How do you teach a horse to perform piaffe?

Question

I don't have my own horse I am just interested.

Answer 1

You don't. You let a master horseman do that. A piaffe is one of the hardest things to do.

Answer 2

Only master horsemen know how to teach a horse the piaffe....it is the culmination of years of work developing the horse's physical agility and mental readiness for it.  Look up the Spanish Riding School in Vienna to learn more about it.

Answer 3

WHY would you want to?  I had an OLD AQHA gelding, Bob Martin, who had his ROM in reining that when left behind by the rest of his buddies on a trail ride would do a piaffe then in mid air, BUCK!  Or was that "Airs Above the Ground" and BUCK?  Anyway, the sucker unloaded me 5 times the same day after a night of partying with my buddies when I was young and dumb.

Answer 4

Start on the ground, hold your horse's lead rope right on the top almost where the halter and rope attach. Walk backwards (may need to walk fast at first) and ask your horse to trot, dont let him pass you! keep him right in front of you. Keep asking him to trot untill he starts trotting slower and slower untill he starts lifting his feet up higher and higher. This may take some practice....

Hope this helps

Answer 5

You have to get your horse to listen to your body, so when you're trotting in your body but all the energy is going upwards instead of forwards to go forward, he responds by trotting with upward energy, a.k.a. piaffe. But it is a very advanced move, so don't just assume that a horse you might ride knows it and will respond.