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Gaits of Gold Gaited Horse Community Messageboard > Gaited Horse Training Discussions > Gaited Horse Training > How Do I Maintain Her Rack? |
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Gaits of Gold Gaited Horse Community Messageboard > Gaited Horse Training Discussions > Gaited Horse Training > How Do I Maintain Her Rack? |
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| How Do I Maintain Her Rack? | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15th, 2010 08:08 pm |
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1st Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member 
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We can get her to Rack but she only holds it for about a Stride or Two before she breaks into a Canter. And her Rack is Beautiful. So how do I get her to maintain it instead of switching to a canter after about two strides?
____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15th, 2010 08:32 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Brenda Im Pasture Boss 
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Don't let her canter. Ever. PB 
____________________ Always forgive your enemies. It's good for you - and really messes with their heads! |
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16th, 2010 03:17 am |
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3rd Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member
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She kind of has to canter though, it's required for both her breed exhibits and also for her jumpping, plus I really love her canter. Is there another option for maintaining her racking gait?
____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16th, 2010 01:14 pm |
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4th Post |
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MTRA872 G.O.G Community Member
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Is it a speed thing? In other words, is she going too fast at the rack to hold it? I seem to remember you saying she is multi-gaited but I don't remember what her other intermediate gaits are. I have a walking pony (although he is not an American Walking Pony, he is just a tiny TWH) but to show him where and how I do, he must also canter, and has a beautiful canter that is so fun to ride. He can rack in addition to run walk, but he would prefer to canter, so I chose to concentrate on the run walk and the canter rather than the run walk and the canter and the rack. For your shows, she is required to rack as well as canter? Its possible that when she gets into her rack, she gets a little over collected and then breaks (at least, that is what happens with BlackJack usually.) Is there any way you could practice the rack on a very slight downhill? If you could get her racking on a downhill, you could then try to get her go just a little farther and farther each time after she gets to the level at the bottom of the hill. When she is about to break to the canter, stop and start over. I would assume she has a distinct, separate cue for the canter, so she shouldn't get confused if you are telling her "No, I don't want to canter now, I didn't ask for it this time."
____________________ "And on the Seventh Day...we went trail riding!" |
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16th, 2010 03:22 pm |
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5th Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member
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Yeah she is very multi-gaited. Only thing she isn't suppose to do that she does is the FoxTrot , so we're trying to work *that* out of her. But she is suppose to Canter and Rack and do five other gaits atleast. Including Trotting. The breed is suppose to be seven gaited. She I think has 8 when you include the FoxTrot. I'll suggest that to the trainer, I think that's possible she is just being asked for so much speed and collection to bring her out of the trot and into the rack that she only manages to hit it for a couple strides and then breaks into the canter. It makes sense. I'll work on that too, the way the current stables are designed the whole property slopes slightly gradually towards the street. She's got beautiful natural lift and under stride when she hits it, both her trainer and I are dying to get her into the ring with it and then when people are like "How did you get her to do that!?!?" just tell them the truth, that she does it naturally. When she gets into her RunWalk it's square and tons of head nod/over stride, her ears flop when she does it. Last edited on Tue Mar 16th, 2010 03:23 pm by SunnysMum ____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Thu Apr 1st, 2010 02:18 am |
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6th Post |
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Ice House G.O.G Community Member
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If a horse continually breaks to canter I draw him up a little more until I find the spot where he rides the best. If he continues to break after I have him collected I seesaw the reins to throw him offbalance and keep him in gait. IMO- A horse should be cantered in the breaking in process, but after that, not until a gait is well established. In your case I would definetely not canter until I had her gait consistent.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 6th, 2010 05:58 pm |
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7th Post |
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Karen A G.O.G Community Member
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I have a Racking horse that does both the canter and rack. He is a lateral horse to begin with and the canter has improved the rack. It is possible for them to do both well but it does take some work on the part of the rider especially with a horse that has become used to breaking into a canter. I would say that you need to have a separate que for the rack and canter. For example, to canter, I squeeze with the inside seat bone and leg and kiss ie right seat bone for right lead canter. To rack, I squeeze with both legs equally and cluck. Go into the canter from the walk or run walk and not from the rack. If the horse cannot canter from the walk, then you may need to do some lateral and hill work to strenghten them before you can work on the canter. Once you give a que for one or the other, stop the horse immediately if he gives you the wrong one because they need to understand what you want. Also, be careful that you are not asking for more speed in the rack than your horse is capable of. I have seen gaited horses go into the canter from the rack when they are pushed for too much speed since it is easier for them to canter than rack. Try asking for a slow rack to begin with and see if you can keep it without breaking into a canter.
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| Posted: Mon Apr 19th, 2010 08:40 pm |
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8th Post |
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ZippyIcelandicGuy G.O.G Community Member 
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I can certainly empathize with the issue. At our shows, we are required (in some classes) to show collected walk, trot, canter, and two speeds of rack - slow but energetic, as well as faster and more extended. All gaits are weighted evenly in terms of scoring. Just about any horse I've been on will try to burst into a gallop if the rack speed is being pushed past the horse's ability. You kind of have to know the limit. That being said, canter work uphill (for stride length and hind-end strength) and rack work down hill (for foot speed) can be used to improve top speed in rack. I've worked many medium fast rackers this way and ended up with blazing fast rack. If you have a quite lateral horse, be careful about excessive extension when working rack on too much of a down hill slope. There might be a tendency towards pace. Typically, when I am training a horse to transition between gaits, I try to be consistent about which transitions I use on purpose, and which transitions I avoid all together. For example, I try to never transition form rack (of any speed) to trot. On a finely tuned horse, it is possible to do with body cues alone, but for horses of lower skill level there isn't a good way to do it without wrenching then into collection form extension. Not pleasant for anyone. I try to transition to canter only from trot (or walk). This makes it easier to go from the diagonal you are on to the proper canter lead that you are asking for. I will transition to trot from walk or slow rack only. In my experience, many diagonal horses will want to trot when transitioning down from faster rack, but not allowing them to do so will help to make sure there are no speeds in between fast and slow rack at which the horse has a gap in racking ability. I will transition to fast rack from slow rack only or walk only. These are natural transitions. I will transition to slow rack from walk and fast rack only. Again, the second one can be hard for some horses. Hope this helps.
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26th, 2010 02:28 pm |
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9th Post |
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goranbockman G.O.G Community Member 
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SunnysMum wrote: We can get her to Rack but she only holds it for about a Stride or Two before she breaks into a Canter. And her Rack is Beautiful. So how do I get her to maintain it instead of switching to a canter after about two strides? Hi SM, When you train the rack it's best, in my experience (35+ years), to take it from a collected walk; just increase the speed of walk and collect her until the front is raised, do a couple halfhalts and push with your seat, and the rack should come. Never ever allow her to run into the Rack; it should come as a natural extension of the walk. Let her rack a couple steps and then break off into a walk. Gradually increase the number of racking strides, but always end the rack in a walk, until the gait is firmly established. This way she should soon forget about breaking off into a canter. Good Luck!  Last edited on Mon Apr 26th, 2010 02:30 pm by goranbockman ____________________ Smooth gaits are a gift of God |
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12th, 2010 01:47 am |
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10th Post |
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sisbarbo G.O.G Community Member 
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My gelding will also break from a rack into a canter, but I just collect him back in kind of with a half halt and he goes right back into his rack. I do occasionally let him canter because like my 11 year old daughter says..."its like riding the wind"...but he does have a very nice "established" racking gait and we keep him in that primarily. Sometimes he will break into a trot as well and again I use a half halt to recollect with leg pressure to move him back into the rack. After experiencing the true racking gait.... I too would say it's better than riding the canter!
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12th, 2010 02:31 am |
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11th Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member
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Yeah, now she either drops into a Speed Trot, or Canter, after couple strides.
____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12th, 2010 02:36 am |
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12th Post |
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sisbarbo G.O.G Community Member
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Are you working him in an arena or round pen? Or are you working him outdoors where you can go long and strait? I have found that my guy will hold his gait WAY longer if he is able to go long and straight. If you have a long drive way or can road ride ... just a suggestion. 
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12th, 2010 04:08 am |
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13th Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member
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Arena mostly, and it's pretty square and small. But we do have a road I can use. Just need to get her out on the road. Out on a trail ride once she naturally on her own went into the Rack, but I had to pull her out of it because the poky little arab I was riding with couldn't keep up.
____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Sat Nov 13th, 2010 01:54 am |
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14th Post |
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sisbarbo G.O.G Community Member
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I've noticed that it can be difficult keeping a good gait inside a small arena... it's almost like they just get going and then BAM...corner! If he is outside safe try a long driveway.... or a round pen can be really helpful too. Mine isn't ALWAYS outside safe.... so I use the round pen alot and he goes pretty good in there.
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| Posted: Sat Nov 13th, 2010 05:25 am |
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15th Post |
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SunnysMum G.O.G Community Member
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I will definately try the long drive way and dirt road. She wont gait for nothing in round pens. And where we're at now we have a huge 70 foot round pen. She though only Walks, Trots and Canters in round pen. But yeah, in the arena it's like "gait...gait..CORNER!" she's learning though to do corners in gait.
____________________ Chi ha tegoli di vetro, non tiri sassi al vicino |
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14th, 2010 11:52 am |
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16th Post |
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karenlexsc G.O.G Community Member 
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This is why we love to trailer ours to the show arena about 5 miles away when we can, to work on gaits. The arena is huge and really no corners to speak of. Otherwise, why we love our long straight dirt roads.
____________________ Karen No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. ~Winston Churchill |
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| Posted: Mon Jan 24th, 2011 03:37 am |
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17th Post |
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NevadaPaul G.O.G Community Member 
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I am not an arena guy, but what I do to get my horses into a fast walk instead of a canter is to get them going on a slight downhill. When I push them forward from a half halt I can get them to really crank it up, without breaking into a canter. My horses are 3,4, 6.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 15th, 2011 07:46 pm |
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18th Post |
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Nevada G.O.G Community Member
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Interestingly or dumb horse amateur trainer that I am, I do the opposite of some of the suggestions offered here. I do start the rack from a collected walk as suggested; I do ask for the canter at times, I feel it sets up an irregular foot fall that breaks up a stepping pace when I need the rack smoother. I also ask for the rack going up a hill, as the horse has to shift its weight to its rear end to get the drive for the hill inclination. Careful though, as the canter might happen if I am asking to hard....once she is in the proper rack I tighten the reins a bit to keep her racking and at the slightest notion that she wants to shift gears on me I either cue her to go on (my choice not hers) or speak to her to hold it as she is......easy now easy! After couple miles or so put her in a walk to relax a bit..... I firmly believe that she enjoys the rack as much as I do. Mainly the 200 lbs she is carrying isn't bouncing her spine....she likes it and I like it. Her spirit makes her want to get faster so I need to keep the cues consistent.....if a horse is naturally gaited the gait will be found by the horse and we just learn to box it in with the right cues......not much help with your problem but an opinion good or bad.
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