not lifeless or dull; where you are always have to keep encouraging him to keep walking.
5. The horse goes the speed you ride him.
6. You and the horse look like you are going somewhere; you have someplace to be and something to do.
7. There is a steady cadence or rhythm.
8. The horse’s head is level with withers, with a nice swinging motion in his head and neck.
9. The horse’s face is on the vertical and the reins have loose contact.
10. The horse’s hind feet are reaching forward under his belly button.

Some of the benefits of a good walk:
1. You’ll have fewer problems directing your horse.
2. You’ll have more control over your horse’s movements and individual body parts.
3. It enhances overall performance. The better your walk is the more the trot, canter and gallop will improve.
4. It is easier at the walk to develop your horse’s suppleness then when you increase the speed you will set your horse up for success.
5. It is better to improve your horse’s lateral movements at the walk then when you add speed it will be easier for your horse.
6. It is the best gait to teach your horse to keep straight, if he can keep straight at the walk it will be more natural for him to keep straight in other gaits.
7. A good walk allows for mechanical ease and energetic efficiency. It creates strength, power and stamina.
8. A balanced walk will not cause damage or strain to the tendons, legs, soft tissue or muscles.
9. A good walk takes less metabolic energy to achieve the same goals.
10. It also increases the stride length and range of movement, making the body more adaptable and adjustable.
11. It also becomes physiologically and psychologically easier on the horse due to a sense of control and well being that comes from inside of him.

I mention all of this about walking because I recently gave a lesson to one of my regular students and her horse’s overall muscle development was greatly improved since I had last seen this horse. I had never seen this horse look better. I asked her what she had been doing different with her horse. She said that she had only been walking her horse for the last several months. She decided to do this because her horse was bracing so much in other gaits. So she determined to get the brace out of her horse at the walk first, then she would progress to other gaits. Well it is paying off with great dividends.

The walk is a very valuable gait when done well. You have probably seen a horse that is walking real nice. Your eye will recognize it as beautiful, graceful, effortless movement that exudes power and strength. We all have the ability to recognize this when we see it. But do we have the patience to get it with our horses?

Thank you for celebrating with us the love of horses. Thank you to all the new people who have taken lessons from me in the past three months, the people who have entrusted me with their young horses, and to all the regular students who have stuck with me over the last 4 years so faithfully. It is a real blessing serving all of you and helping your horses feel better about what we are asking them to do.
Until next time,
Sherry Jarvis