When warming up on the flat, a lot of riders do transitions because they think they should. But if you watch upper-level riders, they incorporate a lot of different types of transitions to develop balance and self-carriage in their horses. And by improving balance, your horse will be more maneuverable, responsive and supple. Plus, being able to easily collect and lengthen your horse’s stride is a fundamental skill for jumping courses where you might need to go from a longer stride to a shorter stride or vice versa.
There are two components of a transition to consider: rhythm and energy. A transition may involve a change in rhythm and/or a change in energy. For example, riding a transition from a working trot to a trot lengthening does not involve a rhythm change, but it does involve a change (an increase) in energy. Riding a trot-to-walk transition involves a change in rhythm (trot rhythm to walk rhythm) and a change (decrease) in energy.
Regardless of which transition components are most important, you must be ready for the change in your body—in energy and rhythm—and prepare to move appropriately with your horse. This takes focus, postural support and body control. With organization, you will maximize the benefit of transitions on your horse’s balance and make them look effortless and harmonious.
So, what can you do to help your horse execute balanced transitions without interfering with his movement? In this lesson from her video series on EQUESTRIAN+, hunter trainer Kristy Herrera works with student Katie and her horse Parker and provides expert tips that you can apply with your horse to improve your transitions.
Upward: Walk To Sitting Trot & Sitting Trot to Working Trot
“We start at the working walk. Establish a strong enough connection with your reins so he has to accept the bit while you keep your leg on, so he does a nice, strong walk without getting too forward.
“Our first transition will be to the sitting trot. As you do an upward transition, you want to hold your reins a little tighter than your initial pace and then add your leg into the transition. You have to hold your horse’s mouth while keeping your leg on, so he doesn’t have anywhere to go except listen to your leg. What you don’t want to do is let go of the reins when you’re asking for a transition.
“If your horse is trying to evade the bit or moves his head up and down like Parker is here, that’s OK. Horses naturally try to figure out a way to escape your hands. Raise your hands above the withers and be consistent with your hands so he’ll be more engaged and stay in front of your leg.
“Next, we transition to the working trot. As you do this keep your fingers closed and add leg as you go to posting, and if your horse stays in a nice, round frame, you can give a little on the reins.”
Downward: Working Trot to Sitting Trot & Sitting Trot to Walk
“In your downward transitions, close your leg first and take the mouth second. If your horse roots at the reins in your transition, make sure you’re maintaining contact with both your reins and legs. If your horse tends to shift left or right in your downward transitions, think about steering with your legs so your reins can maintain the connection needed for the slower pace.
“When working on transitions, make sure your horse is always straight. You’re not trying to bend him left or right. You want is hind end directly behind his front end. When Parker tries to get behind the bridle, Katie keeps her leg on and maintains connection with the reins and takes her time until her horse accepts the aids. Accepting the aids is always your primary goal in transition work.”
Canter Transitions
“After you’ve worked with your horse on walk and trot transitions, you can progress to canter transitions. Start at the walk and make sure your horse is perfectly straight underneath you. You want a nice, strong walk that doesn’t get too flat or fast. Then, use your outside leg to bring his haunches in a bit. When you’re transitioning to canter from the walk you want no or minimal trot steps. That means you need to have pretty strong contact with your reins as you use your outside leg to ask for canter.
“You can see Parker made a mistake in his transition by picking up the incorrect lead. That simply indicates he was crooked when Katie asked for the canter. In that case, go back to the walk and really focus on getting the haunches to the inside to encourage him to pick up the correct lead.
“On her next try, Katie used too much hand and not quite enough leg to get the exact canter she wanted. You have to keep your legs strong enough that your horse establishes a true canter. This can take some time to accomplish. So, start by establishing a strong walk; then, ask your horse to hold his haunches in at the walk. Take your time and allow your horse to accept this at the walk first, while keeping him straight with your outside rein.
“Then, ask for canter again and keep your leg on to establish your working canter as soon as you can. While your horse is engaged in your hand and leg, make sure you’re traveling straight to get the working canter.”
Lengthening & Collecting the Canter Stride
“Now, we’ll do a transition of lengthening the stride at the canter. Keep your fingers closed to help your horse maintain his balance while adding a little leg to encourage him to lengthen.
“If you horse wants to pop up or evade your outside leg, sit down and back in the saddle while adding more leg. You have to keep your reins strong enough so he stays in your hand, but without taking too much away so he doesn’t lengthen his stride enough.
“Now we’re going to go from lengthening of stride to collecting. Try to keep your horse’s head and neck straight so you don’t accidentally wiggle the bit back and forth in his mouth by maintaining even pressure on both reins. After collecting the stride at the canter, go down to the sitting trot. Parker wanted to collapse a little there and fall behind her leg, but Katie corrected him.
“If your horse tends to transition downward too quickly, keep your leg on and use even more leg once you add rein. When working on transitions, it’s important that you expand the stride from the most it can do back to the downward transition to the sitting trot and then to the walk.”
Exercise to Improve Your Trot-to-Walk Transitions
1. Establish an active trot, either posting or sitting.
2. Initiate the downward transition to walk by slowing down how your body is moving with your horse (either slow your posting or sitting rhythm) instead of pulling on the reins. Breathe through your rib cage to help activate your core muscles, which will help you balance and stabilize your body so your horse can feel your change in tempo.
3. Gradually slow your tempo until your horse comes to a walk. You should find that in the resulting walk your horse moves forward freely.
It may take many trot steps to accomplish the walk transition at first. But over time, your horse will learn the “don’t go forward so much” cue from your body stability and breathing, and quickly come to a prompt, balanced and active walk. The transition comes from managing your horse’s energy from your center and steadying—not pulling on the reins. This promotes balance and harmony between you and your horse.
