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Well, taking the advice in monthly training thread more seriously led to some very good first results last night! Thank you, people.

I think *I* needed to be reminded to push us to the edge, and then to quickly use lateral or sideways movement (LY) to re-group when we lose it and then GO BIG again right away! We actually has some front legs firing last night (that's probably not the right way to say that, but in the mirror I could see the shoulder rotation and change in trot steps). Emi was very proud of herself.

Yay!

Thank you for the cheer. I can't tell what a difference in makes for my perseverance to hear you all 1. tell me it's possible and offer good strategies training and 2. share your own journeys. Thank you!

I can't wait to share my journey--could you tell the weather gods enough already????

Exvet had some exercises she was doing with stinker pony to get him to lift and reach, but I can't remember what was effective for her. I do not find cavelletti particularly helpful with Rudy, so far hills, snow and mediums across the short diagonal from si or hp have worked best for me. Oddly, when I first backed him, he offered extended trots routinely, BUT he accomplished them by going wide behind (think squatting) and from what I've read, that was not a good thing to encourage. I am confident that as his strength increases, so will his power, and he will one day just lift that front end and fly! I do not ascribe (btw) to the rush him off his feet into it, but that's because, as a TB, he is more than capable of going FAST in the trot and falling on the forehand. I want his tempo slower and longer. He already has a large overstep; so if he gets on the forehand, he clips his pasterns with his hind toes which is quite painful for him. When I finally get to ride again, i promise to video so we can compare progress.

What I have found most important is to get the horse truly sharp to both the forward aids and the half halt, combined with using the shoulder in to make sure the inside hind is truly coming through underneath my seat.

An exercise we have been working with recently to achieve this (very effectively) is to work on a square. Start with what you think is a collected trot on a circle to develop a decent trot, then start on the squares. Walk through the corner, Immediately into trot shoulder in. Walk through the corner. Straight on in a big but collected trot. Walk through the corner. Immediately into shoulder in. Rinse and repeat until you have really prompt responses. Then, do the same thing but instead of walking, just an effective half halt before the corner and collected trot through the corner, and use a bigger trot and shoulder in along the straight sides.

Do this a few times then on one of your shoulder-in sides, do about three strides and then push it out across the diagonal in a medium. Wow. Horsie lightbulb goes on.

the horse needs to have the strength and fitness to do this, and so do you.

Mountaineer, so transitions and corners, to develop better half halts and longitudinal suppleness, shoulder in to develop uphill position, and then the medium is a reward for all the hard work?

how big do you make your squares?

Piedmontfields, YAY.

I was actually inspired by your questions on medium and front leg scope, to work on shoulder in to lengthening to shoulder in with my horses and a couple of my lessons today. I agree with Mountaineer, getting more correct transitions and getting the horse immediate to the transitions may well improve the work even more.

I was happy with the day, and i am cheering for you that you were happy with yours too

Chisamba, squares about 20 metres, and I think it is more about almost coiling the horse up like a watch spring and then letting it out. But that implies tension, which isn't what I mean.

Ten m volte in the corner and ask for medium on the long side. Try to maintain the positioning. Many HHs are probably going to be necessary.

I like the square game from Mountaineer. This is actually less taxing than our usual shoulder in/shoulder out, revers, travers on a circle. I like how quickly the corners come up. We played with this out in the field on Saturday and it was very fun and rewarding.

Tsavo, I like doing work around the arena to emphasis We *are* G O I NG BIG! But yes, HHs or a return to shoulder in is helpful when balance is lost.

Great tips, everyone!

I also like:

F-P shoulder-in left
P-V medium
V-H shoulder-in right

Rinse, repeat.

SQUARES!! Go figure, maybe THAT's why our mediums have improved of late! We've been doing squares in WTC to mostly to control the shoulders and keep straightness before and after, but side benefits have been greater thoroughness, collection and a wonderful lifting of my mare's prodigious "boobies", and of course more strength. And lately, our mediums have been really nice and MUCH bigger! I think she also sees it as a reward after the harder work, and offers them. This is a girl that didn't know what a medium was 2 years ago, she doesn't go big in the field, and I figured that we'd never ever have an extension -- but there's hope! I do love squares!

Thanks for all the great tips and thoughts, folks. I am struggling! Shall try SQUARES next. My behemoth needs to lift UP and, frankly, it is hard for both of us. I have visions of third level this year. Our challenge is mediums. PiedmontF, thank you so much for segregating this as a topic!

I recently started halt trot transitions, from halt to trot, but asking for the first step of trot to be as active as the rest, ie, making sure the horse does not "schelp" into the trot. It requires a balance poised halt, without dropping the contact, and an active hind end, like shooting an arrow from a bow .

I like the results, although getting that transition well done is harder than it sounds.

the goal was for improved collected trot,but it has had positive influence on the mediums.

So I've been able to really make progress on mediums with my haflinger gelding this year, who I thought might never be able to truly do it. Here is what worked well for us.
1. Not hill work, but hill lengthenings. Point him towards the barn or somewhere he wants to go and ask for the lengthening up a hill. When doing this, DO NOT give up the connection. He must stay connected in the bridle and that must help keep the forehand up while the hind end propels under him. In the beginning you might need a far stronger rein connection that you would want at a later stage.
2. Intermix half halt go half halt go half halt go when you are on the flat. This never helped us produce an actual lengthening like the hill work did, but it did let him know that when I put both my leg aids on in a "squeezing the ketchup out of the bottle" motion, I'm looking for this power and up forward motion.
3. Once you are getting something that feels like a lengthening/medium up a hill, then do it in the arena and do it going towards somewhere he wants to go. I finish all of my rides with a big medium back to the barn. The "up" excitement of going somewhere the horse wants to go helps to produce the necessary forward, but up energy you need.

Some things i've also found:
I thought doing a big half halt in the corner and then pushing him forward would work, but that really doesn't help me, it seems better to maintain momentum around the corner and then sent him out of that.

If they are going to come off the connection, better that they come above and up than low or behind. Low will just produce low.

If your reins are too long, a medium won't happen.

For us now, it's a matter of slowing things back down a hair. My boy, unlike a TB wants to be slow and lazy, so we did have to add speed to accomplish this. We now have the hind end engagement and he is showing should freedom up front, but we are still a hair over-tempo. So, now I'm working on producing a tempo that gives him a hair more air time to work with.

I literally thought we would never have a medium/lengthening, so if we can do it, you can do it! Keep faith!

Thanks, Haffie! Great suggestion. We certainly we have hills. I think I can remember Steffen Peters making this suggestion in a Dressage Today article, a few years ago.

HafDressage wrote:For us now, it's a matter of slowing things back down a hair. My boy, unlike a TB wants to be slow and lazy, so we did have to add speed to accomplish this. We now have the hind end engagement and he is showing should freedom up front, but we are still a hair over-tempo. So, now I'm working on producing a tempo that gives him a hair more air time to work with.

I literally thought we would never have a medium/lengthening, so if we can do it, you can do it! Keep faith!

This is where I am at too now! I have to stop pushing for speed to get the medium, and almost feel like I'm allowing it to come up and out underneath me.

Also remember you should just get out and teach your horse he has room to let go. So many are always expecting to be shut down by a transition or a wall or another horse cutting them off or w whatever. Literally get out of the arena, do some half steps, remind him he has an engine, the pieces are all connected, and the slowly let him out. Do you think young racehorses get their length of stride by cantering in a stall? No. They build the right butt and back and shoulder muscles, and then they get out and learn to let go and fully stretch out, not for a step or two, but until they're a little bit comfortable, and it gradually gets longer and longer lengths of time so their muscles can maintain that swing in Thai back and pelvis for as long as they need to.

To a certain extent, it's the same with dressage horses. When you teach a dressage horse to bench press his own weight (half steps) that's how he learns to be able to push his body into the medium trot, and the suspension needed for that is the lift and swing that he allows his body to let go enough, but it can feel a bit unbalanced at first to him. So one or two or three steps isn't enough. And in the arena, sometimes that's all you get by the time you can get him organized and confident enough to let go.

So get out of the arena, give him the chance to let go a bit, even go in a bit of a hover seat(if your hands are very independent and your balance and legs are independent) to let him find his own balance and power for like 5-6 strides going straight.

I promise, it will get you a better medium, more efficiently than if you star in the ring. This is how really good pros get to PSG faster with sound, happy horses and have such long careers with these lovely horses. They don't just stay in the ring!

And the better the half steps, and collected trot, the better the medium. The better the piaffe and passages the better the extensions.

Linden, I do appreciate that advice. Personally, I love to school in fields and Emi responds with great effort and focus.

Today was an easy field school, but it did involve "please maintain a lovely working trot, then working canter for 800 m at a time. Thank you." I do find the room riding out to be great for forward into transitions/forward into changes work. I am also impressed when she does her big trot on slightly uneven footing. It makes it a no brainer to ask for more when the footing is pristine.