Ok what is extened trot\canter and how do you get your horse to do it?

Question

i help out at my barn for free lessons and my instruer told her student to work on the extened trot and i dont want her to ask me and have me seem like an idot..... and how do you get horse to extened i know a little about it plzz help thinks

Answer 1

It is basically a very fast trot, about as fast as you can go without the horse breaking into a canter.  It is called an 'extended' trot because the horse should extend it's front legs all the way- meaning the knee is not bent- while doing it.

Answer 2

It is NOT a fast trot.

An extended trot/canter is when your horse takes bigger strides. Not just a fast trot.

In order to be able to achieve an extended trot-

-When posting, stand up higher than you normally do, this urges the horse to take bigger strides to match your posting

-Squeeze a bit for every stride to urge your horse to move faster

-In order to be able to achieve an extended canter-

I dont think theres really such thing as an extended canter as far as I know. But to get your horse to take bigger strides when cantering:

-Lean forward in sort of a 2 point (small jumping position) to urge your horse to move faster (puts pressure on the front legs)

-Squeeze your horse a bit for every stride he takes

I hope this helped!

Answer 3

extended trot, isnt just when a horse goes faster

You develop an extended trot from the engagement and the balance of the horse, that’s how the horse lengthens the trot.

the canter is basically the same but in canter, they need to lengthen their whole frame, and lengthen the stride, basically, they should stretch each stride to the maximum

Answer 4

A extended trot is what comes after the working trot and before the canter. So while you are doing a working (or sitting) trot you want to squeeze your horse into a very fast bumpy trot and then post it....while riding the extened trot make sure your horse does not break into a canter. A canterid a 3 beated gait that you normally see people doing when there jumping....The canter is before the gallop so it is the second fastest gait.http://youtube.com/watch?v=YBEd1siVVUQ

Answer 5

An extended trot/center just makes it faster. The ride should squeeze to get their horses to do so. I mostly use it when I go over jumps, but it can be used if the horse is just being too slow.

and don't worry, i had to ask my instructor what it was xD she didnt think i was an idiot though, haha.

Answer 6

Okay, it's been awhile since my show days, but as I recall it speed increase had little to do with the extended trot/canter.  The idea was to get the horse to reach forward with impulsion, but not so much speed.  The horse does cover more ground with each stride just by virtue of the greater reach and impulsion, which still comes from the hind end forward, which is more ground-covering.  To teach it, we first asked for collection and then drove the horse forward with legs and weight, while inhibiting speed with the reins, which was like a balancing act between the rider's seat and the horse's mouth.

Answer 7

ok, extended trot and canter is where the horse really strides out in its gait without breaking it and cantering for example. to get an extended trot from your horse, simply ask with your legs (and voice if your horse is lazy) but keeping a contact with its mouth to stop him from running with you. collected trot/canter is where you ask the horse to shorten his stride, to do this, you use half halts to slow him down, but keep pressure with your legs to remind him you want to keep moving. hope this helps x*x

Answer 8

I totally agree that the extended trot is NOT just a faster trot, unless every instructor I've ever had in both Virginia and North Carolina is wrong.

The cadence does not change, just the stride.  Try a collected trot.  Use your legs to push the horse but maintain him in a collected frame.  Your will not be going slower, the horses strides will be closer together.  Then go to a nice, easy working trot.  Finally, keep the same rhythm but push with your posting.  if you are doing it right, you will feel your horse "stretch out", not go faster.

The canter is the same.  Start with a collected canter.  With practice you can do it.  It helps to have someone on the ground to tell you when you've got it so then you know what it's supposed to feel like.

Remember, not all horses will pick it up right away.  It depends on their previous training and how well they can "read your mind" if you are a beginner and trying to give ques that he might not understand.

That's where a good instructor comes in....priceless.

Answer 9

Check out this site...It explains it better than I could and it has some nice pictures demonstrating it.

Here is a video showing you what it is..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uuW6KfE...

Good luck (and a trainer is there for you to ask stupid questions...That's why you have one!  You can't be expected to know everything all the time.

Answer 10

its not a stupid question. A extended anything means that you want the horse to speed up in what ever gait that they're doing.

The most famous extended trot is when a dressage horse will be flat kneed, at a trot. But for nondressage horses you just and the horse to speed up their trot but not go into a canter. They want to see a difference between a normal trot and a extended trot. Its very easy to ask a horse, all you do is squeeze or tap with your legs to get them to speed up but you may have to pull back on the reins.

Extended canter means that you want the horse to speed up. Like the trot just tap a bit with your legs.

Answer 11

to do this extended trot or canter you need to add alot of leg but at the same time hold his front end tight to keep him from going faster .its basicly letting his stride get longer without going faster

Answer 12

An extended trot is achieved through impulsion, drive from behind, (cluck, cluck cluck) ask that horse to move out at the trot to extend it and just lightly holding your horse with the reins, yet still maintaining a frame.  I like to see a lot of "swing" from the shoulder, a lot of reach, at the extended trot...and I want to see a horse striding up under himself from behind.