Learn lengthening: how to ride medium trot and canter without rushing, keeping rhythm, extending the frame and returning softly to working tempo.
Isn't lengthening just going faster? The honest answer: no, and that is exactly the mistake. In lengthening the stride gets longer, and tempo grows along with it. In six well-trained dressage horses speed in trot rose from 3.20 metres per second in collected trot to 3.61 in working trot, 4.47 in medium trot and 4.93 in extended trot. That is roughly 11.5, 13 and 16 up to about 18 kilometres per hour, from a jogger up to a brisk cyclist. Stride length grew from 250 through 273 and 326 to 355 centimetres, and stride duration fell only slightly [1].
For you that means: from working to medium trot a good half a metre of distance per stride is added (273 to 326 centimetres), not a faster beat. The horse has to stretch out with impulsion from the hindquarters. In a study of 20 dressage horses fetlock extension in fore and hind limbs increased in medium and extended trot, more in the mature horses (extended trot) than in the young ones (medium trot) [2]. Lengthening demands the joints, so the rule is: dose it.
The FEI describes the medium trot as a pace with clearly lengthened steps without hurrying, impulsion from the hindquarters and a head carried a little more in front of the vertical than in working trot, with the neck slightly lowered [3].
Ride a circle at working trot. According to the FEI the horse in working trot shows balanced, elastic steps with good hock action [3]. Milestone: Rhythm and contact stay the same for two laps.
A half-halt is, according to the FEI, an almost simultaneous aid of seat, legs and hands that improves attention and balance before every movement and transition [4]. Milestone: The horse becomes attentive without changing the rhythm.
On the long side you give the impulse with the seat and the horse gets longer. You let the hand follow elastically forward. Rein tension in trot is highest in the suspension phase [5]; follow it instead of pulling. Stay upright and do not lean forward: the horse should get its impulse from the hindquarters, not from your weight on the forehand. Milestone: The stride visibly gets longer, the rhythm stays.
Count aloud or in your head. The FEI requires that the rhythm stays the same within the gait, that the change happens exactly at the marker and that the horse stays calm [4]. Milestone: Your horse stays calm even when it gets longer.
Before the corner a half-halt, take weight onto the hindquarters and come back to working tempo. According to the FEI the transition back to collected trot works by the horse taking more weight on the hindquarters [3]. Do not jerk the hand: in the professionals' rein tension before the transition determined how high it was in the transition [6]. Milestone: Your horse stays in rhythm and light in the hand.
Lengthening does not replace supervised training. Practise it with an instructor, on good, supportive ground and with a warmed-up horse. Lengthened strides demand more of the joints: fetlock extension increased in medium and extended trot [2]. Do not overstretch your horse through continuous work in medium trot. If your horse shows lameness, haste or resistance (tail swishing, teeth grinding), stop; the FEI names these signs as possible nervousness, tension or resistance [7]. Pain may be behind it, a professional clarifies.
Lengthen first at the walk: the FEI knows the medium walk with clearly visible overtracking, hind feet in front of the prints of the fore feet [8]. If you secure rhythm and softness there, you transfer the feel to trot and canter. This is a didactic suggestion from practice; the transfer between gaits is not a study.
In six dressage horses stride length grew from 273 centimetres in working trot to 326 in medium trot and 355 in extended trot [1]. That is about 50 to 80 centimetres more per stride.
Not per se. Measurements do show that fetlock joints extend more in medium and extended trot, more in the mature horses than in the young ones [2]. Dose it and mind the surface and the horse.
The FEI describes it as a pace between working and extended canter, with clearly lengthened strides, without hurrying and with impulsion from the hindquarters [9]. Begin in trot before you lengthen in canter.
According to the FEI the horse may carry its head a little more in front of the vertical and lower head and neck slightly [3]. What matters is that the horse stays in rhythm and relaxed.
It brings attention and balance [4]. Without a half-halt the horse often just gets faster.
Jumping a Combination: Two or Three Fences in a Row